Cellarways are particularly liable to leak and cause a damp cellar.
This cannot happen if they are made of concrete. There are no
cracks through which the water can come. Wooden steps last no time,
particularly where heavy barrels and similar weighty loads are taken up
and down. As wooden or brick areaways are always damp, the steps rot
quickly, thus requiring constant renewal. Few things are more dangerous
to limb, and even to life, than a step giving way under the weight of a
heavy barrel which is being carried into the cellar.
[Illustration]
Concrete steps are safe under any load.
Owing to the fact that concrete can be molded into any desired shape,
it is particularly desirable for this purpose. Some people like steps
with a low rise and a particularly wide tread, while others prefer a
high rise and narrow tread. Concrete can easily be fitted to either.
The determining feature is usually the space to be occupied. The door
into the cellar limits the depth to which the steps are taken, and
therefore the height of the risers; while the room the cellarway is to
take outside the line of the wall determines the width of the tread. If
possible, the rise of each step should be from 6 to 8 inches, while the
width of the tread should be from 9 to 12 inches.
_Note_: See page 112 for Window Hatchway.
[Illustration]
In erecting, first excavate the hole to the width of steps desired,
plus one foot. This allows for a 6-inch wall on either side. Slope the
ground from 1 foot back of where the top step is to come to 1 foot back
of where the bottom step will be. To form the steps, saw out a board
just as you would a “horse” for steps, and nail planks where the risers
come, holding the two “horses” the proper distance apart. This is
placed upside down, resting on the top and bottom, with the edge of the
top and bottom rise where the bottom and top steps are to come. Fill
this form and the space back of it with 1: 2: 4 concrete, starting
with the bottom step, and continuing upward to the top, bringing the
concrete in each step to the top of rise. Side forms for the 6-inch
walls may now be placed, braced apart in the center properly, and
resting on the back of the horses. These can be carried to any height
desired to give the hatchway doors a proper slope for shedding rain and
snow. Forms will have to be built on the outside of these walls above
the ground line to hold the concrete in place. Before the concrete sets
in the side walls, bolts should be placed, with heads in the concrete,
by means of which wooden sills are fixed to the walls for fastening
the cellar doors by strap hinges. If the bottom step does not come to
the wall line, the flat landing in the bottom should be covered with a
5-inch thickness of concrete. Here is a convenient place to locate a
drain, to carry off the water used in sluicing down the steps, and any
which may leak through the cellar doors.
The cellar hatchway shown in the photograph and in the drawing is 5
feet wide, built according to directions above. The side walls at the
cellar are 7 feet high and 10 feet long. The slope for the cellar doors
is 2 feet 4 inches. There are 7 steps of 8-inch rise and 10-inch tread
and a landing 3 feet 2 inches wide. Two men built this hatchway in 1½
days.
=Materials Required=
Crushed rock or screened gravel 2¼ cubic yards at $1.10 $2.48
Sand 1⅛ cubic yards at $1.00 1.13
Portland cement 3¾ barrels at $2.50 9.37
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$12.98
[Illustration]