CHAPTER XIV

A FEW SIMPLE STRUCTURES

=Summer-houses.=--A form which is quite easy to build, and which is attractive when overrun with vines, is shown in front elevation (Fig. 401) and in side elevation (Fig. 402).

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

The construction is simple. The frame can be of 2" × 3" stock (planed), except the sills, which had best not be smaller than 2" × 4" (on edge). Cross floor-beams can be inserted, as in the floors of the little houses first shown.

The upright members can, however, rest upon posts set in the ground and the floor be dispensed with. Where the parts of the frame cross they can be halved (see _Halving_). The square joints can be nailed together. The roof can be solid or made of slats several inches apart, resting upon rafters.

The strips for the lattice-work can be about 3/8" thick, and from 7/8" to 1-1/4" wide. These can be got out at any mill in long or short strips, which you can cut off as you put them on. Do not lay them too closely together. Put one strip on at the desired angle. Then cut off one or more short pieces by which to gauge the distance for laying the next strip, or get out a piece of light thin boarding of the width of the space between the lattice strips and hold it beside each strip as a guide by which to lay the next one.

This lattice-work, although each strip is so slight, will give the frame great stiffness and strength.

The joints of such framework as this should properly be painted before being put together (see _Painting_), and it also is a more thorough and neater way to lay the lattice-work strips on supports of some kind and paint them before putting on. They will then only require touching up with paint after the house is done.

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The rustic summer-house, or arbour, made of sticks in their natural form, shown in Fig. 403, is in some respects more difficult to build than the preceding, because the ends of so many of the pieces have to be cut at an oblique angle.

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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.

First make a platform, as for the other floors, or the upright posts can rest upon posts set in the ground and the floor be dispensed with. Plates can be placed on top of the posts, and rafters extend from the plates at the top of each post to the apex of the roof. These plates and rafters will make a framework on which to nail the sticks which form the roof covering. The remaining details are apparent. Much care is required, however, to put this house together properly, not merely in cutting the angles at the joints, but in sighting, measuring, and testing to ensure its coming together without twisting or winding.

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Instead of making this house six-sided, it can, if desired, be made rectangular like the preceding one, but keeping the same arrangement of the details. This makes a very pretty design, and in respect to joining the pieces is much easier to make. Another pretty plan is to build a hexagonal, octagonal, or circular house of this sort around a tree trunk. If the roof is fitted too snugly to the tree trunk, the growth of the latter may split the roof apart before the rest of the house is past its usefulness, so you should arrange this part to allow for the growth of the tree.

=Bath-house.=--A plain bath-house (Fig. 404) can well be made with a lean-to roof and put together on the same simple principles already shown; so that additional instructions for this design are unnecessary. A good way for such a building is to sheath it vertically as shown, but any of the other methods can, of course, be adopted.

=Boat-houses.=--By using the same simple system of framework shown in Fig. 389 you can make an inexpensive boat-house (Fig. 405).

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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 inclined slip or platform upon which you haul the boats up from the water requires simply two or three timbers for stringers, running down towards the water, with 2" planks nailed across, as shown. The simplest way to square the ends of these planks is to nail them in place, allowing a little extra length, and then saw the ends all off at once by a line.

A house of this kind can be built to extend over the water (for boats which are to be kept in the water) by arranging a foundation of stone or piles in the water, or by digging a little dock into the shore under the house.

In these cases there must, of course, be an additional door of the ordinary kind for entrance on the shore end of the house, and it will be convenient, if the house is long enough, to floor over this end. A narrow floor or platform can also be extended along one or both sides to facilitate handling the boats and getting in or out of them.

The sill at the water end will have to be omitted, of course, a piece of studding being fitted in at each side of the door-space, but these details you will have no difficulty in arranging if you have studied the preceding examples.

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A larger and more elaborate boat-house, or club-house (Fig. 406), having a loft for storage as well as a balcony, can be constructed on the same general principles already explained.

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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 end-plate for the end shown in the illustration cannot run across from side to side, because of the doorway opening on the balcony, but can be made in two parts to extend from the sides to upright studs at each side of the doorway. A simple way of arranging the frame at the floor of the second story is shown in Fig. 407.

Unless this building is very small (in which case it can only be used for the storage of oars, rigging, etc.), the sills should be of 4" × 6" (on edge) or 6" × 6" stock, and the floor-beams of 2" × 6" stock. 4" × 4" or 4" × 6" will do for the corner-posts, and 2" × 4" for the studding and rafters for such a small structure as is advisable for the beginner to attempt.

If you should, however, build anything large, the posts, the lower floor-beams, if unsupported in the middle, the plates, and the rafters should be heavier. If your house is to be used by many people and heavy boats are to be hauled in and out, it is much better to err on the side of having these timbers too heavy rather than too light. But these designs are only intended for comparatively small structures.

The outer floor-timbers for the balcony had best be mortised into the posts (see _Mortising_). The top rail around the balcony can be of 2" × 4" studding, laid flatways, and with the upper angles bevelled (see _Bevelling_). The balusters can be simply square pieces nailed into place. The rail and balusters can, however, be obtained in a great variety of forms at a wood-working mill, if you prefer to buy them. The braces under the balcony can be of 2" × 4" stock. All these outside parts should be planed by machine.

The remaining details do not differ from those of the houses already described.