ARE Live: Project Development and Documentation Mock Exam

Also, where does Structural Glass stand in all of this?

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The first question I went back and forth between B and C for so long. I didn’t think classroom walls were all that thick in width so I went with B but this webinar helped me understand why C was the answer and how tricky these questions can be!

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Question 5. I thought the skylight would’ve been tempered.

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Same here. I didn’t consider the insulation inside the air space but rather its own part of the wall

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god forbid get simple straight questions…lol

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Not necessarily. You’d use tempered wherever you don’t want big shards of glass falling on someone, laminated is more about keeping any sort of glass pieces stuck together. Laminated glass can also be used to reduce sound transmission in glass.

That’s what makes architecture fun, right? :slight_smile:

I felt efflorescence could be found in an air gap more than insulation since you could also insulate inside.

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1st question: How are you to build this wall type “D” when there is no access to the inner layer of gypsum board on either side of the 2 walls unless 1 of the walls are built elsewhere and placed there as a modular wall

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The first question. Whenever I picture someone screaming on the other side of the wall, it’s hard to picture Type C being any better than Type D if it has extra gyp layers. Also, if sound can vibrate through metal, Type D has extra layers to prevent that.

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I think they should have full-scale models so we can test them out. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I had the most difficulty with the first question. Both C & D looked correct. Sure enough both are technically correct but it is good to know that the actual correct answer is C.

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I have never hear of “board feet”. I think this is something I’ll need to look up further.

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Isn’t there also a problem with constructiblity of the gyp applied to the inside of both wall sections?

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Walls of this sort are typically done with shaft liner from constructing side of the wall. ‘CH studs’ are required for these assemblies: https://www.usg.com/content/dam/USG_Marketing_Communications/united_states/product_promotional_materials/finished_assets/usg-shaft-wall-systems-catalog-en-SA926.pdf

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About Question #2
A. Are the questions typically like this on the exam?

B. The air gap (my thought) would be the space from the back side face of the brick to the front side face of the rigid insulation - assuming the rigid ins. connected to the CMU in your example. The air gap is there for water drainage, drying and or evaporation — efflorescence would be present in that situation, I would respectfully suggest.

C. In addition, the factor of a vapor barrier was not addressed in the question? If it was, would the air gap be considered from exterior face of VB to interior face of veneer - thus including the rigid insulation if it was installed between the CMU and rigid ins.

I very much appreciate what you are doing and effort that you place in your work.
My question is only meant for a better understanding of how questions may be posed and to clarify how I should be viewing them.

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First wall is built, installed and finished. Second wall is built, one sided ( finished as required) and then they slide into place for installation.
It is very time consuming and many installers do not do a great job of this unless they are under close supervision.

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Hey @Karl, thanks for probing deeper into these topics! Questions like yours help everyone learn and develop a deeper understanding of how to apply critical thinking to similar exam items. Let me see if I can try to address some of your questions:

A. Yes, “Check all that apply” is a typical question format you can expect to come across on the exam.

B. The air gap is going to be the space from the back face of the brick veneer to the next building element (as you said). The process of efflorescence occurs when water containing salts reach the face of brick and the water evaporates, leaving behind only the salts on the surface of the brick. This most commonly occurs in winter months, when humidity points are low. During this time, the heat in the building will move outward and drive moisture in front of it as it causes the water to expand. So, when looking at potential efflorescence in an air gap verses on the face of a brick veneer, it’s more likely that we’ll see efflorescence on the exterior side of the veneer, due to heat from our building pushing outward (away from the building), not inward. In the summer we might expect efflorescence to appear on the interior side of our brick veneer (in the air gap) because we’d be cooling our building, thus pushing water from exterior (warm side) to interior of the brick (in the cooler air gap), but due to higher humidity rates, the water doesn’t have as good a chance of evaporating, which means the salts being pushed through the brick are less likely to stick to the surface of the brick, and more likely to drain through provided weep holes. All that said, it is unlikely to come across efflorescence in an air gap.

C. The vapor barrier does not change the definition of the air gap. The air gap is always going to be the intentional space between wall assemblies.

Reply if you have anymore questions or thoughts. I hope this helps!

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hey @scott, @Karl had a similar question. See my response below on why efflorescence is unlikely to be found in an air gap.

So for my clarification, the ridged insulation ,in the question 2, would technically not be in the air gap - correct?

Many thanks