Part 3
For doors and windows, insert pieces same thickness, but large enough to receive the casings. These thin pieces inserted in the mortar joints are better and cheaper than plugs or wooden brick, which are apt to shrink and become loose when the brick-work dries. It is very important that flues for ventilation and chimneys be properly started (see “Chimneys”) and carried through the roof to a height, if possible, above the apex of the roof. Ventilating flues should run alongside the chimney flues where the construction favors them. Too much care cannot be taken in building these flues. They should be carefully and smoothly plastered on the inside, and no wood-work be allowed nearer than five inches from the inside of flue. It is customary to use headers (cross bricks) every five courses, to bind the walls together. Many people object to headers, and prefer to expose only the edge surface of the brick. This can be done by clipping the inside courses of outside brick so as to allow the middle course to lay angular across the wall, with opposite courses resting half way between and on the outside courses, or by using square brick. The latter is a saving of labor if they can be had at a reasonable price. The thickness of walls depends entirely upon the size of structure to be built. For ordinary dwelling-houses, twelve inches is thick enough for outside walls and nine inches for partition walls. Mortar for brick-work above foundation should be made of one part of good lime, slacked at time of mixing the mortar, and four parts of screened sharp sand. The cementing qualities of sand and fresh lime depend on the purity of the sand. By pure sand we mean that which is free from loam or clay.
STANDARD CHARCOAL ROOFING TIN SHINGLES.
Our Standard Charcoal Roofing Tin Shingles are made of such brands as “Mansel,” “Dean,” “Worcester,” “P. T. L.” &c., and guaranteed to be first-class, well-coated plates, perfect in finish. Next comes our Galvanized (re-dipped) shingle; this is our Standard Tin Shingle, taken after it is made and dipped into melted zinc, adding a second coat of fully twenty pounds on each square, giving with the tin, a more durable coating than that used on galvanized iron, making it absolutely rust-proof and saving painting. Next is what we call “Old Process” or “M. F.” This is what is known as “Old Style,” “Double-Dipped,” “Old Method,” and other names, but what is really a very superior article of roofing plate, having a much heavier coating than “Standard,” but, like it, has to be painted. There are many brands of practically one quality in the market, and, having no choice ourselves, we supply the brand preferred; but if the best is asked for, we send “Old Process,” believing it to be equal to any.
THE NATIONAL SHEET METAL ROOFING CO.
THINGS ARE ONLY GOOD OR BAD BY COMPARISON.
WALTER’S PATENT METALLIC SHINGLES COMPARED WITH SLATE.
Our shingles are not one-sixth the weight of slate, which greatly reduces the cost of the frame-work of roof. They readily conform to the shape of a roof, which slate will not do. Slate is not thoroughly fire-proof, as heat from an adjoining building on fire will cause the slate to crack, which would destroy the best roof in a few minutes, leaving the sheeting exposed. Especially is this the case if water is thrown on them while hot.
Our shingles are free from the many accidents to which slate roofs are liable, such as cracking from shrinkage of wood-work to which they are attached; breaking, caused by necessary repairs to the valleys or chimneys; and the effect of frost on defective slate. Such defects cannot always be avoided by ordinary observation. All builders of experience are aware of the expensive repairs necessary to keep a slate roof in good order, but perhaps the most inconsistent thing connected with the whole roofing business is the fact that nineteen-twentieths of all the houses covered with slate =have gutters lined with the same material of which our shingles are made=, while slate was used for covering because of its supposed durability.
Should anything fall on our shingles it would probably dent them without causing a break; but should it perforate them, the shingles can be replaced by another, or a leak can be soldered, and fire from an adjoining roof cannot more than injure the paint. They will cool off rapidly, retaining their shape.
WALTER’S PATENT TIN SHINGLES COMPARED WITH ORDINARY TIN ROOFING.
Of this we speak with the advantage of many years’ experience as practical roofers. The great difficulty metal roofers have to contend with is contraction and expansion of the metal under the changes of temperature. This cause alone calls for continued repairs in all flat lock or standing seam roofs, and the seams underneath are receptacles for any moisture which may condense on the underside of the metal. All such roofs first show decay in the cross seams, and this, while the body of the plates shows no sign of decay. Our shingles have no cross seam, and are sufficiently ventilated to prevent condensation of moisture; while a glance at their construction shows at once that the difficulty caused by contraction and expansion is successfully overcome. Our shingles do not require the skilled labor which is necessary to lay the flat lock or standing groove metal roofing, while the time required to lay a given surface is much less.
In estimating the difference of cost between the ordinary tin roofing and our shingle, a steep roof house alone must be taken in consideration, as our shingle is not proposed for a flat roof. (See “Comparative Cost,” pages 26 and 27.)
ROOFING SUNDRIES.
We were the first to manufacture a full line of Valley, Hip and Ridge Coping, Gable, &c., to enable the builder or roofer to use them at a reasonable price, and are the only factory in America prepared to furnish such trimming in any quantity; and while they are not absolutely necessary, they greatly lessen the amount of labor and cost of laying, besides adding a finish to the roof not otherwise obtained, so that the saving in labor will pay the additional cost.
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ROOF PAINT.—We use the best Brown Mineral Oxide of Iron, roasted and double-ground, mixed with boiled linseed oil, grinding them together, and adding only enough turpentine to dry in the air in seventy-two hours. We first dip the shingles, and after they have stood a short time, and before the paint has set, they are carefully gone over with a brush, insuring an even, perfect coat, not obtainable in any ordinary way of painting.
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All tin roofers, who have experience, know the importance of putting on a second coat. In spite of the best care in laying, more or less paint is scratched off, and without a second coat the roof is not finished. Architects and builders always require it, and if a heavy single coat of paint is given the roof every five or six years, there will be no perceptible wear on the tin, insuring many years’ service.
OUR NEW PATENT.
Our Queen Anne Shingles are designed expressly to meet a want often expressed for an attractive and artistic roof covering and outside decorating. They are not intended to take the place of our Standard Walter’s Patent, which for general use are incomparable, but less ornamental than the Queen Anne Shingles. They have bold clean cut lines, producing, from the effects of light and shade, the most striking and artistic roof yet produced by metallic shingles or tiles.
For church spires, belt coursing, towers or mansard roofing, they cannot be excelled. The cut illustrates the kind of finish used at the eaves and verge board. The same ridge coping used for our Standard Shingles can be used for this. This shingle must be seen to be appreciated.
We recommend the Bronze Metal, or the Galvanized Shingles for use on public or first-class private buildings, because such buildings should be covered with the best roofing material to be had.
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Each superficial foot of brick wall,
4 inches thick requires 7 brick. 8 “ “ “ 15 “ 12 “ “ “ 22 “ 16 “ “ “ 29 “ 20 “ “ “ 37 “ 24 “ “ “ 45 “
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SURFACE MEASURE.—All roofers compute roofing jobs by squares, which means 100 square feet, or 10 feet square. If you go to your architect or roofer and ask him how much it will take or cost to cover your roof, he will first ascertain how many square feet there are to be covered; and if, for example, there are 2,500 square feet he will tell you there are twenty-five squares to be covered; and in order to intelligently supply what is wanted, we put up our shingles in boxes of one square each; that is to say, each box of one square will cover one hundred square feet after they have been put on.
OLD MATERIALS.
In tearing down old work be as careful as in putting up new.
Old material should never be destroyed simply because it is old.
When putting away old stuff see that it is protected from rain and the atmosphere.
It costs about 15 per cent. extra to work up old material, and this fact should be borne in mind, as I have known several contractors who paid dearly for their “whistle” in estimating on working up second-hand material.
These remarks apply to wood-work only. In using old bricks, stone, slate and other miscellaneous materials, it is as well to add double price for working up.
Workmen do not care to handle old material, and justly so. It is ruinous to tools, painful to handle, and very destructive to clothing.
In my experience I always found it pay to advance the wages of workmen—skilled mechanics—while working up old material. This encouraged the men and spurred them to better efforts.
Sash frames, with sash weights, locks and trim complete, may be taken out of old buildings that are being taken down and preserved just as good as new by screwing slats and braces on them, which not only keeps the frame square, but prevents the glass from being broken.
Doors, frames and trims may also be kept in good order until used, by taking the same precautions as in window frames.
Old scantlings and joists should have all nails drawn or hammered in before piling away.
Counters, shelving, drawers and other store-fittings should be kindly dealt with. They will be wanted sooner or later.
Take care of the locks, hinges, bolts, keys and other hardware. Each individual piece represents money in a greater or lesser sum.
Old flooring can seldom be utilized, though I have seen it used for temporary purposes, such as fencing, covering of veranda floors while finishing work on plastering, etc. As a rule, however, it does not pay to take it up carefully and preserve it. Conductor pipes, metallic cornices, and sheet metal work generally, can seldom be made available a second time though all is worth caring for, as some parties may use it for repairs.
Sinks, wash-basins, bath-tubs, traps, heating appliances, grates, mantels and hearth-stones should be moved with care. They are always worth money and may be used in many places as substitutes for more inferior fixings.
Marble mantels require the most careful handling.
Perhaps the most difficult fixings about a house to adapt a second time are the stairs. Yet I have known where a man has so managed to put up new buildings that the old stairs taken from another building just suited. This may have been a “favorable accident,” but the initiated reader will understand him. Seldom such accidents can occur.
Rails, balusters and newels may be utilized much readier than stairs, as the rail may be lengthened or shortened to suit variable conditions.
Gas fixtures should be cared for and stowed away in some dry place. They can often be made available, and are not easily renovated if soiled or tarnished.
It is not wise to employ men who have nothing but their strength to recommend them. As a rule they are like bears—have more strength than knowledge, and lack of the latter is often an expensive desideratum. Employ for taking down the work good careful mechanics, and do not have the work “rushed through.” Rushers of this sort are expensive.
Never send old material to a mill to be sawed or planed, no matter how carefully nails, pebbles and sand have been hunted for, the saw or planer knives will most assuredly find some you have overlooked, then there will be trouble at the mill.
Have some mercy for the workman’s tools. If it can be avoided do not work up old stuff into fine work. If not avoidable pay the workman something extra because of injury to tools.
Don’t grumble if you do not get as good results from the use of old material as from new. The workman has much to contend with while working up old nail-speckled, sand-covered material.
_Builder and Woodworker._
HEATING.
I once knew a church building committee who planned and built quite a large church, and when I was called in to arrange for heating the building with a large furnace, the furnace committee were astonished when told that the building committee had forgotten the fact that the hot-air furnace required a chimney.
The construction of many houses suggests that houses built in the hot months of summer needed no special provision for heating. This is an important subject, and should be carefully considered in the construction of the plainest house. Always take climate, location and fuel into consideration. The open fire place, with fire on the hearth, is without doubt the most cheerful and healthful. This is the favorite and best mode for plain country homes. But in all instances, for churches and public halls, the open fire-place is not to be depended upon. There is a variety of good steam-heaters and hot-air furnaces to choose from. Consult the parties from whom you buy as to the size of heater required; its location, size of cold-air duct, register, pipe, etc.
For small rural churches that have no basement, construct a small room under the front entrance or vestibule; eight feet square, inside measure, is sufficient. Near its floor have a cold-air entrance leading to the furnace. Cover the opening with wire netting to prevent the entrance of mice. Use brick for the room, building the walls eight inches thick; leave openings 2½ × 4 inches, about one foot apart all around the bottom next to the floor. Carry the wall close to the ceiling, and make it tight by plastering carefully inside and out where it joins the ceiling. Cover the ceiling, by nailing to joists, with bright sheets of tin, and white-wash the brick-work inside. For entrance make a door 6 × 3 feet. A plain wooden one will answer. In the aisle of the church, immediately over this room, put a large grating, such as your furnace-men will suggest. In this room place your furnace, and have it _large enough_ to heat the room above during the coldest weather _without excessive firing_. With a larger capacity than necessary, the furnace will last longer, burn less coal, and give better results in every respect. As the furnace will radiate considerable heat, this can be utilized by running a pipe of proper size from the room to the vestibule or some other room. The objection to using this heat in the church is the noise of firing up, which would be annoying during church service. However, a furnace properly attended will not need firing during church service. Remember, a large volume of _warm_ air is what you want, and _not_ a small volume of _hot_ air. Never cover the grating or close the cold-air duct to cool off while there is fire in the furnace, but open the doors or windows of the church and check the fire. The closing of the grating or cold-air duct will injure the castings of the furnace by overheating them.
CLOSE SHEATHING THE BEST.
While a rain-proof roof can be made with our shingles, our system, as well as all metal or slate roofing should not be put upon open sheathing. If walked upon the metal will not support the weight, and bends out of shape, and the roof is blamed. In high latitudes where we have driving storms of fine snow or “blizzards,” _we specify close sheathing covered by paper_ (_using same rules as for laying slate_). We will then guarantee a perfect roof.
THE NATIONAL SHEET METAL ROOFING CO., 510 to 520 East 20th Street, New York City.
THE CISTERN.
Three things are all that are necessary to supply any family with the purest and best water in the world for drinking, cooking and washing purposes: a well-constructed cistern, a clean roof and a rain-fall.
These are within the reach of every one able to own a home. By a cistern we mean an excavation in the earth from twelve to twenty-five feet deep. Dig deep if you want cold water all the year round. From eighteen to twenty-five feet will produce it. If your cistern is dug in a clayey soil, there is no use of brick lining; but if in gravel, sandy or rocky soil, line the inside with hard, well burnt brick, and do the work well; using for mortar equal parts of hydraulic lime and clean, sharp sand. When completed, plaster the inside carefully with the same mortar. If the walls are clay plaster immediately on the sides and bottom, without lining with brick.
No roofing material is better for collecting chemically pure water than tin, and none so bad as wood shingles. They hold dirt which no ordinary shower will wash off, and furnish organic matter which is disagreeable to the taste and smell; the porous nature of wood makes it the home of myriads of insects, the remains of which are eventually deposited in the cistern and poison its waters.
No such objections can be urged against tin roofing. A short shower cleanses it thoroughly. Water-pipes leading into the cistern in every case should have a cut-off attachment within easy reach.
There are several on the market, but those having no inside arrangement to get out of order, or obstruct the direct passage of water into either the cistern or waste-pipe, are the best. The water should be strained before entering the cistern. This can be built of brick and be underground, or a cask can be used above ground. A strong, iron-bound linseed oil barrel answers the purpose. Its construction is very simple. Take out one end of the cask and perforate it with a sufficient number of one-inch auger holes; lay four brick on edge in the bottom of the cask, and let the perforated cask head rest upon them. Then fill the cask three-quarters full of charcoal, pounding it down on top pretty hard. Put on top of the charcoal clean, coarse gravel to within three inches of the top of cask; make a covering with an opening to receive the water which flows from the roof, and convey the water from the bottom of cask to the cistern. At least once a year this filter should be emptied and cleansed, putting in new charcoal and washing the gravel carefully. Let no summer months’ water run into the cistern. See that the first rain of a shower is used to wash the dust and soot from your roof before it is turned into the cistern, and you will have an abundance of water not equaled by any well or spring.
BUILDING PAPERS.
NEPONSET PAPER is absolutely water-proof and air-tight, is clean to handle, not tarred felt, but far more durable. Its resistance to air and dampness renders it unsurpassed under clapboards, iron roofing and wood or tin shingles.
CLIMAX is a light, clean, pink, colored paper; useful for any purpose where building paper is required; is much cheaper than Neponset, but not water-proof. The use of building paper under roofing or clapboards adds greatly to the ease of warming a building. By its use you save fuel and your house is more comfortable. Its cost is nominal compared with its advantages. We keep a large stock and fill orders promptly.
COLORS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM.
Blue and yellow makes green. White and yellow makes buff. White, yellow and black makes drab. White and black makes lead. White and black makes gray. White, black and blue makes pearl. White and lake makes pink. White, blue and black makes slate. Red, black and blue makes brown. Red, black and yellow makes maroon. Red and yellow makes orange. Blue and lake makes purple.
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U. S. MARINE BARRACKS, NAVY YARD, PENSACOLA, FLA., October 22d, 1887.
SIRS:—In compliance with your request, I have to say that about a year ago I was called upon to decide which of several kinds of roofing material to select for two barrack buildings, which I was constructing for the Government at this place. Owing to the heat and moisture of the climate, very destructive to wood, and the proximity of the Gulf of Mexico, which makes what is known as a salt atmosphere, very injurious to iron roofing, I was induced to try your system, and ordered the 14 × 20 size, I. C. Standard, some painted and some galvanized. As it was previously almost unknown to me, I had to assume the risk of its success, and have since watched it very closely; the more so, as it was laid by soldiers entirely unfamiliar with it.
After the first rain a close inspection failed to reveal a single leak. I have had it inspected after every heavy rain since then with the same result. On the 20th inst. we had the severest gale for many years, and the roofs not only resisted it in every way, but there was no rattle, which could not be said of our other tin roofs (old system).
You can refer any one to me for commendation of these points which are established; also of its architectural beauty, and I have little doubt as to the rest, for we painted it very carefully on both sides.
I am, Sirs, very respectfully yours,
HENRY CLAY COCHRANE, Captain U. S. Marine Corps, Commanding Post.
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The combination of cherry and light oak proves an excellent one for over-mantels, for, in addition to contrast of grain, and figure, and hue, is that of the high polish of which cherry is susceptible with the somewhat ridgy surface of the oak.
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One coat of paint takes 20 lbs. of lead and 4 gals. of oil per 100 square yards. The second coat, 40 lbs. lead, 4 gals. oil; the third, the same as the second—say 100 lbs. lead, 12 gals. oil per 100 square yards, for three coats.
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One gallon priming colors covers 50 square yards. “ white zinc “ 50 “ “ white lead “ 44 “ “ lead color “ 50 “ “ black paint “ 50 “ “ stone color “ 44 “ “ yellow paint “ 44 “ “ blue color “ 45 “ “ green paint “ 45 “ “ bright emerald “ 25 “ “ bronze green “ 75 “
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