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W.B. McKay
Hardback £69.00 $138.00
Publication date 2005
480 pages
ISBN 978 1 873394 72 4
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UK and Rest of World |
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US only |
This is a new reprint of the combined three volumes that McKay published between 1938 and 1944. It primarily describes the craft of building as practised before the second world war, prior to the introduction of modern materials and building techniques. McKay offers conservation practitioners an essential understanding of the traditional forms of construction, covering the use of masonry and brickwork, carpentry and joinery, slating, plumbing and drainage.
The book includes: the author's extensive, highly detailed drawings to illustrate the text; useful material on traditional craft practice - essential for undertaking repairs: explanations of terminology and techniques - simply described.
Volume I
BRICKWORK: Materials; Bonding; Stopped ends; Junctions and quoins; Piers; Jambs; Foundations; Damp proof courses; Site concrete; Offsets and corbels; Lintels; Arches; Window sills; Thresholds; Copings; Plinths; Tools; Construction; Jointing and pointing
MASONRY: Classification of stones; Quarrying; Preparation; Defects; Walling; Rubble work; Ashlar; Arches; Window sills; Plinths; Cornices; String courses; Copings; Masonry joints; Mortar jointing; Lifting appliances
CARPENTRY: Structure, growth, felling, seasoning, preservation, conversion, defects and classification of timber-floors; Single, double and framed roofs; Trench timbering; Centering
JOINERY: Ledged braced and battened, framed ledged braced and battened, panelled and flush doors; Casement, cased frame, pivoted and Yorkshire windows; Hardware; Architraves, skirtings, picture rails and angle beads; Nails, screws and fasteners; tools
SLATING: Formation, quarrying, conversion, preparation and characteristics of slates; Centre-nailed and head-nailed slating details; Nails; Ridges; Hips; Valleys; Tools; Plain tiling
PLUMBING: Manufacture and characteristics of lead; Lead rolls, drips, flashings and soakers; Details of leadwork at gutters, flats, chimney stacks, ridges, hips and valleys; Lead pipe joints; Eaves gutters; Down-pipes; Tools
MILD STEEL SECTIONS, BOLTS AND RIVETS
Homework programme
Volume II
BRICKWORK: Materials, including bricks, lime, cement, mortars and concrete; Squint junctions; Squint quoins; Rebated and splayed jambs; Piers; Cavity walls; Circular work; Raking bonds; Reinforced brickwork; Special bonds; Arches; Damp proofing of basements; Open areas; Stepped foundations; Concrete floor construction; Decorated brickwork; Fireplaces; Flues; Chimney breasts and stacks; Setting out
DRAINAGE: Sewage disposal; Drain pipes and traps; Setting out and excavation of drain trenches; Construction of drains; Drainage schemes; Intercepting and inspection chamber; Ventilation; Testing
MASONRY: Formation and classification of stones; Granites; Sandstones; Limestones; Marbles; Slates; Defects; Tests; Quarrying and mining; Machine dressing; dressings to door and window openings; Cornices; Steps and stair
MILD STEEL ROOF TRUSSES: Bolts and rivets; Details of roof trusses suitable for 20-ft., 30-ft., 30 to 40-ft. and 40-ft. span
Homework programme
Volume III
CARPENTRY: Classification, structure, conversion, seasoning, preservation, defects, characteristics, uses, preparation and sources of timbers; Woodworking machinery; Doubled, framed and fire-resisting floors, Determination of sizes of joists and beams, and floor finishes; Stoothed, trussed and slab partitions; Sound-proofing; Double, laminated and Queen post roofs; Deep trench timbering; Centering
JOINERY: Transomed, semicircular headed, glazed and flush doors; Semicircular headed and three light cased windows and metal windows; Details of straight flight, Dog-leg and open stairs, Winders and special steps; Manufacture, characteristics and uses of plywood, laminboards, blockboards, battenboards and composite boards
ROOF COVERINGS: Manufacture and characteristics of clay, shale and asbestos; Cement tiles and sheets; Details of plain, pan, Italian and Spanish tiling, asbestos-cement sheeting, stone slating, shingling, and copper and zinc roofing; Thatching
Homework programme
Syllabus in building construction, stage two
Index to three volumes.
McKay's Building Construction should be on the desk of everyone involved with the repair and maintenance of buildings using the construction methods it contains.
Journal of Architectural Conservation
For some, this book will be an old acquaintance form student days, dipped into as the need arises. but for those educated in more recent years, its drawings and references to traditional materials seem to speak of a bygone era.
For those who do not have the early editions of McKay's. or have no time to scour second-hand bookshops, this will be a good resource
SPAB Cornerstone