Assignment One

1. Assignment One Estimating materials from the scope of work of an historic building

2. Estimating the amount of materials To estimate the amount of materials a builder needed two pieces of information, the size of the structure and a standard cost analysis, or price book. Albert Lawrence West, published The Architect and Builder's Vade-Mecum and Book of Reference to make available the guide information after the Civil War for Richmond, Virginia builders. To accomplish your task you will need West’s Vade-Mecumand the specifications of the building we are investigating.

3. The Building The specification list that you will use to complete this assignment is part of the loose papers of the Mutual Assurance Society in the Virginia State Library. They are materials from the Society's chief officer, Alexander H. Rutherfoord. The specification list you are using was written for a building on 4th street in Richmond and it is convenient because it has both the specification and the and the plans. Inevitably there will be some information that you seek that is not included.

6. What is to be submitted for this assignment? • The number of bricks necessary to build the house. This house will have three categories of brick, common, stock, flooring • The amount of lumber necessary to complete the floors • The plaster necessary to cover the inside walls of the house. What I need is to see the way you obtained your numbers—show your work. If you could not find information that you needed make assumptions, but tell me what your assumptions are.

7. Accounting for brick Use superficial measurements. 1. List the area of the walls of the building, adding the interior walls if they are brick 2. Subtract the windows and doors. Although the coal vault and area wall are included in this specification, do not include their measurements with your estimate. The window sizes may be determined by adding the size and number lights in each window. The doors can be estimated at three feet in width, height of six feet six inches for the basement and second floor. For the principal floor interior doors allow three feet six inches and the main entrance to be four feet in width and these doors to be seven feet in height.

8. Details of brickwork It is most straight-forward to use the superficial measurement and then multiply by the thickness of the wall as listed in West. However, be careful in these respects: 1. This building has brick gables, but how will you compute the brick above the ceiling joist of the 2nd floor? 2. If you take the circumference of the building you must subtract the thickness of the wall from the sides. Why? 3. The front of the building is oiled stock brick but it is only one course thick. You need to figure that separately from the common brick used for the other walls. 4. How many chimney stacks does this building have? Add 1,000 bricks for each chimney stack. To calculate the bricks (West pgs 55-56) One superficial foot of one brick (9 inch) wall contains 14 bricks--small size. One do (ditto) of one-and-a-half brick (13½ inch) wall contains 21 bricks. Oiled stock-pressed brick. A superficial foot of facing to fronts requires 7 of these bricks.

9. Flooring Flooring is computed by the square (10’x10’) = 100 sq ft. compute the area of the floor of the rooms, but subtract the stair well void. Pay attention to the basement, which floors are brick, which are wood? A (superficial) yard of paving contains 40½ of the above bricks. (West, p.56) Report the wood floor by the number of squares

10. Plaster Compute the area of the walls of the rooms to be plastered add the ceiling. Subtract windows and doors. Remember that interior walls are plastered on two sides Subtract the volume of the stairwell from the total. Report the plaster as the number of square feet.