CHAPTER XIII

SIMPLE SUMMER COTTAGES

"=Cottage Row.="--The little houses shown in the accompanying illustrations[36] afford excellent examples of what can be done by the beginner. These were built by boys, and form, with others, a most interesting little village or street, known as "Cottage Row." They are small, but have many of the details of larger houses. They are shingled and clapboarded, have regular doors and windows, and are very attractively fitted up inside with curtains, cupboards, shelves, tables, chairs, lounges, bookcases, and other articles of furniture. The walls are hung or covered with prettily figured cretonne or calico.

These little structures are good models for boys' first attempts at house-building, in that they are simple, modest, and unpretentious, and have a homelike air which does not pertain to many more elaborate and pretentious houses. The visitor is attracted by their neat, trim, inviting appearance, and wishes to enter.

Houses of this character can easily be made by two or more boys working together; and by the united forces of a number of boys a very attractive little village can be built (and much simple carpentry be learned at the same time), in which many pleasant hours can be spent.

Such houses as these can be framed and put together without difficulty by the methods already shown. It will not add very much to the expense to have the parts of the frame which show on the inside of the house planed by machine, and this will much improve the appearance of the interior. Shingling the roofs, putting casing around the windows and doors and at the corners of the houses, and clapboarding or shingling the sides, adds much to the attractiveness of such small structures, as you can see from the illustrations.

The windows and casings you can buy ready-made, or the latter you can make yourself. The doors and casings you can also buy, or make. The door-casings and window-casings should be nailed in place before the sides are clapboarded. The tops of these casings should always be protected by strips of sheet lead, the upper edges of which are slipped up under the clapboarding (Fig. 390a), thus covering the crack where the casing joins the side of the building and shedding the water--on the same principle as shown in Figs. 384 and 385. This is important, as the rain will drive through such cracks, even though they seem very tight. Tonguing and grooving can be used in such cases, but flashing with lead is a simpler process. The same precaution should always be taken where roofs or attachments join a building in such a way as to expose a crack through which the water can leak. Zinc, or even tin, can be used, but are inferior to lead. The corner-boards and the water-table (the horizontal board at the bottom of the house) should also be nailed in place. The latter should have the top edge slightly bevelled, to shed the water. All these pieces having been carefully nailed in place, the clapboarding or shingling of the sides can be done.

It will cost but little to sheath the outside with sheathing-paper, and the house will be much tighter and dryer. This should be put on under the casings, corner-boards, etc., so as to avoid a crack where these boards and the clapboards or shingles meet.

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Laying clapboards, unlike shingling, is begun at the top. Lay the upper row by a line, as in shingling, keeping the clapboards in place by a few nails in the upper part only. Then slip the clapboards for the next row up from underneath under the first row until only the desired amount of the clapboards is exposed. The first row can then be firmly nailed near the lower edge with clapboard nails. This will hold the next row in position while the third row is put in place, and so on. The thin edge of the upper row can be finally covered with a strip of board or moulding. The clapboarding can be continued to the very bottom of the house. If, however, a water-table is used at the bottom, the lower edge of the bottom row of clapboards should be slightly bevelled to fit closely down on the slanting upper edge of the water-table. Be careful to lay the clapboards in line and at equal distances apart, as variations in the alignment are quite noticeable. Examine the clapboards of any house on which they are used. In arranging them break joints at the ends, that is, do not have the joints of one row directly under, or very near, those of the rows above and below. Do not saw the ends by eye. Mark them accurately with the try-square and knife and saw them carefully with a fine saw, trying to make as close joints as possible.

A fair quality of clapboards should be used, but a few defects near the thin edges which are to be covered may do no serious harm for such structures as these.

When you begin to attempt more ambitious structures, such as modest summer cottages for camping in vacations, for hunting- or fishing-lodges, or for family use,--such houses as are often undertaken by older boys or men with a taste for amateur carpentry,--there are a number of things to be considered before beginning to do any actual work.

Do not begin a house you cannot pay for. If you find that the more elaborate plans suggested will exceed your means, do not let them tempt you to run in debt, but content yourself with the simplest plan.[37] You will find it perfectly comfortable, and whenever you can afford the expense you can easily add to it and improve it. That is the best principle to go on, morally as well as financially.

In addition to points already spoken of in the preceding pages, bear in mind, in making your plans, to use only simple forms for your first efforts. Avoid dormer windows and complicated roofs (especially combinations producing "valleys") and bay-windows, and the like, at first. Such arrangements add many difficulties for the beginner. When you can make a plain, simple building, with everything snug and tight, and can lay a plain roof that will not leak, you can then attempt such variations of form with a fair chance of success, but do not be too ambitious in your first attempts. A simple piazza can often be added to good advantage, if desired.

It is well to ascertain the sizes of the ready-made doors and windows which you can buy in the place where your house is to be built, before drawing your plans.

If there is a choice of situations in which to place your house, a few suggestions about the selection of a site may be of value.

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If you are going to build in the mountains, or the pine woods, or on rocky islands or promontories in the ocean,--in places where there are almost no unsanitary conditions, where the climate is so invigourating, the air so purifying,--there is no need to think of many precautions important in a cleared and settled country. As much sunlight and circulation of air as you can get, pure drinking water, and the simple precaution of not building in a hollow or on the edge of a swamp, are about all the sanitary points you need consider in such places.

In selecting a site in any ordinary country or seashore region, first make sure above all things of _dryness_, _sunlight_, _pure air_, and _pure water_.

Avoid building a cottage for regular occupancy in a dense thicket, not merely on account of the mosquitoes and other insects, but because the thicket shuts out the sun and cuts off the free circulation of air which there should always be in summer around and through a house. Of course, for shooting or fishing, a lodge, camp, or cabin must be built wherever required by the circumstances. Sunshine is very important in securing dryness and in purifying the air.

You will naturally reject wet land. Avoid also soil that retains moisture,[38] even though it may not be actually wet to step upon, for land saturated with moisture may be the unsuspected source of serious diseases. There is air in the ground, which may be the means of spreading dampness and foul gases.

Do not place your house in a depression or in the bottom of a valley where dampness is likely to settle. At the seashore there will, of course, be fogs from the ocean at certain times and places, but they are not harmful, except to navigation; and at the mountains more or less dampness at night is very common. Do not try to find a place where there is no dampness at all, but except at the seashore or mountains reject situations where there are mists at night, avoiding particularly the vicinity of wet marshes and swamps, stagnant pools of fresh water, boggy ponds, sluggish rivers and brooks, on account of the malarious vapours which are liable to hang over them.

Do not try to keep cool by hiding your house where the sun will not shine upon it. The southern or south-eastern slope of a hill usually affords a most desirable site as regards both coolness and sunlight. If you can also find a site on the top of a little mound or knoll, so as to secure the free drainage of the water in every direction, it will be advantageous.

The main points in regard to water are to have it pure and to have plenty of it.

In regard to pure water, and pure air also, if you are planning to build in a little settlement or near other cottages the question of drainage (sewerage) from the neighbouring houses becomes of the utmost importance. A breeze from the sea, the mountains, or the pine woods is pure in itself and to a certain degree a scavenger, but do not throw upon it the work of purifying a naturally unhealthful situation.

This matter of drainage you can arrange for yourself on your own land, but the arrangements of your neighbours you will have to take as you find them; therefore guard carefully against contamination of your drinking water and of the air through proximity to the cesspools, privies, or sink drains of the neighbouring cottages. Exactly how far a well or spring should be from such sources of pollution it is impossible to state without knowledge of the particular spot, for it depends upon the slope of the ground, the kind of soil, the direction of the underlying strata, and other circumstances. In some cases a distance of twenty feet might be perfectly safe, while in others two hundred would be highly dangerous. One hundred feet or more is near enough under ordinary conditions. There is no greater danger than that from defective sewerage, and the danger usually begins before the senses are aware that there is any trouble. This subject is better understood now than formerly, but still, until the subject forces itself upon their attention, the majority of people pay but little regard to it. It is a fact well established among medical men that some of the worst forms of sickness are nothing but filth diseases, to which the dwellers in summer cottages are sometimes even more exposed than those in town houses. Remember that air as well as water is an active agent for spreading the germs of disease.

As to the position in which to place the house itself after the spot has been chosen much will depend on circumstances. Consider the sun, the prevailing winds, and the views in relation to the rooms, the windows, and the piazza. An unsheltered piazza facing the west is apt to be very hot at the time of day you are likely to use it the most, though, of course, the wind or other considerations may make such a position desirable.

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The subject of the necessary underpinning for such simple structures as are here shown has been already treated in the preceding chapter. In most cases you will find posts set in the ground, as there described, an excellent way (except, of course, upon rocky ground), but brick or stone piers are almost always more desirable, if you can afford the cost of the materials (which can be obtained almost anywhere), and the work of laying piers for such a purpose is not very difficult; but whether to use posts or piers should, of course, depend upon the character and permanence of the building.

Having fixed upon the position of the building, proceed to stake it out (including the piazza if there is to be one), as shown in the chapter immediately preceding.

The foundation being ready, the frame is next to be considered. You have probably noticed in the old houses built by our forefathers their massive construction,--the great size of the timbers and the way in which they are heavily braced and mortised and pinned together. With the modern facilities for cutting wood into small pieces by machinery has sprung up a style of building of which you will see examples on every hand, and which when carried to its extreme in the cheapest houses makes a structure so flimsy that it is literally held together by nothing but nails. A scientific modification (adapted to modern conditions) of the old-fashioned "braced" structure, retaining its advantages and remedying its defects, is undoubtedly superior (_expense being no object_) to a "balloon" frame that will only hold together by having the outside boarding nailed on to it as fast as it is put up. If the more cheaply built "balloon" structures of to-day had been put up in the days of our Pilgrim or Puritan ancestors not a stick of them would now be standing. A lighter arrangement than the old-fashioned frame and one more easily built is, however, in our day probably better adapted for the construction of a large class of buildings of moderate size and moderate cost.

This is said about braced and framed structures that you may not be led to think that the light construction advocated here for you would be the best for _all_ wooden structures. Your house will be so small, and the construction of a braced and mortised frame is so difficult for amateurs, that a lighter and easier arrangement will be best for you to use, however ill-suited it might be for a large mansion or ware-house. This system of construction will be perfectly satisfactory and sufficiently durable for a little summer cottage.

A little house well suited for summer use, or for a winter camp, is shown in Fig. 391.

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Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Nailing_, _Screws_, _Hinges_, _Painting_, in Part V., and look up any other references.

The main house (which contains the general living-room) can be framed as shown in Fig. 389. The "lean-to" addition (which contains the kitchen) can be framed as shown in Fig. 371. If both parts are built at one time, only four sills should be used for the entire structure, and the corner-posts and upright studding of the "lean-to" on the side next the main house should be omitted.

The sides of this house are battened, _i.e._, the joints of the vertical sheathing are covered with strips nailed over them--in this case with strips of "half-round" moulding. This is an easy and quite inexpensive way to finish the outside, and while hardly equal to clapboarding or shingling in some respects is a very good way for structures of this kind.

As you will see from the illustration, the rafters of both the house and the ell project or overhang at the eaves. This is not really a necessity for any structure, and you will sometimes see quite large buildings without any overhang of the roof whatever, but, as a rule, it improves the appearance of the house, and is a help in shedding the water farther from the walls. It is only necessary to let the rafters project at their lower ends, making all project equally, and to nail a board to their ends, as shown. The overhang at the ends of the house can be arranged in the same way, short pieces of studding being nailed in the outside angle of the roof and ends, with strips nailed upon these.

If the ground slopes, as in this case, lattice-work is good to cover the space below the sills.

The remaining details have been treated in the preceding cases.

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The simple structure shown in Fig. 392 is suitable for various uses, and can be constructed in the way already described.

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The piazza is, however, a new problem, but not a very difficult one after the processes already described. A simple way, suited for rustic structures or rough cabins, is to set the piazza posts in the ground to a depth of two or three feet, sawing the tops off at the height of the piazza roof, and simply nailing a system of floor-timbers for the piazza floor to these posts and the side of the house and flooring it with boards, while the roof of the piazza is supported on the tops of the posts. This is not a good way, however, for a carefully built house.

A strip of joist or plank can be spiked to the side of the house at the proper height, and to this can be nailed a system of floor-timbers for the piazza floor (see page 287), the outer corners and middle resting upon stones or posts in the same way as the rest of the building. This is then floored crossways, the whole having a slight slant outwards to shed the water. Upon this platform are raised the piazza posts, and at the top of these is nailed a roof system, which is covered with boards in the same way as the floor beneath. Enough slant should be given the roof to enable it to shed the water freely.

The other details do not differ from those already described.

Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Nailing_, _Screws_, _Hinges_, _Painting_, in Part V., and look up any other references.

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An excellent form for a small structure is that shown in Fig. 393. This has a hip-roof, which is the only essential difference between it and the types already shown.

Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Nailing_, _Screws_, _Hinges_, _Painting_, in Part V., and look up any other references.

This roof is somewhat more difficult to make well than the simple kinds, but is not beyond the skill of the amateur. Up to the plates the construction is the same as that already shown. In this roof, however, the ridge-board is short and the end rafters (called hip-rafters) incline towards it (Fig. 393a). Laying out the upper bevels of these rafters will require careful planning. After you have succeeded in laying them out, cutting the bevels at the ends, and fitting them in place, the shorter jack rafters can readily be put in place.

The shingling is more difficult at the corners than in the other roofs shown, as the shingles must be cut. It is well to cover each hip with a line of shingles, laid parallel to the hip and along each side of it. Boards can be used to cover the hips, as shown in one of the illustrations of "Cottage Row."

Another form, embodying the same roof construction, but larger and correspondingly more difficult, is shown in Fig. 394.

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A small cottage for summer use (Fig. 395) is not more difficult than the cases already shown, except in the matter of size.

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Before beginning work read carefully _Marking_, _Rule_, _Square_, _Saw_, _Plane_, _Nailing_, _Screws_, _Hinges_, _Painting_, in Part V., and look up any other references.

The process of staking out and setting the foundation has been already described under _A Workshop_, pages 259-264.

The frame can be built upon the same general principle as shown in Fig. 389, the dimensions of the stock depending upon the size of the house; but the directions given in these chapters are intended only for small structures. The sills should be 4" × 6" or 6" × 6", the corner-posts can be 4" × 4" or 4" × 6," the floor-timbers and rafters 2" × 6", although, if the house is quite small, 2" × 4" will do for the rafters, which can be braced by "collar beams," or simply horizontal pieces of board nailed across in the upper part of the roof.

Arrange the studding according to the doors and windows. As this house is not to be lathed and plastered, it is not essential that the studding should be at any exact distance apart.

The essential difference between the frame of this house and that shown in Fig. 389 consists in the projection of the second-story floor-timbers over the piazza, the ends resting upon an outer plate on top of the piazza posts (Fig. 396). The arrangement of the attic floor-beams, the rafters, and the side-plates is shown in Fig. 397.

The frame for the piazza floor can be arranged as follows: Fasten a strip of 2" × 4" joist along the side, spiking it through into the sill. On this fasten an arrangement of floor-timbers, such as is shown in Fig. 398, the inner cross-beam and lengthways stringers resting in gains, as shown in Fig. 399. The details of the arrangement can be varied according to the height you wish the piazza floor to be relatively to the floor inside.

For a quite small structure, or for a temporary one, it will answer to make this piazza-floor system of 2" × 6" stock simply sawed square and spiked together, on the principle shown in Fig. 378, but for a good house which you wish to be permanent, it is better to put a little more labour into the piazza.

Another way is to have the main sills extend under the piazza as well as under the house proper. This is a more thorough way as regards stiffness, but extra pains must be taken to prevent the water working down on the sills where the house and piazza join, as this will tend to rot this portion of the sills. With this arrangement of sills an extra sill, or cross-sill, should be added under the juncture of the body of the house and the piazza. The ends of this sill can rest in gains cut in the end-sills, and the middle can be supported by one or more posts.

For the stairs, which can be put wherever you wish, take two pieces of plank, 2" × 9" or 10", and of sufficient length. Having determined the points for the top and the bottom of the stairs (by laying off on the floor in the same way as for the rafters, page 268), lay one of the planks on the floor in the proper position and mark the notches for the steps and the bevels for the ends. After these "notch-boards" or string pieces have been cut and put in place, you can easily get out and nail on the "risers" and "treads." Examination of any common stairs will show you how to arrange these details without difficulty. You can mark on a stick the height from the top of the lower floor to the top of the upper. Divide this distance, on the stick, into as many parts as you wish to have steps, and you can use the stick as a gauge by which to determine the points for sawing the notches for the steps.[39] It is best to have the treads not less than 9" wide, and 10" is better, while 7-1/2" or 8" will do for the risers. A "header," or cross-piece, must be securely fastened between the second-story floor-beams where they are cut off to make the opening at the head of the stairs.

The partitions inside require no directions, being simply made of studding to which sheathing is nailed.

The remaining details do not differ from those of the preceding cases, and the interior fittings you can arrange without further instructions. A regular brick chimney will, of course, be a desirable feature if you can afford it.

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By the slight modification of having the roof overhang on each side, two piazzas will be provided and space given for larger chambers (Fig. 400).

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The construction differs from that of the design just shown only in the arrangement of the framing for the second story.

The floor-beams of the second story will overlap at each end and the rafters be correspondingly longer, and the end-plates can be omitted and the end-studding continued up to the rafters, except where interrupted by the window-spaces. This house, like the others, can be clapboarded, shingled, battened, or sheathed, as you may prefer.

FOOTNOTES:

[36] Obtained through the courtesy of Mr. Charles H. Bradley, Superintendent of the admirable Farm School on Thompson's Island, in Boston Harbour, where this little village was built.

[37] If that is too expensive, some of those given in the preceding pages will probably answer your purpose.

[38] "Soils which are naturally porous, from which rain rapidly disappears, are known to be the healthiest for the sites of houses. In this the action of the soil oxidizes all organic impurities, the resulting product is washed away by the rain, and the soil remains sweet and wholesome."--LATHAM.

[39] To find the number of steps for a given situation, find the height, as just shown, from floor to floor, 102" for example. Assume, for trial, a satisfactory height for each step, as 7". Divide 102 by 7, which gives 14-4/7 for the number of steps. To make the number even, call it 14, and you have only to divide 102 by 14 to get the exact height of each step.