_THE SLATING AND PLUMBING._
Although Paul could have returned to the Lyceum at Paris in June,
Madame de Gandelau insisted upon her son remaining at home during
the summer. She was afraid of typhus. Anxiety, moreover, was felt
respecting the tranquillity of the great city which had been so cruelly
tried and injured. A tutor in the neighbourhood—a man of more learning
than is usually possessed by those modest substitutes for the highest
class of educators—came therefore every day to read with Paul for
an hour or two, that he might not forget his Latin; and the rest of
his time was devoted to superintending the works, which were visibly
advancing. The walls were built, the floor-joists fixed, and they were
beginning to raise the timber-work of the roofs; and though there were
no longer so many details to be given to the workmen, the surveillance
had to be more minute, especially as Eugène would not allow anything to
escape observation, and insisted upon having an account of everything.
Sometimes, when Paul returned from the works, Eugène would ask him if
he had seen such or such a part. If Paul hesitated, he would say to
him, “Well, my dear fellow, you must go back and see that, and bring
me an account of it—not to-morrow, mind, but directly.” And Paul would
have to mount his pony again. So in order to avoid these goings and
comings, which seemed to him at least monotonous, he had acquired
the habit of not returning till he had examined in detail all the
points respecting which his cousin could possibly question him. It was
especially to the chain-rods that he had directed Paul’s attention.
He would ask him repeatedly how the claw ends were bedded; and if the
explanations did not agree, Paul had to return to the works, and not
leave them till he had seen with his own eyes that things had been done
according to order. Besides this, Eugène visited the works three times
a week with Paul, and instructions were given to the builders in his
presence. The former always took care to make his clerk of works repeat
these instructions to him, to be certain that they were understood.
The gutters, the discharge of the rain-water, and the roofing now
required attention.
“Country builders generally manage roofing but indifferently,” said
Eugène, “and especially the plumber’s work. We shall therefore have to
be specially careful about this important part of our undertaking; for
a house badly roofed is in the same condition as a man incompletely
or badly clothed. Both contract incurable maladies. We have no good
roof-plumbers here, and must make up our minds to send for some from
Paris. That will cost us a little more; but it will be a saving in the
end, for we shall avoid incessant repairs and irreparable bungling. As
for the slating, we will fasten it with _hooks_.
“Slates are commonly fastened on deal battens, by means of nails; but
to drive these nails into the laths the slate must have two holes made
in it, since each is secured by two nails. With the force of the wind
the slates shake about, make the holes larger, and ultimately slip
off the head of the nails; then they fall. To replace a single slate
several must be removed, and the last must necessarily be pierced below
the overlap, that is, in the uncovered part of the slate. With hooks we
avoid these disadvantages, and anyone can repair the roof. These hooks
are made of copper, which allows them to be opened and closed many
times without breaking them. Moreover, the slate, being held down at
its bottom end, cannot rattle with the wind, and nothing can displace
it. In the ordinary mode of (French) slating there are—one over the
other—three thicknesses of slate. The exposed part being 4½ inches—the
slate is then 13½ inches long. The laths are nailed on the rafters 4½
inches apart from centre to centre (Fig. 60). Thus at A you see the
position of the laths and that of each slate. The hooks lie upon the
under slate, in the interval between the intermediate slates, and clip
the lower end of the outer slate. At B I show you, in section half full
size, the lath, C, nailed upon the rafters, and the hook, whose point
is driven into the lath, with its return, E, clipping the exposed end
of the slate. So much for the plain parts of the roof; and now for the
returns—the hips and valleys. Where these occur, as the slates are not
flexible, we must make use of lead or zinc; the first of these metals
is much the best, and is less liable to crack and to oxidize. We shall
cover the hips with short lengths of lead bent to the form, nailed,
and worked in with the courses of slate. In the valleys we shall lay a
sheet of lead, on which at either side the slates will lie.
“But you will study the manifold details of roofing when the men
are at work, for labour of this kind requires minute care. We have
to struggle with a subtle foe—water. It discovers every interstice,
and takes advantage of the least negligence to make its inroads; and
so much the more since, driven by the wind, it acquires a power and
an activity which it would not possess if it fell vertically, like
properly-behaved rain. So in climates where showers are gentle and
fall only in calm weather, the roofs are simple, and do not require
the innumerable precautions demanded among ourselves; and that is why
I adopt the plan of securing the slates with hooks. Here the westerly
and north-westerly winds are violent, and drive the rain and snow under
an angle of 30°. Slates held only at the top do not lie close, and tilt
up at their outer extremities, and the rain and snow soon get in. That
is also the reason why we have given our roofs an angle of 60°; for the
rain, when violently driven, generally descends perpendicularly to this
inclination, and there is then no danger of its getting under the outer
extremity of the slates.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.]
“The arrangement of the gutters also requires great attention. Their
channel should have a sufficient inclination—say an inch in a yard—to
ensure thorough clearance; but each length of lead or zinc forming
the channel should have a drip—a slight step of 1½ to 2 inches—that
the water may not find its way under the joints. These requirements
necessitate our giving to the gutters a sufficient depth to get these
falls from the culminating points to the discharges, or down-pipes,
and that these pipes may not be too far from each other, so that the
water may not have too long a course to make. Besides this, we should
contrive on the front of the gutters, issues, or small spouts for
overflows, so that if the snow or ice should encumber the orifices of
the down-pipes the water may run off. It is, moreover, desirable to
give the back of the gutter a greater height than the front, that the
water may in no case get inside. This, then (Fig. 61), is the section
we shall give to our gutters. The stone course, A, behind the gutter
being 16 inches high, the board which forms the front of the gutter
shall be 13 inches. You remember that upon the cornice-table we left
a slope forming a hollow between each joint, to ventilate the bottom
of the gutter and to ensure the escape of the water in the event
of an overflow. Our gutter, then, will consist of an oak board, B,
forming the bottom, of a side, C, forming the front, and of a roll or
bead fastened on the top edge of the front. This front board is to be
slightly inclined, that the lead lining may have less tendency to give
down.
“The eaves of the roof being at D, our lead lining shall be fastened
at E by nailing, follow the section of the gutter, and be doubled over
at its edge, G. We shall cover the front with another sheet of lead,
also doubled over at its top and bottom edges, H I, with clips of zinc
screwed to the board. This lead covering of the front will be held by
screws, whose heads must be covered with little caps, _a_, soldered
over; then a roll, K, will cover the bead and fold under the doubled
edges, G and H.
[Illustration: FIG. 61.—DETAILS OF THE PLUMBER’S WORK.]
“But previously, the bottom and fronts of the gutters will be attached
by means of angle-irons, L, sunk-in flush, and which are let into the
wall at the bottom of the course, A. These angle-irons will come on the
outside, and not on the inside of the gutter. At regular distances, in
the gutter-front, we shall bore the holes for the little spouts, M,
which serve as overflows.
“The down-spouts, placed in the angles of the building, will pass, at
their upper orifice, through an opening contrived in the cornice, as
shown by the detail, N. A funnel of lead will connect the bottom of
the gutter with the orifice of the cast-iron down-pipe, and will be
soldered, of course, only to the bottom of the gutter, resting loose in
the part which enters the down-pipe.
“In order to obtain the necessary falls in the bottom of the gutter, we
shall run in a thickness of plaster, with stops of wood for the drips
at the end of each length of the lead lining, as you see at O. These
sheets of lead should not exceed 10 feet each in length.
“The ridges of the roofs and dormers shall also be of lead doubled and
folded, as shown by the sketch, P. Two strips of lead, _b_, are first
nailed on to cover the slate, _d_; then the upper half of these strips
are rolled and folded into the sheet, _i_, which covers the ridge
roll. This last piece of lead is, besides, held by screws, whose heads
are covered by a bit of lead; thus there is no danger of its being
displaced by the wind.
“I describe to you here only the principal points in the roof-plumber’s
work, which requires very great judgment and extreme care. You will
be able to study it practically in detail when we have good plumbers
at work. Some of the Parisian plumbers possess remarkable skill. They
will also attend to the arrangements for the supply of water in the
house—the water-closets, baths, &c. But I have an important piece of
advice to give you: Lead laid on oak that has not been steeped in water
oxidizes very rapidly. The acetic acid which this kind of wood contains
changes the sheets of lead placed on it into ceruse in a few months,
especially if the wood is not sufficiently ventilated on the opposite
side. I will therefore point out to you the only kinds of wood that
should be employed for the gutters and ridge rolls. We will take old
wood from the remains of the old mill, which when cut up will be in the
condition required, for this wood has long ago discharged its sap.
“Your business, as clerk-of-works, when the plumbers begin their
operations, will especially consist in having the metal that is brought
in carefully weighed, and having the clippings safely put by in your
presence. These men, accustomed to occupy themselves with their craft,
work somewhat after the fashion of artists, and are inclined to
disregard material interests; they leave their lead and tin about in
every corner. You must be aware that we ought not to expose our country
fellows to such strong temptations.
“You must therefore weigh all the materials as they come in, and then
the clippings. These will have to be put by in your presence in a place
securely locked. The difference between the weight of metal that comes
in and that of this residue is the amount with which we are chargeable,
as lead work is paid by weight.
“The joiner’s contract you have brought me promises, I believe, that
the flooring, doors, and window-frames shall be sent at the end of
August?”
“Yes; and as regards the floorings, the contractor tells me that,
having a good store of wood, he could begin laying them on the 1st of
August.”
“That would be too soon; we must let the whole building dry a little
first. He is an energetic man; if he begins on the 1st of September he
will have finished by the 1st of October. We will have the painters in
then, and by the 1st of December our house may be considered finished.
“We must remember the marble-mason also, and send him an order for the
mantelpieces. It is not too soon to think about it. Have you given the
joiner the dimensions of the fireplaces?”
“Yes; they were marked on the plans.”
“Well, make a copy of these plans, and we will send it to the
marble-mason. For this article also we shall have to deal with a Paris
house; it will be cheaper to do so, and we shall have a greater choice.
It is a very troublesome thing to be obliged, as we are now-a-days,
to have recourse to Paris for a hundred matters of detail with which
building is concerned.
“But except in certain great cities, such as Lyons, Tours, Bordeaux,
Rouen, Nantes, and Marseilles, where you may find warehouses tolerably
well furnished, the provinces supply nothing. It was not so formerly;
this is one of the results of our excessive centralization.
“I do my best to oppose this fatal tendency; but when time presses we
must have recourse to those great centres of manufactures connected
with building. If we ordered our chimney-pieces at Chateauroux, or even
at Tours, we should have to wait half-a-year and pay more for them. The
dealer of whom we ordered them would be sure to send to Paris for them,
and we may quite as well go to the fountain-head ourselves. As regard
the conservatory vestibule opening on the garden, and the shelter over
the entrance, our blacksmith aided by a full detail of particulars
will be able to execute them; he is an intelligent workman. Country
carpenters and blacksmiths are generally competent men.”
“Why are they so?”
“Because the carpenters have kept up their organization or
corporations, or at least something equivalent, and workmen have to
give proof of their efficiency before they can enter the guild.
“The blacksmiths, on the other hand, have kept up their habit of
working at the forge; and the forge is the soul of blacksmiths’ work.
In the large towns, on the contrary, casting is all the fashion; and
artisans connected with the building trades have lost their skill
in the finer labour of the forge. They have become mere fitters.
However there has been a reaction during the past few years, and at
the Exhibition of 1867 you might have seen excellent specimens of
wrought-iron. Architects also have become unaccustomed to work of
this kind, and very few know how iron is wrought by the hammer, or
how welding is done; so they give instructions to contractors which
are incapable of being executed, or which occasion them much useless
labour. Architects ought therefore to be acquainted with the methods of
workmanship in every department of labour they call into requisition,
and it is not at the _École des Beaux-Arts_ they will learn that. It is
now more convenient to persuade them that matter was made to obey all
the fancies of the artist; that serves as an excuse for explanations,
and makes teaching less complicated. The tax-payer and the owner
of property who has occasion to employ an architect pay for this
admirable doctrine rather dearly; while, without superior guidance, the
manufactures connected with building suffer perversion in endeavouring
to realize the fancies of these gentlemen.”