Part 12

If we consider the machines used in the kitchen for cleaning purposes, a considerable list can be made, but the gas and oil stove and fireless cooker should not be forgotten, since they accomplish cleaning in a negative way, for they eliminate the dirt and ashes of the old-fashioned coal-range. Then, too, the automatic gas water-heater, and also the oil water-heater, give the best material for cleaning that is known to mankind—hot water. But as electricity becomes more available we have the electric stove and the electric water-heater, which is superior to the gas and oil heater, as far as labor-saving is considered. Then there is the electric dish-washer, which performs all the washing, rinsing, and drying operations. The dishes and other tableware are securely held in removable racks while being washed, thus preventing breakage. When not in operation this dish-washer can be used as a white-enamel-topped kitchen-table. One must not forget the electric silver-polisher and knife-grinder and other smaller instruments for cleaning that can be operated by a small motor.

_Machines for the Preparation of Foods_

Machines of this kind include a great variety of small inventions intended to safely store the food, prepare it for cooking, and cook it. There is the small electric refrigerator, the thermonor which keeps foods chilled by evaporation of water, the ordinary ice-box, with its special door to put ice in from the outside, the special receiving-box in the wall into which the milkman can place his milk-bottles in the morning or the butcher his meat. Then for the small house is the very important kitchen-cabinet, with its special place for the keeping of flour, sugar, dish-pans, and a hundred other things that are needed to be handy at the time of preparing the food. Electrically operated coffee-grinders, meat-choppers, bread-mixers, egg-beaters, toasters, coffee-percolators, chafing-dishes, samovars, frying-pans, teakettles, radiant grilles, and other similar devices are but a few suggestions of the multitude of inventions actually on the market and found practical as labor-saving machines. Why should one sweat at the brow on a hot summer day freezing the ice-cream when an electrically driven motor can do the same work at the cost of a few cents? Why should one swelter in the hot kitchen during the jam and jelly making season when an electric fan can give the necessary cooling breeze, and the electric stove apply the heat more to what it is cooking than to the surrounding atmosphere? Of course the answer is that the cost of such equipment is too high, but we are gradually learning how to make these articles cheaper, and also learning how much energy they save us. Old traditions are breaking down in the kitchen, and the new machines are accepted more readily than they used to be. No longer does the younger generation think that what was good enough for father or mother is good enough for it. Grandmother used to wear her fingers down peeling potatoes and carrots, and stain them black, but daughter prefers to use a simple scraping device of hard stones set in a waterproof substance, which acts like rough sandpaper upon the skins of the vegetables, and then grandmother used to chop meat in a bowl, but now it is put in at one end of an electric grinder and comes out hash at the other. The older generation of cooks were not attracted by labor-saving devices, but the point of view to-day is different. That is the reason that the small house is attracting more buyers to-day than formerly, for its small up-keep and its small and cheerful kitchen are means of escape from too heavy household duties.

_Machines for Moving Objects about the House_

The electric dumb-waiter belongs to this class, but it is not installed in small houses very often. However, every one can afford the clothes-chute, which guides the dirty clothes down to the laundry. The table-service wagon is a very convenient help in serving a meal and removing the dishes when there is no maid to wait upon the diners. Then there is the china-closet which opens through to the kitchen from the dining-room. The dishes are washed in the kitchen and placed in the closet, and at the next meal they are taken out from the dining-room side without waste of steps. The old ash-can need not be lugged out of the cellar if a small telescope hoist is installed, and the coal can be put into the cellar through a metal coal-chute, instead of through the window. Wet clothes from the laundry can be hung out of the window on a revolving drier without going out into the yard, or placed in an electric drier in the laundry on rainy days. The transportation of small objects about the house can be very much reduced if machinery for this purpose is installed in the beginning. Most people think it is worth the price, and as soon as they see a way to paying for it they are certain purchasers.

_Machines That Automatically Keep Watch_

There is no need of getting up at five o’clock in the morning to turn the draft on in the furnace so that the house will be warm by breakfast. An electric thermostatic control can be made to do this, and in fact it can be regulated to keep the house in good temperature all the day. It is not necessary to light a fire to have hot water if an automatic gas-heater is next to the boiler, which lights the gas with a pilot-light when the faucet is turned on or when the temperature gets below a predetermined number of degrees. One does not need to worry about burning the roast in the oven if an automatic clock-timer is on it, which turns off the gas after the meat has cooked the correct number of hours. Food in a fireless cooker never worries the housekeeper, for it will not burn, and she knows it will be ready to serve when taken out. She does not have to stay home to let the delivery boy in with the vegetables, for he can put them into a small metal box built into the wall, which has a door that permits him to put his goods in, but does not permit any one getting an arm into the house, and the ice-man can deliver ice without calling her to the door. And so it goes; each new invention along this line removes the need of thinking of the small things about the house and of being continually on hand and a slave to them.

_Machines to Simplify the Toilet_

We often forget the elegance of the modern bathtub, but think of the labor of our forefathers when the bath night came around. The water had to be heated on the stove, the tub gotten out and filled with cold water from the pump, and then warmed up with the water in the teakettle, and after all was finished the water and tub had to be removed. It was quite an event, and there is no wonder that a bath was taken only once a week. But what is it to have a bath to-day, with plenty of hot water, a thermostatic control of its temperature, a fine shower, and a warm bathroom. But such things as a bathroom with its modern lavatory, water-closet, and bathtub and tiled floor and wainscot are commonplace things, and are always expected to be installed in a house. One does not question the advisability of spending money on this equipment, and so it will be in the future with much of the machinery which we hesitate to buy to-day on account of the additional cost in the construction of the house.

If one is willing to spend the money, electrically operated shampooing-machines can be installed, curling-irons, vibrators, ozonators, hair-driers, shaving-mugs, heat-baths, etc., but these seem luxuries to us yet. But will the next generation look upon them this way? A very elegant bathroom may also be equipped with built-in receptacles in the tile wainscot for holding soap, sponges, toilet-paper, tumblers, tooth-brushes, etc. Fine white-enamelled medicine-cabinets are not uncommon to see built into the walls. Glass rods for towels and glass shelves for miscellaneous objects add much to the practical up-keep of the bathroom. Faucets over the bathtubs and lavatories are now covered with white enamel and have porcelain handles, so that the work of polishing nickel ones is done away with. Water-closet bowls are designed with such deep water-seals and with such powerful flushing-jets that they do not need the cleaning that the older types required. Tubs are built into the walls and down on the floors, so that dirt cannot collect under them, as it did under the old leg-supported tubs. Thus each year brings forth more improvements that are helping to reduce the labor of keeping house.

XVII CONCRETE WORK AROUND THE HOUSE

Concrete has become such an excellent servant to the needs of various objects built around the house that no apology will be offered for devoting a chapter to its use. Of course, one is familiar with the artistic flagstone walk with open joints through which the grass is allowed to grow, and one cannot deny the beauty of brick pavements; but in spite of these the concrete walk is found about more houses wherever one goes than any other type, and, although in most cases very ugly, yet it cannot be relegated to the past even by the most fastidious, for its existence depends upon very fundamental qualities of practical serviceability. And likewise, although we may not have seen concrete walks that had the charm of rubble-stone or brick, yet they are coming to be used more and more, for they can be made to appear very beautiful if properly made. Concrete garden furniture, concrete pools, fountains, garden ornaments, tennis-courts, and other familiar adjuncts to the lawn about the house, are making themselves evident on all sides. There is something about the material that lends itself to such uses, for even the owner of the house can get out and work in it, and need not call in a contractor.

However, much of the prejudice that exists against concrete is due to its usual ugly appearance, which is no fault of the material but of the one who built with it. We see too much concrete that is dull, pasty, and gray, and marred on the surface with cobweb lines of cracks; but this need not be. Concrete surfaces can be made as brilliant as any other material by properly treating it. All that is needed to do this is to carefully study the methods of producing textures, and texture is nothing more than breaking up the surface into small patches of light and dark, so intermingled that they give interest. For example, after the forms have been removed, the outside of the concrete can be covered with cement mortar, thrown onto it with a whisk-broom, which will make the mortar stick to the surface in little lumps and hills. The light playing over such a surface will cast shadows in the hollows between the lumps and light up the tops of the lumps. This will give a texture of interest that is pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, the cement mortar may be plastered over the surface of the concrete and used as a sticking bed to hold small pebbles of different colors and shades thrown against it. These pebbles will be colorful, some dark and dull and some light or sparkling like glass. Thus a play of broken light will be thrown back from the surface to the eye, and the observer will be pleased. Then, too, the outer layer of the cement, which was next to the forms, may be composed of white cement and some aggregate like small chips of marble. When the forms are removed it will be found that this beautiful aggregate will not show, but the entire surface will partake of the monotonous white or gray of the cement. However, if this thin coating of cement is removed, then the variety and sparkle of the aggregate below will be revealed. This might be done by striking the surface all over with a stone-cutting tool which is used to surface stones, or it might be done by a scrubbing or rubbing with carborundum blocks. There are innumerable ways by which texture can be developed on anything made of concrete, and experimenting in this line is a most fascinating employment. For this reason, if properly handled, concrete is particularly adapted to the making of all kinds of house accessories, since it is also easily shaped in moulds.

The materials used for this concrete work have much to do with its success. Ordinarily there is no need of inspecting the cement, for most of the well-known brands of cement on the market are about as reliable as human effort can make them. The materials which do need consideration, however, are sand and gravel. The one essential of sand is that it be free from loam, mica, clay, and organic matter. No sand should contain more than 3 per cent by weight of loam or clay or 1 per cent of mica. The quantity of loam or other fine impurities can be determined by shaking the sand up with water in a bottle, and allowing it to settle. The fine impurities will settle on the top and its proportional relation to the sand estimated. To determine whether the sand has much organic matter in it, a 12-ounce prescription bottle can be filled with sand to 4½ inches and then added to this should be added a 3-per-cent solution of caustic soda until this solution and the sand fill seven ounces. The contents should be shaken well and allowed to stand for twenty-four hours. If the liquid which settles on top shows a dark color, then the sand has too much organic matter in it, but if it is clear or slightly yellow it may be used without washing. The size of sand particles should be such that they will pass through a quarter-inch screen.

The usual size of aggregates should range from one-quarter inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and the various sizes should be so graded that they will make the most compact mass. The common run of bank gravel must be screened and washed. To make really good concrete that is water-tight, the grading of the aggregate is most important.

In fact, to determine the various quantities that should be used of the materials on hand, some method must be adopted to give the quantity of cement necessary to fill the voids in the sand and the quantity of cement and sand necessary to fill the voids in the aggregate. A rather crude way of doing this is to employ water as the measure of the voids. Fill a pail with sand, and then pour water into it until the water, which is absorbed by the sand, comes to the same level as the sand. Note the quantity of water used up. If it represented 45 per cent of the volume of the sand, then it is known roughly that about 50 per cent of the volume of the sand ought to be the quantity of cement needed to fill in the voids of the sand. Thus, one part of cement to two parts of sand. If now the gravel is measured in the same way and it is found that the voids show about 40 per cent of the volume of the aggregate, then, assuming a little more than the water shows, about 50 per cent of sand and cement will be required to fill up these voids. That is, there should be just twice as much stone as there is cement and sand. We finally, then, arrive at the proportion for the concrete as follows: 1 part of cement to 2 parts of sand to 4 parts of gravel.

The amount of water which is added to make the mixture of concrete should not be too much. It should be of such a quantity that the mix is mushy but not watery, even when it is to be poured into forms.

_Sidewalks and Porch Floors_

It is generally recognized that one-course concrete sidewalks are the most successful when built by the average workman, for the slab is of one uniform body and not two layers, which might not have knitted together properly. For porch floors and walks these slabs should be 5 inches thick and laid on a good foundation. It is best to excavate 4 inches for the depth of the walk, tamp the ground, and pour water over it, to note whether it is absorbed or stays on top. If it is not readily drained off, it ought not to be used as the foundation of the walk, but should be excavated to a depth of 10 inches to 12 inches. In this excavation should then be tamped gravel or cinders, and some provision should be made by which any water that would seep through this gravel may be drained off. The timbers used for the forms along the edges of the walk may be 2 by 6’s, held in position with pegs. Slabs should then be determined for length. Usually they should not be in excess of 6 feet in any one direction and ¼-inch expansion joints should be placed in the walks every 25 feet. If alternate slabs are laid, the forms can be removed, so that the intermediate slabs can be poured between them. Of course, a partial bond will be developed between slabs in this way, but these joints will be the weakest point in the walk, and if settlement takes place unequally and one slab breaks from the other, the crack will develop at this joint and not appear on the face. The expansion joints should, however, be real separations, made with strips of asphaltic felt set between slabs. The usual mixture for concrete walks should be 1 part cement to 2 parts sand to 3 parts of gravel. The mixture should not have too much water in it, and when poured into the forms the top should be levelled off with a straight stick stretched across from one side of the form to the other. Too much trowelling should be avoided, since this is apt to draw excess water to the surface and also cement, which will show hair cracks when hardened. It is best not to use a metal trowel but a wooden one, so that a partial sandy surface is made. After the walk has been laid it should be protected from drying out too quickly by laying over it 4 inches of earth or two or three layers of burlap, which should be wet down about twice a day for a week. All walks and porch floors should have graded tops, so that water will run off of them. This is usually ¼ inch to the foot.

Sometimes porch floors give trouble from “dusting” and wearing away of the surface to a gritty and rough condition. This may have been caused by allowing the floor to dry too quickly or by having trowelled it too much and drawn cement to the surface. It may be remedied by using some one of the commercial floor hardeners or by painting the floor with water-glass solution or boiled linseed-oil. Water-glass solution should be diluted with 4 to 6 parts of water and applied with a brush in as many coats as the concrete will absorb. When boiled linseed-oil is used, it should be allowed to dry between coats, and as many coats should be added as the concrete will absorb. Both of these treatments will darken the floor, but the latter will darken it the most, and appears to be more effective.

_Tennis-Court_

In laying out any other platform construction of concrete, such as a tennis-court, the same principles of construction should be observed which were given above for sidewalks. However, more care should be taken with the drainage and foundation of the tennis-court. Not only should the 6-inch cinder or gravel bed be laid, but all around the outer edge of the court should be dug a trench about 18 inches wide and 3 feet deep. There should be laid at the bottom of this a drain-pipe, with open joints, sloping from the centre of one end of the court around both sides and joining together again at the middle of the other end and connected with another pipe to carry off the water of that drain-pipe to some lower level. The diameter of the drain-pipe should be about 5 inches and the slope 6 inches from its highest level to its lowest level. The upper surface of the court itself should slope across from one long side to the other with a pitch of 2 inches. The division lines of the slabs should follow as closely as possible the division lines of the tennis-court. The length of the concrete platform should be 21 feet greater at each end than the length of the court and the width 12 feet wider each side. This makes the entire concrete court 60 feet by 120 feet.

_Concrete Driveway_

Such driveways may lead to the garage or up to the porch of the house. One of the cheapest types to the garage is a double runway for the wheels of the automobile. These runways should be about 4 feet 8 inches on centres and made 18 inches wide. They should be constructed in the same way that walks are built.

Where a full-width concrete driveway is built, it should be made about 6 inches thick at the centre and 5 inches at the edges, sloping from the centre out. At intervals of every 25 feet expansion joints should be built as was specified for walks.

_Concrete Steps_

The only difficult problem in the construction of concrete steps is the making of forms. These should be well braced to prevent bulging when the concrete is tamped into them. The aggregate ought not to be over ¾ inch diameter, so that as the material is tamped into the forms and the sides spaded, a good surface will be left when the forms are removed. If the aggregate is too large, some pieces may catch along the forms, and when they are removed large holes will be found in the risers of the steps. The treads should be finished with a wood trowel.

_Small Retaining Walls_

Wherever terraces or lawns need the support of a small retaining wall, concrete is excellent for this purpose. The foundations of such walls should be carried down below the frost-line. The usual mixture is 1 : 2 : 4. Drains should be built at intervals along the lower part of the wall, to allow the seeping ground water to come out. At intervals of about every 25 feet expansion joints should be made, somewhat the shape of the tongue and groove in flooring. The base of such a retaining wall should be at least as wide as ⁴/₁₀ the height of wall.

_Pools and Fountain-Basins_

Such ornaments to the garden are not entirely outside of the possibilities of the small house owner’s pocketbook. They should have the exterior walls carried down below frost-level, and the bottom and sides reinforced with steel. For the bottom woven-wire reinforcement will answer the purpose and for the sides ⅜-inch reinforcing rods should be used. These pools ought not to be more than about 2 feet deep, in which case the bottoms may be made 6 inches thick and the sides 12 inches at the top and 14 inches at the bottom.

_Ornamental Garden Furniture of Concrete_

There is no great difficulty or secret in making simple garden furniture of concrete. Generally where the furniture is of simple lines, the mould can be made of wood. If, say, a bench is to be made, the top might be moulded as a slab of concrete, and the legs at the ends as slabs, and all fitted together. If flower-boxes are desired, the mould would necessarily have to be a little more complicated, but not greatly so. The one thing to remember in making any of these moulded bits of concrete is that they should always have embedded inside of them reinforcing wire lath.

Of course the making of ornamental pots and vases is rather difficult and takes some skill. Here the original shape must be modelled in clay, and a plaster mould made of it, which is shellacked inside and greased. Special cores must also be designed, and where fine surfaces are desired various processes of mixing ingredients must be resorted to. This is a special field of itself, and men who do this kind of work generally have studied out methods of their own. Some examples of this kind of work are illustrated.

XVIII CLASSIFICATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL MOTIFS USED IN SMALL-HOUSE DESIGNING