Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
shaped, the wire is then pulled around the
bales and pinned to both faces of the bales
(see Figure 5.2).
This method does cause some
frustration when the bales are being laid,
and care must be taken when working
around the wire to avoid injury.
Timber ribs
Timber ribs can be placed on door bucks
to stabilise the junction of the straw and
the door buck. Lateral stability can be
easily achieved when the door posts and
bucks are built from timber with a depth
of 140 mm or greater. This timber should
be not less than 45 mm thick. A rib of
timber 70 × 45 is to be fixed to the back of
the door buck. As the bales of straw are
laid against the door buck a groove is cut
out of the end of the bales to neatly fit
over the rib added to the back of the door
buck (see Figure 5.3).
If the notches in the bales are tight
over the rib of timber this will negate the
likelihood of independent lateral
movement between the timber and the
bales. This system also adds strength to
the door buck within the door jamb
thereby reducing the possibility of the
door jamb bowing under the weight of the
door. The rib should be fixed to the door
buck about every 300 mm with either
nails through the door buck set on a slight
skew to one another, or screwed through
the rib into the door buck. If the door
buck is to be stained it is best to use screws
as they are less likely to mark the face of
the door buck.
Figure 5.2
Wire netting fixed to the back of the door buck
and over the straw bales
Figure 5.3
190 × 45 door buck with 70 × 45 stiffening
and bale stabilising rib
Two-storey doors and windows
Door bucks that extend up two-storeys can provide a window frame to the upper floor.
My home in Heathcote, Victoria, has walls upstairs 1.3 metres high. I ran the door buck
from the floor all the way through to the top pitching beam, approximately 4.2 metres.
Laminated glass was fitted between the two door posts above the upper floor level. This
