Engineering

Becoming a fully licensed electrician is a great goal and is a fantastic career choice for anyone. The industry is constantly expanding and there will be a huge need for trained and experienced electricians within the next 10-15 years. That being said, training to become an electrician does take quite a bit of time. Need an after hours emergency electrician Brisbane now? Call us here at this number (07) 3062 8342.

You need to enter into, progress through, and complete an electricians apprenticeship with a union, guild, or trade school. Then you will need to pass your exams which are usually enforced at the state level. Even once you’ve become a licensed electrician, there are courses and tests you need to take. So, how much time does it really take to be a professional electrician?

How Long Does It Take To Become An Electrician?

The first part of becoming an electrician is to enter into a electrician apprenticeship with a local electricians union or guild. Most trade or technical schools also offer apprentice programs. Although it varies, depending on the contract, the average apprenticeship lasts between 3 and 5 years. During this time you will learn important and practical on the job skills that you absolutely need to succeed as a career electrician.

You will also be required to take courses on electrical theory. Taking a business course is also a good fit if you plan to eventually be in business for yourself. Over the course of your apprenticeship you will assist and learn from master and journeyman electricians. Tasks that you will perform include hauling materials, running wire through walls and floors, installing breakers, outlets, lighting fixtures and a number of other jobs. All of these jobs, even when they don’t seem so glamorous, will mold you into a true and successful electrician.

At the end of your apprenticeship you will need to take a state exam in order to obtain your electricians license. Check out the requirements in your state. Once you’ve passed the exam you will be a licensed electrician and will qualify for standard pay rates rather than the 40-70% you earned as an apprentice.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Master Electrician?

Once you’ve become a journeyman electrician, what does it take to become a master electrician? To be a licensed master electrician there are two routes you can follow. You can either work in the industry for around 7 years, varies depending on the state, or you can pursue an Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering at a university or college. Once one of the two requirements are met you can usually qualify to take the master electrician license exam which will test not only your practical electrician skills, but also your understanding of electrical theory and your knowledge of electrical planning. Read more the skills that you need to acquire to become and electrician.

A gravel driveway can be a classic, low-maintenance, and inexpensive addition to a home. It complements a range of house styles and—even better—is a reasonable undertaking for a determined DIYer. Here are the basics. Low maintenance cost for concrete driveway looks very simple but as long as you can park it doesn’t matter.

A gravel driveway can be very attractive in a characteristically unpretentious way, introducing casual curb appeal to the first and last element of your home that a visitor sees. Throughout the United States, gravel remains a perennially popular driveway material, not only for its aesthetics, but also for its relatively low cost in comparison with the alternatives. Furthermore, whereas poured concrete or patterned brick typically require professional installation, even a somewhat novice DIYer can install a gravel driveway successfully on his own, without having to pay for either design consultation or skilled labor.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS

– Landscape stakes
– String (or twine)
– Gloves
– Wheelbarrow
– Shovel
– Rake
– Hoe
– Weed barrier (optional)
– Gravel

Though it’s possible to cut corners, a well-made gravel driveway usually consists of three layers. In this striated approach, the bottom layer features six-inch-diameter crushed rock, while smaller, two- or three-inch stones form the middle layer. Only the third layer, the surface, comprises what most of us would recognize as true gravel. Here, eschew smooth stones in favor of rough, angular ones, because these can be depended upon to provide a firmer, more stable gravel driveway surface.

STEP 1
Using landscape stakes in combination with string or twine, define the path you wish the gravel driveway to take from the curb all the way to its end point. Next comes a labor-intensive proposition: To prepare the way for the gravel, you must remove any grass or topsoil from the marked-off area. If you’d rather not do this manually, consider bringing in a bulldozer—and someone to operate it—to make quicker work of this unglamorous but essential stage of the project.

STEP 2
Having cleared a path for the gravel driveway, now you need to calculate the volume of stones you’ll need. To do so, you’ll need to determine the number of cubic yards each layer will occupy. Start by measuring the length and width (in feet) of the driveway you’ve laid out, then multiply these two numbers together to find your driveway’s square footage. So, if the width is 10 feet and the length is 15 feet, your driveway will be 150 square feet. Multiply that number by the desired depth of each layer to get the number of cubic feet of stone you’ll need for each layer. The recommended height for each layer is four to six inches. If you want a four-inch layer, divide the square footage by 3 (because four inches is one-third of a foot). Now that you’ve calculated the necessary volume of stone in cubic feet, convert that number to cubic yards by dividing by 27 (because there are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard). Our 150-square-foot example is 50 cubic feet, or approximately 1.8 cubic yards (50 divided by 27), per layer. You’ll need about 1.4 tons of stone per cubic yard, plus four percent to account for compaction. So 1.8 x 1.4 x 1.04 equals your total order of stones (in tons) for one layer.

STEP 3
Think strategically when it comes to scheduling the delivery of the stones for your gravel driveway. (Also, bear in mind that some gravel delivery trucks are capable of not merely dropping off the stones, but also spreading them.) It’s best to schedule separate deliveries for each of the three driveway layers. Further, it’s recommended that you stagger the deliveries a few days apart, so you have time to address each layer in turn. If you’re spreading the gravel manually, prepare yourself for the job by assembling the right tools: a heavy-duty wheelbarrow, a shovel with a sturdy trough, and a rake with metal tines.

STEP 4
Before the first gravel delivery truck arrives at your property, it’s important to even out the dirt in the path of the driveway. Depending on the area of your driveway, you can handle this work with your own tools or by enlisting the help of a professional with a backhoe. Are you planning to lay down a weed barrier? Do it after you’ve finished smoothing out the ground; take pains to ensure that the fabric doesn’t bunch up.

STEP 5
The bottom layer of the gravel driveway, of course, goes in first. Once you have spread these six-inch stones over the driveway area in a single, interlocking layer, ideally you’d bring in a bulldozer to compact the stones with its roller. Failing that, so long as you don’t think you’ll imperil the tires, drive over the base layer repeatedly with your car (or a neighbor’s truck). The object here is to pack the crushed rocks into the soil beneath, creating as strong a foundation for your gravel driveway as possible.

STEP 6
Next comes the middle layer of two- to three-inch stones. In a perfect world, the gravel delivery truck would spread this layer for you, but whether or not that’s possible, the edges of the driveway are first going to need a little TLC. Neaten the perimeters with a shovel and rake and, if necessary, your gloved hands.

Finally, introduce the surface layer of gravel. To facilitate rainwater drainage, grade the stones in such a way that they peak in the middle of the driveway and incline slightly to the sides. Every few months, you may wish to use a rake to restore this peak. Likewise, you may need to neaten the edges from time to time. But for the most part, the gravel driveway you’ve now completed is—and will remain—a low-maintenance affair.

With fair weather having arrived finally, it’s time to turn your home improvement efforts to the backyard and your deck, porch, or patio—the parts of the home built specifically to enjoy the extra hours of sunlight. Guided by these practical pointers and inspiring ideas, you can introduce beauty, comfort, and utility to your backyard and outdoor living areas, making them as inviting and enjoyable as your home interiors.

Turning into our narrow, 200-year-old, packed-dirt driveway had always been arm-wrenching. In “mud-time,” during each spring run-off, the drive entry hosted a running stream, while a periodic spring turned the section beside the house into a bog large enough to swallow small cars. The turnaround at the rear of the house had turned into a swamp. Then, our New England, hill-country road was graded and paved—making the approach swampier still—and we decided it was high time to bring the Colonial-era wagon path up to the automotive-era demands of modern times. Now our problems and solutions will not be the same as yours, but the steps we took should help you build a driveway, or renew the drive, of your own country place. Landscaping and gardening can be two of the most cost-effective ways to add value to your cost of new driveway Perth.

Existing driveways should be “grandfathered” so that surface and interior improvements are exempt from building code and/or zoning regulations. However, if you are making a new or substantially enlarged curb-cut onto a public way, the “setback” from property lines, dimensions and construction of your driveway will require approval from the town(ship) highway supervisor or engineer. If entering a state or county road, an additional permit and inspection are needed. To find out applicable regulations, you can visit your town clerk. Even if it is not required, a consultation with the township or county road boss can provide invaluable help in designing and constructing the best driveway for your soil type, weather, and elevation. Indeed, you maybe able to hire the municipal crew and equipment for the heavy work. Keep in mind that rates are competitive and no one knows how to do the job better.

Early Roads: Building Lessons from the Past

A driveway is a miniature road. Lessons from the pre-mechanized past may be instructive, especially if you plan to do some of the work yourself:

With the advent of wheeled vehicles, Stone Age footpaths became rutted, swampy areas became impassable, and steep grades became untraversable. The first roads (built 3,000 years ago in the Greek islands) were ruts, chiseled into rock hillsides to guide soil and water carts up to terraced fields. Today, the same “technology” is used on mountain logging roads, where ruts are intentionally worn into curves and grades in order to keep fast-moving, heavily-loaded trucks on track when mud roads are wet and slippery. You may find that a rut trail serves just fine for the four-wheel-drive track out to your back 40. Cut the trail in late spring in soft, but not soaked soil, and dig out rocks and roots that are interfering with the ruts. With steady use, the trail should gradually become compacted over the summer and fall, and the ruts should keep you on the road and moving in everything except for axle-deep mud or deep snow.

Road Construction in History

Romans were the preeminent road builders of the ancient world. The illustration shows a cross-section of a typical Roman road. A stone footing, compacted gravel or rubble interior, and a cobble surface remained firm in wet weather but would not turn to dust on dry days. Sides were ditched to carry off water, and culverts and bridges were built over dips to carry water under the road. Cobble surfaces were fine for foot-Legions but too bumpy for wheeled vehicles, and construction was (forced) labor-intensive. In the 19th century, J. J. Mac Adam designed British roads with smoother surfaces that could be built quickly and economically by freemen and draft animals. Not oiled or asphalted like modern macadam roads, the top was of fine crushed rock that compacted with use to shed water, but would not become too dusty in the summer. The road was domed and ditched to carry off rain. Although modern highways have a deeper multi-level foundation and solid asphalt or concrete surface, they are really not much different from Mac Adam’s original design.

The Modern-Day Driveway

For your own driveway, it’s doubtful that you’ll want to bury stone blocks Roman-style. You’ll want to adopt Mac Adam’s formula of digging out topsoil and laying in a well-ditched, contiguous-ribbon wedge of adhesive soil and rocks, compacted to repel water and topped so it won’t grind to dust.

I’ll warn you now that this article covers only driveways of forgiving natural materials, which homeowners can design, build, and maintain at reasonable costs. I’ve seen too many amateur-laid thin, unreinforced concrete driveways crack, and too many asphalt driveways go gummy and sprout grass because they weren’t rolled and the underlayment wasn’t salted. Oh, there is a cold-set, water-mix asphalt you can buy in drums or pickup-truck lots, but it is suitable for walkways at best. Preparing a rolled gravel surface for hot-top or laying forms for concrete—and then trying to lay transit-mixed concrete or stick-to-everything-but-the-gravel asphalt so it turns out uniformly smooth—is no job for an amateur. If you want an asphalt or concrete driveway, save your pennies, look in the Yellow Pages…and have pros do the whole job.

Planning the Driveway Design

The first step is to design (or redesign) your driveway so that it will handle modern vehicular traffic. The driveways of old country homes were designed for horses and wagons. They are narrow, have tight curves, and negotiate hills too abruptly for modern vehicles, so these old driveways need to be broadened and have their transitions eased.

When you buy a new home, layout of the driveway should be a major factor in the location and orientation of house and outbuildings. Walk the land until you know every dense stand of mature trees, every stream, wet spot, and rock outcropping. Then using a plat or survey map (if you have one), or paying for a topographical survey if you must, draw a detailed map of the land. Toy around with alternative layouts—avoiding as many hazards as you can. The more time you spend with paper and pencil, the easier time you will have when you go to lay out the driveway.

Few of us have much choice when it comes to the compass direction that our driveway faces and the terrain that it will traverse. If you do have an option, pick a southern exposure which will melt snow and dry quickly. Don’t build a driveway along the route of prevailing winds; it can become an expressway for cold blasts in winter and dust devils in summer.

If the driveway is long and must run over extreme or complex elevations, across year-round streams or swamps—or must be blasted through rock ledge—you are in for a major expense. If this is the case, you are best advised to hire a civil engineer to lay it out for you. If your driveway is short or on land with a gentle grade and easy rise and fall, you can do your own planning and layout on-site. Your strong back or a good heavy-equipment operator can do the rest.

Traffic Safety and Driveway Visibility

Traffic safety comes first, and you must locate and design the driveway entrance to offer ample visibility. Be certain that you check with the town clerk for local regulations. But in a typical rural jurisdiction, the view from the driveway (its aspect ) must offer a clear view of oncoming vehicles for 500 feet in both directions on a highway carrying high-velocity (over 50 mph) traffic; and for 100 feet if it is a low-speed road.

To evaluate aspect, sink sticks at each side of your driveway entry so that their tops are four to five feet above the road surface. Measuring from the center of the driveway along the road, set one stick to your right on the far side of the road, and the other to the left on your side of the road. Check aspect as though you were sitting in a vehicle with its front bumper 10 feet back from the road edge. If you can remove trees or other obstructions to better see the stick tops and you can open a clear vista between them, get out the chain saw. If sharp curves, immovable terrain, or buildings preclude a safe aspect, then you’re going to have to redesign or relocate the driveway. If on a sharp curve, you may be able to widen or branch the entry, or you can build a one-way driveway across the curve to provide an acceptable aspect at each end. If you cannot come up with a suitable plan, you may need a variance. Again, go and see the town clerk.

The Driveability Factor

Your second consideration should be driveability. The driveway must provide safe, easy access for a motor vehicle from the road to the house (and back) in all weather. You’ll want space for two vehicles to pass each other at the entry, at the house end, and on blind curves (at least). Zoning regulations will stipulate the width of your driveway and its grade for a minimum distance beyond the curb cut. A typical one-vehicle driveway is eight to 10 feet wide (12 feet is better) with a grade of no more than two percent at the entry—that is, rising no more than two feet in 100 feet of length—and a grade of no more than eight percent thereafter (and five percent is better). Unless you want to burn out your clutch, a maximum grade is 15 percent. Curves should be gradual—arcs of a circle with a radius of at least 24 feet. A 48-foot turning radius is better (and essential if you want a moving van or UPS truck to get in and out).