From Tree to House

FROM TREE TREE

TO HOUSE HOUSE

BY ROBIN NELSON/PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEPHEN G. DONALDSON

FROM TREE TO

HOUSE

by Robin Nelson photographs by Stephen G. Donaldson

s Lerner Publications Company / Minneapolis

Table of Contents

Text copyright © 2004 by Lerner Publications Company Photographs copyright © 2004 by Stephen G. Donaldson All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publications Company, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Lerner Publications Company A division of Lerner Publishing Group 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nelson, Robin, 1971– From tree to house / by Robin Nelson ; photographs by Stephen G. Donaldson. p. cm. -- (Start to finish) Includes index. Contents: Loggers cut down trees – A Machine digs a hole – Builders make the basement – Builders make the floor – Builders put up the walls – Builders make the outside – Builders make the roof – Workers add wires and pipes – Workers finish the house. eISBN: 0–8225–2174–1 1. House construction—Juvenile literature. 2. Building, Wooden—Juvenile literature. [1. House construction.] I. Donaldson, Stephen G. ill. II. Title. III. Series: Start to finish (Minneapolis, Minn.) TH4811.5.N44 2004 690'.837—dc22 2003016544 Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 – DP – 09 08 07 06 05 04

Loggers cut down trees . . . 4 A machine digs a hole . . . . 6 Builders make the basement . . . . . . . . . 8 Builders make the floor . . 10 Builders put up the walls . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Builders make the outside . . . . . . . . . . 14 Builders make the roof . . . 16 Workers add wires and pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Workers finish the house. . . 20 The house is a home . . . . 22 Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

This is my new house.

How was it built? 3

Loggers cut down trees. The trees are sent to a sawmill. The sawmill’s machines saw trees into pieces of wood. The wood is sent to builders.

4

5

A Machine digs a hole.

Machines clear the land. They remove trees and rocks. Then a machine digs a hole for the house’s foundation and basement.

6

7

Builders make the basement. Builders put up hollow walls called forms. Trucks fill the forms with a mix called concrete. The concrete dries and gets hard. Builders remove the forms. The dried concrete makes the basement walls.

8

9

Builders make the floor. Concrete is poured for the basement floor. Builders lay long pieces of wood across the top of the basement walls. They nail thick sheets of wood onto the pieces. This is the floor of the house.

10

11

Builders put up the walls. Builders nail pieces of wood together to make the walls. Builders push up the walls and nail them into place.

12

13

Builders make the outside. Flat sheets of wood are nailed on the outside of the walls. Builders cut holes for windows and doors. Later, they add more wood and paint it.

14

15

Builders make the roof.

Builders build big triangles out of wood. The triangles are nailed to the top of the house. More pieces of wood are nailed on top of the triangles. The covered triangles make the roof.

16

17

Workers add wires and pipes. Workers put wires in the walls for electricity. The house needs electricity to make things work. Plumbers put pipes in the walls. Pipes bring water to bathtubs, toilets, and sinks.

18

19

Workers finish the house. Inside walls are added to make rooms. Walls also hide pipes and wires. Doors, windows, cabinets, and closets are put into the rooms. Workers cover the floors with carpet, tile, or wood.

20

21

The house is a home.

This is my new house. My family makes it a home.

22

23

Glossary

Index

concrete (KON-kreet): a mix of cement, sand, and water that gets hard when it dries

basement, 6, 8, 10

doors, 14, 20

floors, 10, 20

electricity (ee-lek-TRISSuh-tee): a kind of energy forms (FORMZ): hollow walls that shape concrete foundation (foun-DAYshuhn): the cement part on which a house is built sawmill (SAW-mihl): a place where wood is cut 24

pipes, 18, 20

roof, 16

walls, 8, 10, 12,

18, 20

water, 18

windows, 14, 20

wires, 18, 20