What Is Wood Shuttering? Difference Between Centering And Shuttering?
What Is Wood Shuttering?
Wood shuttering is a form of temporary construction structure made out of timber and plywood. It is used to create the shape or size of a concrete structure, such as walls, columns, beams, slabs, and foundations.
Special-grade plywood must be used for shuttering because it needs to be water-resistant. Although it can take some time to construct large or complex shapes if done onsite, it’s fairly easy to build and assemble compared to other types of formwork.
What Kind Of Wood Is Used For Shuttering?
Shuttering for casting concrete on site is usually constructed using lower-grade carcasing timber with a planed sawn edge (PSE).
This type of timber is commonly used in combination with plywood and OSB board to create shuttering for pouring concrete. It is an ideal choice due to its affordability, sustainability, and relatively easier availability compared to other types of wood.
Additionally, it offers great strength and durability when put through the rigors of construction projects.
What Is The Difference Between Formwork And Shuttering?
Shuttering in construction is an important step for a successful building. It provides support to the wet concrete mix till it hardens and gets the strength to hold its shape without external help.
It helps create sharp corners, smooth surfaces, or any other desired shape or size with accurate dimensions according to the design of the structure. It also prevents damage from external forces such as wind, rain, etc., thus ensuring that the end product is of top quality.
Shuttering also makes sure that no leakage occurs due to inadequate curing and improper placement of reinforcement bars which can result in compromised strength of the structure.
Overall, shuttering plays a vital role in providing a strong and secure base for building construction.
What Is The Difference Between Centering And Shuttering?
Centering and shuttering are both formwork techniques used in construction to hold the concrete in the desired shape until it has hardened. The primary difference between centering and shuttering is the shape of the formwork being created.
Centering is used for horizontal members such as floor beams or slabs while shuttering is used for vertical members such as columns, footings, and retaining walls. Both methods provide support to the concrete structure until it has been set and can hold its own weight.
What Tools Are Needed For Shuttering?
Shuttering is an essential process in construction and requires the use of specific tools to be effective. These include a right angle, line thread, tube level, hammer, hand saw, spirit level 2-3 m, plumb bob, total station, shuttering tape, measuring tape, chipping tools, and pinch bar.
These tools enable the shuttering process to effectively and efficiently shape the material for various projects such as columns, beams, and slabs. The right angle enables accuracy when joining pieces of shuttering material together.
The line thread helps ensure that no leakage occurs around these joins when concrete is poured in. The tube level allows for easy leveling of materials during the shuttering process while the hammer helps to fix down certain materials or pieces during installation.
The hand saw ensures accurate cuts can be made while the spirit level 2-3m helps with vertical alignment of materials when installing lintels and other areas that require higher levels of accuracy.
Other tools such as a plumb bob and total station help guide measurements so that perfect shapes can be achieved on complex structures.
Finally shuttering tapes provide both flexibility and strength while chipping tools help with finer details where smooth finishes are required upon completion of formworks erection works.
What Is The Length Of Shuttering?
The length of shuttering is necessary in order to determine the amount of material and labor required for construction. Generally, the perimeter of a formwork is calculated depending on its shape.
For example, if it is a square then its perimeter is given by 4S (where S = Length of Side); whereas, if it is a rectangle then its perimeter can be worked out as 2[L+B] (where L=Length & B = Breadth).
Similarly, the perimeter of a circle can be calculated as 2πr (where r = Radius of the circle). Thus, detailed calculations can be done to measure the exact length needed for shuttering.
