I'm just sitting here looking over the plans for our new building at 
work. It looks roughly like a tangled maze of lines, encrusted with text.

Some of the text is in fact almost unreadable because it's so tiny. Even 
when printed out, I can bearly read it. I had a look at the PDF file, 
and it says the document dimensions are "23.39 x 33.11 inches". A quick 
trip to Google tells me that's 594.106 x 840.994 mm. (Wow, that sounds 
pretty big!) A quick check on Wikipedia tells me that's exactly A1. (!!)

So, where the plan says "1:50 scale", it's really "1:400" when printed 
on A4 instead of A1.

The drawing contains a number of items of interesting text. For example, 
this is "DWG NO 2222.173". It is described as "GROUND FLOOR PLAN, OFFICE 
B SETTING OUT".

Also, next to the stairs, I found this:

   OVERALL RISE OF STAIR 3825mm

   EACH RISE: 165mm (x23)
   EACH GOING: 250mm.
   BALUSTRADE TO BE TOP FIXED.
   DESIGN TO COMPLY WITH B.REGS
   PART K & M.

I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?

I have no idea what "BALUSTRADE" is. (Assuming I've even read it right 
from the tiny writing on the printout.)

Similarly, ever head of "BRISE SOLEIL"? Because apparently this building 
will have *lots* of those.

But most of all, it's just numbers. *Millions* of numbers. Almost every 
line has a second line next to it with some numbers. Many of the corners 
also have angles written on them. (The ones that aren't 90° anyway.) And 
there are dashed lines *everywhere*.

(I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
written on it. Wow.)

There are also all sorts of symbols that look like they probably mean 
something to a building engineer. Means nothing to me though! Heh.

It's certainly interesting anyway...

Post a reply to this message

Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> I can bearly read it.

  Don't you mean "barely"?

  I have noticed that you make a whole lots of spelling mistakes for being
a native speaker...

  OTOH I have heard the rumor that Australians always write "than" when
they mean "then".

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Warp wrote:

>   I have noticed that you make a whole lots of spelling mistakes for being
> a native speaker...

Yeah, well, I didn't learn to write until I was 11...

(And let's face it, English is a pretty illogical language to start with.)

Post a reply to this message

Invisible a écrit :
> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?
> 

I'm quite sure that if its heigh is wrong by 25mm there will be plenty 
of people tripping. Now you don't want work accidents, do you ;-) ?

> I have no idea what "BALUSTRADE" is. (Assuming I've even read it right 
> from the tiny writing on the printout.)
> 
> Similarly, ever head of "BRISE SOLEIL"? Because apparently this building 
> will have *lots* of those.

It's all French words :-) That said, Wikipedia can help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brise_soleil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baluster (read the first paragraph and not 
just the title)


-- 
Vincent

Post a reply to this message

Invisible a écrit :

> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?

That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
of tolerance (mm).

> But most of all, it's just numbers. *Millions* of numbers. Almost every 
> line has a second line next to it with some numbers.

Yep. That's easier to build something :-)
Maybe you should ask for simplified plans with only big dimension lines
(just L and W of each room). We often provide that kind of stuff.

> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
> written on it. Wow.)

That's pretty normal. The drawing is probably linked to some spreadsheet
saying how much doors of what type are needed.

> There are also all sorts of symbols that look like they probably mean 
> something to a building engineer. Means nothing to me though! Heh.

Apart from broad room dimensions, ceiling heights and under-slab heights,
you probably shouldn't care for anything else.

Fabien (architect).

Post a reply to this message

> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?

Sure, your building design company would last a long time if every flight of 
stairs had a tolerance of +/- 25 mm... :-)

> But most of all, it's just numbers. *Millions* of numbers. Almost every 
> line has a second line next to it with some numbers. Many of the corners 
> also have angles written on them. (The ones that aren't 90° anyway.) And 
> there are dashed lines *everywhere*.
>
> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
> written on it. Wow.)
>
> There are also all sorts of symbols that look like they probably mean 
> something to a building engineer. Means nothing to me though! Heh.
>
> It's certainly interesting anyway...

Yeh, just like a 2D drawing of a mechanical part, the plans are to enable 
the builders to actually make the building.  They need dimensions of every 
part, material types, finishes etc.  They don't want to have to keep phoning 
up the designer and asking "errm, how thick do you want this wall?" and 
stuff like that.

Post a reply to this message

scott a écrit :

> Yeh, just like a 2D drawing of a mechanical part, the plans are to 
> enable the builders to actually make the building.  They need dimensions 
> of every part, material types, finishes etc.  They don't want to have to 
> keep phoning up the designer and asking "errm, how thick do you want 
> this wall?" and stuff like that.

You wouldn't imagine how often they ask for informations that
are already on the plans...

Fabien.

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:
> Invisible a écrit :
> 
>> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
>> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?
> 
> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
> of tolerance (mm).
> 

In my house I built my own set of stairs - you care about every mm (or 
inch) because you have to divide it very accurately to get the right 
step height that makes everything even - especially if you have an 
inspector reviewing it.

If you have never built stairs, it is not as easy as one would think.... 
  but then after building a set, it is.  Kinda like computers ;-)



Tom

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:

> You wouldn't imagine how often they ask for informations that
> are already on the plans...

Hahahaha!

The interesting part is, every set of plans I see has a different 
contractor's name on it. There are so many different contractors working 
on this thing it's unreal!

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:
> Invisible a écrit :
> 
>> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
>> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?
> 
> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
> of tolerance (mm).

So... what the hell do you do if you build some stairs, and the sement 
sinks by 0.4 mm while drying? (A perfectly likely outcome.) Then each 
step might be 0.4 mm out...! No noes! o_O

>> But most of all, it's just numbers. *Millions* of numbers. Almost 
>> every line has a second line next to it with some numbers.
> 
> Yep. That's easier to build something :-)
> Maybe you should ask for simplified plans with only big dimension lines
> (just L and W of each room). We often provide that kind of stuff.

Yeah, well, there are millions and millions of paper plans, but for some 
reason it's very hard to get electronic ones. I've been asking for some 
for months. The plans I've got cut off part of the building, but it'll 
do. ;-)

>> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
>> written on it. Wow.)
> 
> That's pretty normal. The drawing is probably linked to some spreadsheet
> saying how much doors of what type are needed.

Reminds me of the building meeting I heard about. Apparently the 
interior designers were fussing over what kind of light switches to 
have, and the building engineers couldn't give a fig and just want the 
building to not burn down due to an electrical fire or something... 
Apparently it was a very amusing meeting for spectators!

(Did you know - actually, YOU probably did - they have entire catelogues 
of hundreds of different kinds of light switches. Brass ones. Steel 
ones. Rubberised ones. Plastic ones with every possible surface finish. 
Big ones, small ones, ones for visually-impared people. One switch per 
panel. Two switches per panel. Rows of 8 or more... Jesus, we just want 
lights! LOL.)

>> There are also all sorts of symbols that look like they probably mean 
>> something to a building engineer. Means nothing to me though! Heh.
> 
> Apart from broad room dimensions, ceiling heights and under-slab heights,
> you probably shouldn't care for anything else.

Interesting that the archive is shown has having falls 8x thicker than 
everywhere else. And on the door it says [in tiny letters]

   BD10
   2no.
   FD120SC
   TO GIVE
   4 HOURS

And next to one wall, it says [in slightly bigger letters]

   CEILING CAVITY BARRIER

Presumably this is all related to fire prevention or something...

Also, next to my server room there's [yet another] dashed line labelled

   CEILING CAVITY

[Hmm, is there a reason all writing must be upper case?]

Of course, the most fun thing about our building is that it isn't 
rectangular - it features angles like 174° and so on. ;-)

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:
> Invisible a écrit :
> 
>> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
>> written on it. Wow.)
> 
> That's pretty normal. The drawing is probably linked to some spreadsheet
> saying how much doors of what type are needed.

I wonder if that's what "FD30SC" means? (Every door seems to have this 
written next to it, in addition to a unique number of the form "DB7".)

Post a reply to this message

Vincent Le Chevalier wrote:

> It's all French words :-) That said, Wikipedia can help:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brise_soleil
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baluster (read the first paragraph and not 
> just the title)

Ah... So that useless bit that sticks out of the front of the building 
is meant to be a sun shade?

[Interesting how all the buildings constructed so far have an identical 
projection, despite facing different directions. I mean, surely the sun 
can only rise from one direction... And sides, it's far too tiny to 
shade anything except the top of the roof.]

Post a reply to this message

Invisible a écrit :
> Fa3ien wrote:
>> Invisible a écrit :
>>
>>> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
>>> written on it. Wow.)
>>
>> That's pretty normal. The drawing is probably linked to some spreadsheet
>> saying how much doors of what type are needed.
> 
> I wonder if that's what "FD30SC" means? (Every door seems to have this 
> written next to it, in addition to a unique number of the form "DB7".)

FD = Framed Door ? (such conventions are hardly universal)
30 = maybe 30 minutes fireproof ? on the leaf is 30 inches wide ?
SC = Single C???... ?

Sometimes there's an explanation on the edge (along with the meaning of hatches).

Fabien.

Post a reply to this message

Invisible a écrit :
> Fa3ien wrote:
>> Invisible a écrit :
>>
>>> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID 
>>> written on it. Wow.)
>>
>> That's pretty normal. The drawing is probably linked to some spreadsheet
>> saying how much doors of what type are needed.
> 
> I wonder if that's what "FD30SC" means? (Every door seems to have this 
> written next to it, in addition to a unique number of the form "DB7".)

for example, we name our doors like :
PSF-93-10
09F 2.20
(both symbols grouped in an hexagon)

which means :

Porte Simple Feu (Single door, fire resistant)
93 cm leaf in a 10 cm wall

the lower symbol is the room to which the door gives access

09 (underground, 00 is ground, 01 1st level...)
F : zone F (fire detection zone)
2.20 : hierarchic geographical numbering within a zone

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:
> Invisible a écrit :
>>
>> I wonder if that's what "FD30SC" means? (Every door seems to have this 
>> written next to it, in addition to a unique number of the form "DB7".)
> 
> FD = Framed Door ? (such conventions are hardly universal)
> 30 = maybe 30 minutes fireproof ? on the leaf is 30 inches wide ?
> SC = Single C???... ?
> 
> Sometimes there's an explanation on the edge (along with the meaning of 
> hatches).

Not this time there isn't.

It's probably a catelogue number, and if you had their catelogue you 
could look it up.

(I recall apparently there was a long debate about whether the doors 
would be stained wood, or whether they would be painted black. The 
designers were concerned that wood would clash with the white walls and 
black skirting boards. [I kid you not!] IIRC, they eventually decided on 
stained wood doors with black door frames...)

Post a reply to this message

Invisible wrote:

> Also, next to the stairs, I found this:
> 
>   OVERALL RISE OF STAIR 3825mm
> 
>   EACH RISE: 165mm (x23)
>   EACH GOING: 250mm.
>   BALUSTRADE TO BE TOP FIXED.
>   DESIGN TO COMPLY WITH B.REGS
>   PART K & M.
> 
> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in 
> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?

Hey, I just noticed. The individual stairs are numbered. As in, from 1 
to 23. Wow!

There's also a small barely-readable table that says

    C   ARCHIVE STORE / INST. ROOMS RESETOUT  01.10.07  SH   DS
    B   DOOR REFS ADDED. DIMS UPDATED         28.08.07  SH   DS
    A   ISSUED FOR COMMENT                    15.08.07  SH   DS
   REV  DESCRIPTION                           DATE      DWN  CKD

I notice that in the middle of the building there's a line of what look 
like H-section girders. Each one has a dashed line going through it, 
ending in a unique letter on the outside of the building.

(To give you some idea, the lines C, D, E and F are all parallel and 
equidistant. However, F and G are *not* parallel. The exterior walls on 
either side of the G line meet at an angle of 174° rather than 180°. In 
particular, this means that the corridore to my office and my server 
room has non-parallel walls. Let's hope I don't need to wheel anything 
large through there!)

There's also lots of little enigmatic annotations such as

   BELOW GROUND
   DRANAGE CONNECTION
   FOR WHB

and

   STUB STACK

and

   sinks/washers
   see fittings

and

   RWP
   INTO
   BG.

Ooo, I just found a small space that looks like this:

   +-----------+
   | 87°    94°|
   |           |
   |           |
   |   RISER   |
   |           |
   |           |
   |           |
   | 90°       |
   +-----------+

Hahahah! Some poor **** is going to have great fun building THAT...

There's also lots of circles with numbers in them. Or bisected circles 
with pairs of numbers in them.

I'm sure all this means something to the guys drawing the plans. ;-)

Post a reply to this message

Invisible escribió:
> Ooo, I just found a small space that looks like this:
> 
>   +-----------+
>   | 87°    94°|
>   |           |
>   |           |
>   |   RISER   |
>   |           |
>   |           |
>   |           |
>   | 90°       |
>   +-----------+
> 
> Hahahah! Some poor **** is going to have great fun building THAT...
> 

What the...

Post a reply to this message

You should ask for 3D plans in .pov format. Or make them?

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> You should ask for 3D plans in .pov format. Or make them?

OMFG... POV-Ray FTW!! :-D

Post a reply to this message

Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> Invisible escribió:
>> Ooo, I just found a small space that looks like this:
>>
>>   +-----------+
>>   | 87°    94°|
>>   |           |
>>   |           |
>>   |   RISER   |
>>   |           |
>>   |           |
>>   |           |
>>   | 90°       |
>>   +-----------+
>>
>> Hahahah! Some poor **** is going to have great fun building THAT...
>>
> 
> What the...

Should probably be more like:

+--..__
|87     ''--.._
|            94|
|              |
|90            |
+--------------+

...still not too fun to build.

-- 
Tim Cook
http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-empyrean

-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 3.12
GFA dpu- s: a?-- C++(++++) U P? L E--- W++(+++)>$
N++ o? K- w(+) O? M-(--) V? PS+(+++) PE(--) Y(--)
PGP-(--) t* 5++>+++++ X+ R* tv+ b++(+++) DI
D++(---) G(++) e*>++ h+ !r--- !y--
------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Post a reply to this message

And lo on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:40:26 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did  
spake, saying:

> I'm just sitting here looking over the plans for our new building at  
> work. It looks roughly like a tangled maze of lines, encrusted with text.
>
> Some of the text is in fact almost unreadable because it's so tiny. Even  
> when printed out, I can bearly read it. I had a look at the PDF file,  
> and it says the document dimensions are "23.39 x 33.11 inches". A quick  
> trip to Google tells me that's 594.106 x 840.994 mm. (Wow, that sounds  
> pretty big!) A quick check on Wikipedia tells me that's exactly A1. (!!)
>
> So, where the plan says "1:50 scale", it's really "1:400" when printed  
> on A4 instead of A1.

Taking into account that the software may have 'fixed' it to print within  
your printer margins.

> The drawing contains a number of items of interesting text. For example,  
> this is "DWG NO 2222.173". It is described as "GROUND FLOOR PLAN, OFFICE  
> B SETTING OUT".
>
> Also, next to the stairs, I found this:
>
>    OVERALL RISE OF STAIR 3825mm
>
>    EACH RISE: 165mm (x23)
>    EACH GOING: 250mm.
>    BALUSTRADE TO BE TOP FIXED.
>    DESIGN TO COMPLY WITH B.REGS
>    PART K & M.
>
> I just love the way they quote the size of a flight of stairs in  
> millimeters! I mean, it rises 12 feet up, and we care about 25mm?

Yes if you want it to be 12 feet up when it races the top.

> I have no idea what "BALUSTRADE" is. (Assuming I've even read it right  
> from the tiny writing on the printout.)

It's that bit that stops you from falling off the side of the stairs.

> Similarly, ever head of "BRISE SOLEIL"? Because apparently this building  
> will have *lots* of those.

Sun-shade.

> But most of all, it's just numbers. *Millions* of numbers. Almost every  
> line has a second line next to it with some numbers. Many of the corners  
> also have angles written on them. (The ones that aren't 90° anyway.) And  
> there are dashed lines *everywhere*.
>
> (I just reliased... Every single doorway in the place has a unique ID  
> written on it. Wow.)

Yup

> There are also all sorts of symbols that look like they probably mean  
> something to a building engineer. Means nothing to me though! Heh.

Yup again

> It's certainly interesting anyway...

Looking at building plans is always fun.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

Post a reply to this message

Phil Cook wrote:
> And lo on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 11:40:26 -0000, Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> did 
> spake, saying:
> 
>> I'm just sitting here looking over the plans for our new building at 
>> work. It looks roughly like a tangled maze of lines, encrusted with text.
>>
>> Some of the text is in fact almost unreadable because it's so tiny. 
>> Even when printed out, I can bearly read it. I had a look at the PDF 
>> file, and it says the document dimensions are "23.39 x 33.11 inches". 
>> A quick trip to Google tells me that's 594.106 x 840.994 mm. (Wow, 
>> that sounds pretty big!) A quick check on Wikipedia tells me that's 
>> exactly A1. (!!)
>>
>> So, where the plan says "1:50 scale", it's really "1:400" when printed 
>> on A4 instead of A1.
> 
> Taking into account that the software may have 'fixed' it to print 
> within your printer margins.

True...

Perhaps that's why part of the building is missing? Or maybe it's just 
that this particular drawing only includes that part, I'm not sure.

>> It's certainly interesting anyway...
> 
> Looking at building plans is always fun.

I'm glad someone else thinks so.

I have no idea what half the stuff means, but I'm nosey anyway! ;-)

Post a reply to this message

Tim Cook wrote:
> Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
>> Invisible escribió:
>>> Ooo, I just found a small space that looks like this:
>>>
>>>   +-----------+
>>>   | 87°    94°|
>>>   |           |
>>>   |           |
>>>   |   RISER   |
>>>   |           |
>>>   |           |
>>>   |           |
>>>   | 90°       |
>>>   +-----------+
>>>
>>> Hahahah! Some poor **** is going to have great fun building THAT...
>>>
>>
>> What the...
> 
> Should probably be more like:
> 
> +--..__
> |87     ''--.._
> |            94|
> |              |
> |90            |
> +--------------+
> 
> ...still not too fun to build.

That's a tilt of a tad more than 4°, but essentially yes. ;-)

(On the paper it sure looks like a perfect square. But there we are.)

Post a reply to this message

>> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
>> of tolerance (mm).
> 
> So... what the hell do you do if you build some stairs, and the sement 
> sinks by 0.4 mm while drying? (A perfectly likely outcome.) Then each 
> step might be 0.4 mm out...! No noes! o_O

Who secures stairs in place by resting them on unset concrete? :-S

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
>>> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
>>> of tolerance (mm).
>>
>> So... what the hell do you do if you build some stairs, and the sement 
>> sinks by 0.4 mm while drying? (A perfectly likely outcome.) Then each 
>> step might be 0.4 mm out...! No noes! o_O
> 
> Who secures stairs in place by resting them on unset concrete? :-S

I was thinking more that the *stairs* are made of concrete...

Post a reply to this message

>>>> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
>>>> of tolerance (mm).
>>>
>>> So... what the hell do you do if you build some stairs, and the sement 
>>> sinks by 0.4 mm while drying? (A perfectly likely outcome.) Then each 
>>> step might be 0.4 mm out...! No noes! o_O
>>
>> Who secures stairs in place by resting them on unset concrete? :-S
>
> I was thinking more that the *stairs* are made of concrete...

Oh you mean like one big pre-fab set of stairs?  If they all shrunk 0.4mm 
after they were taken out of the mold then the usual idea is to make the 
mold 0.4mm bigger than needed...

Anyway, who's going to notice if the last step is 0.4mm less that the 
others?

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:

> Anyway, who's going to notice if the last step is 0.4mm less that the 
> others?

...which was why I was amused at the stairs having dimensions to the 
nearest mm. ;-)

Seriously, if I take a tape measure to the finished building, do you 
really think all the measurements will be exactly whole numbers of 
millimeters? I somewhat doubt it. ;-)

Post a reply to this message

"Orchid XP v7" <voi### [at] devnull> wrote in message

> ...which was why I was amused at the stairs having dimensions to the
> nearest mm. ;-)
>
> Seriously, if I take a tape measure to the finished building, do you
> really think all the measurements will be exactly whole numbers of
> millimeters? I somewhat doubt it. ;-)

If you give builders plans to the nearest meters, you can none of the
dimensions will be accurate to the nearest meter either. Does it all make
sense now?

Post a reply to this message

>> Anyway, who's going to notice if the last step is 0.4mm less that the 
>> others?
>
> ...which was why I was amused at the stairs having dimensions to the 
> nearest mm. ;-)
>
> Seriously, if I take a tape measure to the finished building, do you 
> really think all the measurements will be exactly whole numbers of 
> millimeters? I somewhat doubt it. ;-)

No, but it's a typical value with some tolerance.  On our drawings we always 
have stuff that is labelled like 16.68 +/- 0.20 mm, if they made all the 
parts with an average of 16.66 mm then some of them wouldn't fit together 
properly.

Post a reply to this message

scott wrote:
>>> Anyway, who's going to notice if the last step is 0.4mm less that the 
>>> others?
>>
>> ...which was why I was amused at the stairs having dimensions to the 
>> nearest mm. ;-)
>>
>> Seriously, if I take a tape measure to the finished building, do you 
>> really think all the measurements will be exactly whole numbers of 
>> millimeters? I somewhat doubt it. ;-)
> 
> No, but it's a typical value with some tolerance.  On our drawings we 
> always have stuff that is labelled like 16.68 +/- 0.20 mm, if they made 
> all the parts with an average of 16.66 mm then some of them wouldn't fit 
> together properly.

As I understand it, the stuff you make is somewhat smaller than a 
building. ;-)

Post a reply to this message

>> No, but it's a typical value with some tolerance.  On our drawings we 
>> always have stuff that is labelled like 16.68 +/- 0.20 mm, if they made 
>> all the parts with an average of 16.66 mm then some of them wouldn't fit 
>> together properly.
>
> As I understand it, the stuff you make is somewhat smaller than a 
> building. ;-)

Exactly the same principles though.

Imagine you have a rise of 3050mm that you want to meet with 10 steps, and 
you can make each step with a tolerance of +/- 50 mm.

You might specify each step as 305 +/ 50 mm, which will give you a total 
height of 3050 +/- 50 mm.  Using your argument though, you would say the 305 
is pointless and you may as well just say 300.  That would make every 
staircase 5cm out on average!

In buildings I would imagine that lots of distances add up, and if you don't 
at least aim to make each one correct, then at some point something is not 
going to fit.

Post a reply to this message

Orchid XP v7 a écrit :
> scott wrote:
>>>> That's because people who build the stairs works with that order
>>>> of tolerance (mm).
>>>
>>> So... what the hell do you do if you build some stairs, and the 
>>> sement sinks by 0.4 mm while drying? (A perfectly likely outcome.) 
>>> Then each step might be 0.4 mm out...! No noes! o_O
>>
>> Who secures stairs in place by resting them on unset concrete? :-S
> 
> I was thinking more that the *stairs* are made of concrete...

Concrete stairs are usually build in a workshop, poured into
a plywood form, upside-down (so the walking surface is at
the bottom of the form, giving a mostly perfect look and
dimensioning to the visible parts).

Fabien.

Post a reply to this message

Fa3ien wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 a écrit :
>> I was thinking more that the *stairs* are made of concrete...
> 
> Concrete stairs are usually build in a workshop, poured into
> a plywood form, upside-down (so the walking surface is at
> the bottom of the form, giving a mostly perfect look and
> dimensioning to the visible parts).

Really? I assumed they made them on-site. (And that that was the 
principle advantage of making stairs out of such an otherwise 
unattractive material when numerious better alternatives exist.)

Oh well, you learn something every day. ;-)

(Did you know, Boron is what makes silly putty so weird?)

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scott wrote:
> You might specify each step as 305 +/ 50 mm, which will give you a total 
> height of 3050 +/- 50 mm. 

Did you mean 305 +/- 5mm?

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     Remember the good old days, when we
     used to complain about cryptography
     being export-restricted?

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>> You might specify each step as 305 +/ 50 mm, which will give you a total 
>> height of 3050 +/- 50 mm.
>
> Did you mean 305 +/- 5mm?

Oops yes, actually no, thinking a little more about it the correct one would 
be 305 +/- 15.8.  (tolerances like this are normal distributions, not 
uniform...)

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