Part 6
Glancing around at the walls of the living-room and the dining-room we notice that the wall-paper has cracked in a number of places, pulled up, and curled away. It is extremely ugly and unkempt, and we remark about it to the owner. He says that he is completely discouraged about it, that he has tried everything to make the wall-paper stay down, but that as soon as the winter comes on, the steam-heated air on the inside and the cold air on the outside seem to draw the paper up and away, pulling the surface of the plaster with it. He has glued large pieces of paper which have curled up in this manner back into position again, but the plaster was so weak that as soon as the paper began to peel off, the top layer of plaster pulled away with the paper. In fact, examining one example of this, we observe that the paper which had sprung loose from the wall has underneath it a thin coat of plaster about a sixteenth of an inch thick, showing that the glue had fastened the paper to the plaster, but the plaster itself had given way. This type of plastered wall is the result of using cheap materials, and it is another evidence of the extremes to which contractors will go to save money and deceive the buyer.
As we pass by one of the pockets into which the sliding-doors roll we feel a draft coming out of it, and we question the owner whether the house is cold in winter, and he admits it is worse than we suspect. He informs us that it is especially cold on the second floor in those rooms where the floors project over the porch. We ask him whether he has noticed any drafts coming in through the cracks around the base-boards and trim, and he points to these cracks, showing us bits of cotton which he has plugged into them. We suspect that what is the trouble is the omission of sheathing-boards over the studs between the roof of the porch and the ceiling-joists where this roof intersects with the house wall, and also the failure to fill with cinders the space between the floor-joists of the projecting part of the room which extends over the porch. That this is true the owner admits, for he had noticed it while repairing a few shingles on the roof of the porch. The contractor had saved a little money by this trick, and no one could tell that he had done it by merely looking at the exterior.
This same line of inquiry leads us to ask the owner about the heating-plant, and we find that the house cannot be properly heated. We therefore suspect that the radiation is too small, so we calculate the required size of a radiator for one room, and find that the one actually installed is too small. Yet, as the owner says: “When he bought the house, how was he to know that there was not a large enough heating-plant?”
We inquire then whether he has any trouble with the fireplace, which we presume he must use to help out on cold days. He admits he cannot keep it from smoking badly. So we go over to it and run our hand up into the throat to feel around, and find that there is no smoke-chamber, and, what is more, the flue is only about 4 inches by 8 inches, and is not even lined with terra-cotta flue tile. We inform him that he will never have a good fireplace draft until that chimney is rebuilt, and that the size of the flue looks more like the vent for a gas-log than anything else.
We then went through the house noting as many defects as we could, which were beginning to make their appearance. For example, we find that all the doors are badly sagging, showing that the blocking has been omitted from the back of the jambs where the butts are screwed on. The putty in the windows is crumbling out, as though it were clay. All the thresholds are of soft wood and are wearing badly. The trim in many places was springing and twisting, due to the use of cheap and poorly seasoned wood and the omission of enough nails. Some of the door-stiles are made of two pieces which have opened up at the joints and left ugly cracks. All the stairs squeak badly, indicating that they had been poorly built. Some of the balusters have worked loose and rattle in their mortises, and the hand-rail shakes when it is grasped.
We notice a number of stained ceilings, and inquire about the roof. We are informed that it has leaked badly in the valleys, where the tin is not wide enough to prevent the water which runs down one slope from washing up under the shingles of the adjoining slope and over the edge of the flashing tin of the valley into the house. We learn also that the shingle roof of the porch, which has a very slight incline, continually leaks, and looking out upon it we notice that the shingles are set nearly 7 inches to the weather instead of less than 4 inches, as they should be for so small a pitch.
We notice that it has leaked around the windows, and, observing the top of the trim on the exterior, note that there is no flashing over it to throw off the water flowing down from the clapboards. While we are examining the windows the owner volunteers to tell us about his experience with the windows on the second floor. After he had bought the house he found that only one window in each bedroom had any weights and sash-cords in it, and that he had to buy these for all the other windows when he discovered it. He says he never thought of trying each window before he purchased the place.
Just then we happen to be looking at the lock on one of the doors, and we spy one of those back-handed locks which never holds the door closed and which always catches and keeps one from closing the door unless the knob is turned. It is a right-hand lock placed upon a left-hand door. We recognize in this the contractor’s efforts to use up all the second-hand odd bits of hardware which he possessed.
By this time we find ourselves so disgusted with the sharp tricks of dishonest building that we call a halt at looking farther, but we feel quite convinced that there is a real difference in quality between such a speculative house and the honest house of an architect’s designing, and, what is more, we feel convinced that there is a real reason for the architect’s house costing more in the beginning than such a house, but that in the end the cheap speculative house is the most costly proposition which a buyer can invest his money in.
VIII ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF GOOD PLUMBING
_The Problem_
There are three things which will affect the plumbing system of the small house; namely, the existence or non-existence of municipal plumbing codes under which the structure is erected, the existence or non-existence of a public sewer, and, finally, the type of water-supply, whether it is public or private.
If there are no plumbing codes to follow, it is sometimes possible to save money on the plumbing; but unless the specifications are very rigid, there is danger of poor work being installed. By saving money is not meant installing cheap material, but eliminating certain features which most plumbing codes require and which are not essential in producing the best possible type of plumbing system. For example, in most cities the ordinary traps which are required under each fixture to prevent the sewer-gas from returning into the air of the house, after the waste water has drained out, must be equipped with back-vent pipes in order to eliminate dangers of siphonage. The cheap S trap (shaped like an S turned on its side) without this back-venting will siphon out, that is, lose its water-seal by atmospheric pressure pushing the water out of the trap in its attempt to fill a vacuum created by the discharge from a water-closet on the floor above. By back-venting these traps, as shown on page 94, this danger of siphonage is reduced, and, therefore, most codes have adopted this regulation requiring back-venting. But to-day the market offers certain traps which are claimed to be anti-siphonable and which do not require this back-venting, with the consequent result of reducing the cost of the equipment. Most plumbing codes have not changed their old regulations, for many authorities do not yet believe in the possibility of an anti-siphon trap, and so require the use of the back-venting system. Consequently, wherever the small house is constructed within jurisdiction of these laws, the plumbing will cost more than where the anti-siphon trap can be used without the elaborate system of back-venting.
Likewise, wherever there is a public sewer, the problem of sewage disposal is simple and cheap; but if the house is not located near any such public convenience, special methods must be employed for the destruction of the waste matter. The best is the septic tank (see illustration) with the small subsurface irrigation tile, through which the partially purified material from the septic tank is distributed under the ground for complete purification by air and bacteria. The other method of disposal—pouring the sewage into a cesspool—is to be deplored, unless there is possibility of an early construction of a public sewer, and no drinking-water is secured from the premises.
The third consideration which affects the plumbing system of the small house is whether it can draw upon a public water-supply, or whether it must secure its private supply from a well or a near-by stream or lake. A private source of supply generally means the erection of a storage tank. The best type of tank for this purpose is the pneumatic tank, which is installed in the cellar, and not in the attic, as was the old-fashioned tank. The water is pumped into this tank, and the air which is in it is trapped, so that the more water that is pumped into the tank, the more compressed becomes the air. This springlike cushion of air gives enough pressure to force the water to any fixture in the house.
_Simplest Type of Drainage System_
On page 97 is represented the simplest type of drainage system that can be installed in the small house, but since it uses anti-siphon traps and no back-venting, it will not be possible to make use of it in all cities or towns which have plumbing rules prohibiting it. The average small house does not have room for more than one bath, a kitchen-sink, a set of laundry-tubs, and a toilet for the servant, generally placed in the cellar. For purposes of economy it is essential to place all of these fixtures on the same soil-line, the main pipe which extends vertically from the horizontal house-drain in the cellar up through the roof. If the bathroom is so located that the vertical line which serves its fixtures cannot serve the kitchen-sink or the laundry-tubs, then a special waste-line or small vertical pipe draining fixtures other than water-closets, must be carried up and through the roof, which is extravagant of material. As this waste-line will be only 2 inches in diameter, it is necessary to increase its diameter to 4 inches before projecting it from the roof, since it may become clogged in the winter with frost. But the main soil-line is 4 inches in diameter and needs no increaser on it. The main house-drain is also made 4 inches in diameter, and is generally laid under the cellar floor with a pitch of ¼ inch to the foot. At the junction of the vertical soil-line with it, and also at any other point where there is a marked change in direction, the house-drain should be equipped with clean-out holes, covered with brass screw-caps. Just where the house-drain leaves the house, a house-trap is installed (see illustration), and back of this an inlet for fresh air to permit the circulation of air in the system. The foundations should be arched over the house-drain where it passes through them, so that any settlement of the masonry will not come upon the pipe and cause it to be broken.
The material of which the house-drain, soil-line, and waste-line are made is usually cast-iron, and of a grade known as extra heavy. The joints are the bell-and-spigot type, which are stuffed with oakum and then closed tight with 12 ounces of fine, soft pig lead for each inch in diameter of the pipe. Branches are usually of galvanized wrought iron or lead, but lead should be limited in use in modern plumbing, although the term plumbing originated from the Latin word for lead. The common limitations upon the length of branches of lead pipe are: 8 feet for 1½-inch pipe, 5 feet for 2-inch pipe, 2 feet for 3-inch pipe, 2 feet for 4-inch pipe. The parts of the branch pipes which are visible are generally made of brass nickel-plated. The joints between lead pipe and lead pipe, and between lead pipe and brass pipe, are made by the common wiped joint. Joints between lead pipe and cast-iron pipe are made by first wiping the lead pipe to a brass ferrule, a piece of pipe in shape like a bell with the top cut off, and then inserting and caulking this into the cast-iron pipe. The joints between wrought-iron pipes are made with the screw joint, and between wrought-iron and cast iron with the screw joint, by using connections of malleable cast-iron which have been threaded.
The usual sizes for branch wastes from the fixtures are as follows: for water-closets 4 inches, for bathroom-tubs 1½ inches, for lavatories 1½ inches, for kitchen-sinks 2 inches, for laundry-tubs 1½ inches, and when in sets of three 2 inches. The size of the waste from the bathroom-tub can be increased to 2 inches with great advantage, if the additional slight expense is not objectionable.
The vertical soil-lines should be supported at each floor by metal straps placed under the hub and fastened to the floor-joists. It is very important to properly flash the base of the projecting portion of the soil-line above the roof. Wherever the branch soil-line to the water-closet is connected, a short TY connection may be employed in order to avoid the projection of the parts of the pipe beyond the plane of the ceiling in the floor below. However, no short TY connections should be made in any horizontal pipes.
A very important economical consideration should be noted in laying out the arrangement of the bathroom fixtures in this connection. The horizontal branch soil-lines and waste-lines must be carried through the floor construction, and they should be so arranged that they can run parallel with the floor-joists; otherwise deep cuts will have to be made in them. In the case of the branch soil-line it is essential to place the water-closet as near to the main soil-stack as possible, for with a 4-inch pipe the joists must be framed around it rather than be cut, since so deep a gouge would weaken too much the strength of them. A similar consideration must be given to the framing in stud partitions which are bearing the loads of the floors above, for too deep cuts in them, to allow for the passage of pipes, will weaken them greatly. In this connection it ought to be noted that an ordinary 4-inch soil-pipe cannot be carried in a stud partition made with 2 by 4 studs, since the outer edges of the joints of the pipe will project beyond the face of the plaster, and for this reason some convenient place should be planned for them in closets, or 2 by 6 studs should be used in the partition through which they are run.
_The More Complicated Back-Vent System_
The essential parts of the plumbing system remain the same as described above, but each trap is considered to be siphonable, and must be prevented from losing its water-seal by the use of back-venting pipes. Whenever, then, there is an unusual amount of semi-vacuum created in the pipes by the discharge of some fixture above, the outside air-pressure can relieve it by passing through the back vents rather than by forcing out the water-seal in the traps. The usual type of trap employed is the modified S trap with the small TY connection to give what is known as continuous venting. Formerly the vent was taken off from the crown of the three-quarter-S trap, which was too near the surface of the water-seal, causing excessive evaporation and danger of clogging, but with the continuous system of venting, the waste-pipe is a continuation of the vent-line, and the trap enters into its side through a TY fitting, overcoming the disadvantage of the older system.
The size of traps should conform to the size of waste-pipes, and usually the size of the branch vents is about the same size as the waste-lines. However, there are special conditions where this varies. For venting the water-closet trap, it should be noted that the vent is not taken from the trap which is contained within the fixture itself, but is taken from the upper side of the bend (usually of lead) where the fixture is joined with the piping system, and is 2 inches in diameter.
Where there are two fixtures, such as the lavatory and the bathtub, with 1½-inch branch vents coming from the traps, these may be joined into one main branch vent, which need not be more than 1½ inches in diameter. The pitch of the branch vents entering into the main vent should be at an angle of about 45 degrees, so that all rust scale will drop down into the fixture outlet and be washed away.
The main vent, which runs parallel with the main soil-line, needs to be only 2 inches in diameter, and should be branched in at the bottom and the top to the main soil-line, as shown in the drawings. The material of which both main vent and branch vent is made should be galvanized-iron piping.
The fresh-air inlet, the house-trap, the clean-outs, and all other parts of the system are the same as was shown for the simpler method of plumbing.
_Rain-Water Drainage_
The small house need not drain off its roof-water into the plumbing system, if the plumbing code does not require it. The simplest and easiest method to dispose of it is to collect the water in gutters, lead it down the waterspouts into pipes which terminate in a dry well in the ground. Small roofs over porches and back doors need not even have the leaders, but spill the roof-water out onto the ground, where a stone has been placed to prevent the undermining of the surface of the lawn by the wearing action of the water stream.
In outlying city districts where the sewers have not yet been installed it is customary to carry the roof-water in pipes below the level of the sidewalk to the gutters of the street or to a leaching cesspool which is independent of the cesspool used for sewage disposal, and which is practically the same thing as a dry well, for the bottom is made with gravel through which the rain-water seeps off into the surrounding soil.
Wherever the rain-leaders must be connected to the drainage system of the house, the sheet-metal leaders are inserted into cast-iron pipes called shoes at the base, which in turn are trapped on the inside of the cellar wall and connected with the house-drain. It is always best to try to trap a group of leaders to one trap rather than use a separate trap for each leader.
_Tests and Precautions_
There is nothing very complicated in the plumbing system of the small house. Certain sanitary precautions should be observed in arranging lines, however. For example, the termination of the main soil-line should not occur near a dormer or other window, nor should the termination of the fresh-air inlet be located in the cellar wall under a door or window. The system when completed in the roughed-in form should be tested for leakage by filling it with water, and when all the fixtures are connected and every part of the system is supposed to be in working order, either the peppermint or the smoke test should be used to detect any further possible leakage. The peppermint test consists in pouring hot water and 2 ounces of oil of peppermint into the top of the system from the roof, after all the fixture traps have been filled with water, and then detecting with the nose where the leaks are. If the smoke test is employed, a smoke machine is best. Old oily rags and tar paper are burned in the machine, which has its flue connected with the fresh-air inlet, and the smoke is pumped through the system until it appears escaping from the soil-line extension on the roof. If there are any leaks, the odor and the smoke stain will attract attention to them, and if the water-closet traps in the bowls are defective, the yellow stain of the smoke will make it very evident.
_Refrigerator Connections_
The drainage from the refrigerator should never be directly connected with the drainage system of the house. If the plumbing code requires any connection at all, the usual arrangement is to drip the ice-box water into a lead-lined tray which has a pipe at least 1¼ inches in diameter that carries the water down to the laundry-tubs in the cellar and spills it into them. On the other hand, if there are no plumbing regulations, it is best to drain this water off into a small hole in the ground into which has been thrown gravel, and this will permit the water to soak into the surrounding soil.
_Water-Supply Pipes_
If there is a city supply of water, the small house should have a main supply-line from the water-main in the street of at least ¾-inch diameter, but this does not give the service that a larger pipe, say a 1¼-inch pipe, does, for often with the smaller pipe, if the water is being drawn in the kitchen, none will be secured from the faucets in the second-floor bathroom. The kitchen-sink should have a service pipe of at least ¾ inch, the tubs the same, and the lavatory ½ inch.
All service-lines should be compact and as direct as possible, and long horizontal runs under floors should be avoided. Hot-water supply-lines should be kept at least 6 inches from cold-water lines. There should be a shut-off at the entrance of the supply-line to the house, at the base of all vertical risers, and under each fixture. To avoid water hammer, it is best to take all faucets off the sides of the termination of pipes, rather than from the ends, for in this way an air-cushion can form, relieving the pounding action of the water in the pipes.
Supply-lines should never be run in the corners of buildings where they are in danger of freezing, and they should be kept out of the exterior walls of houses as much as possible for the same reasons. The packing of pipes where they pass through the floors will often prevent freezing caused by cold drafts around them.
_Hot-Water Supply_
It is generally accepted to-day that the most convenient method of securing hot water in the small house is with the instantaneous type of gas-heater, connected with a boiler for storage purposes, but capable of delivering water directly into the pipes without passage through the boiler, when a sudden demand is made upon it. These gas-heaters have a system of Bunsen-burners which heat the water as it passes through a series of copper coils, and generally the water is warmed to a temperature of 100 degrees in one passage. They are automatically controlled, so that when the temperature of the water goes below a certain fixed standard the gas-burner is lighted by a small pilot-light until the proper temperature is reached, when it is shut off again.
Although these heaters are arranged to deliver hot water directly from the coils, yet if they had no boiler to store up the water, much larger heaters would be required than necessary. For storage purposes, then, a 40-gallon boiler is satisfactory for a residence with one bath and one kitchen, and if there are two baths a 50-gallon boiler is needed. The usual location of the boiler and heater is in the cellar.