STONE MASONRY.--CUT STONE.--TERRA COTTA.--PRIVY
VAULTS.--CISTERNS.--FILTERS FOR CISTERNS.--BRICK PAVEMENTS.--CEMENT
PAVEMENTS.
Stone foundations for dwelling-houses are usually made of native stone,
and anything that may be said here must necessarily conform to general
rather than special conditions. The best stone that can be used for this
purpose is hard, non-absorbent limestone. There are many varieties of
stone conglomerates throughout the country which are valuable for
foundation uses. Stone should be laid up in lime mortar in the direction
of its natural bed in the quarry, with a sufficiency of bond stone. For
ordinary dwelling-house work there should be at least one footing eight
inches in depth, and six inches projection on each side of the wall.
Stone walls for foundations are usually made not less than eighteen
inches in thickness. It is not easy to lay a good stone wall less than
eighteen inches in thickness. While the same number of cubic feet of
stone work may cost less than brick work, a stone foundation ordinarily
would cost more than one of brick for the reason that a brick wall does
not have to be so thick. It usually takes about half the number of cubic
feet of brick work that it does of stone work to answer the same
purpose. Where stone is available at low cost it is best to use it.
Interior brick walls may rest on stone footings. The inside of stone
walls should be neatly pointed after other work has been finished. Stone
work above grade may be finished in many ways--random range work,
rubble work, regular course range work, etc. After the other work has
been finished, the mortar should be raked out a short distance and a
finish joint added.
CUT STONE.
Cut-stone work is too large a subject to consider in detail. There are
several points which cannot be overlooked. There should be drips cut
under all projections, so that the water will not run down the other
stone or brick work and stain it. A drip is merely a little V-shaped
channel cut on the under side of the stone work. They are found on the
under side of most window-sills. In door, window, or other openings, the
stone work should underlie or overlie all wood work at least two inches.
This may be explained by stating that the stone window-sill should
underlie the wood sill two inches, and the window cap should overlie the
wood cap at least two inches. Generally speaking, coping should project
on each side of the wall about two inches. Sills should extend at least
one inch beyond the face of the wall. Window-sills should be no less
than five inches in thickness. Door-sills should generally be about
seven or eight inches, and extend at least one inch beyond the face of
the wall, and through its full thickness. The water table of the stone
foundation usually forms the window cap of the cellar windows, and the
cap course, which comes at the grade line, the cellar window-sills. In
this case it is necessary that the stone should run farther into the
wall where the openings occur.
Stone steps are not over six and one-half to seven and one-half inches
in thickness, with from nine to twelve inch treads. They underlie and
lap about one inch, and have walls, the same material as the
foundation, for lower supports. These walls should go to the full depth
of the house walls with which they come in contact. Thus there is no
danger of settling. Stone steps are frequently used in the front of the
yard from the side-walk to the grade level where there is considerable
elevation. In such cases it is necessary to use stone side pieces for
the steps, to prevent caving and to make a neat finish. Where flagging
is cheap, it is well to use it for walks and porch floors.
TERRA-COTTA WORK.
Terra cotta is the perfection of brick-making. It is the only building
material which is not affected by changes of temperature, or other
natural or artificial conditions to which the building may be subject.
It may be described as being a very plastic material; that is, anything
can be done with it. It can be worked into any form that is desired,
excepting long lintels, and even in that case there are means of
arriving at the desired result and giving a lintel form in a very proper
manner. Ornamental terra cotta is modelled by artists before being
burned, and the best results may naturally be expected.
PRIVY VAULT.
The size of the privy vault is usually three and one-half by four and
one-half feet, elliptical, and from ten to twenty feet deep, according
to the character of the soil. Usually it is walled up with four-inch dry
brick wall. Piers should be provided at corners for privy building. In
some instances it is required that the privy vault should be made
water-tight. In that case it should be built the same as a cistern, with
round bottom and cemented interior surface. When it is desired to
connect the privy vault with the sewer, it should be cemented in the
manner just described, with a siphon vitrified pipe connection with the
drain to the sewer. The siphon prevents solid rubbish, which may be
thrown into the vault, from getting into the drain and clogging it.
CISTERN.
The cistern is generally located near the rear kitchen wall, say ten or
twelve feet therefrom. The walls, arch, and neck are usually four inches
in thickness when capacity of cistern does not exceed one hundred and
twenty-five barrels. Otherwise the brick work mentioned should be eight
inches in thickness. The brick should be laid in domestic cement, and
smoothly coated with Portland cement. It should be connected with the
down spouts of the house by means of vitrified drain-pipe, the same as
described in connection with plumbing work, though it has no connection
therewith.
The following table gives capacity of cisterns of various sizes.
CAPACITY OF CISTERN IN GALLONS FOR EACH TEN INCHES IN DEPTH.
+-------+----------++--------+----------++--------+----------+
| DIAM. | || DIAM. | || DIAM. | |
| IN | GALLONS. || IN | GALLONS. || IN | GALLONS. |
| FEET | || FEET. | || FEET. | |
+-------+----------++--------+----------++--------+----------+
| 2 | 19·50 || 6-1/2 | 206·85 || 12 | 705·0 |
| 2-1/2 | 30·50 || 7 | 239·88 || 13 | 827·4 |
| 3 | 44·60 || 7-1/2 | 275·40 || 14 | 959·6 |
| 3-1/2 | 59·97 || 8 | 313·33 || 15 | 1,101·6 |
| 4 | 78·33 || 8-1/2 | 353·72 || 20 | 1,958·4 |
| 4-1/2 | 99·14 || 9 | 396·56 || 25 | 3,059·9 |
| 5 | 122·40 || 9-1/2 | 461·40 || 30 | 4,406·4 |
| 5-1/2 | 148·10 || 10 | 489·60 || 35 | 5,990·0 |
| 6 | 176·25 || 11 | 592·40 || 40 | 7,831·0 |
+-------+----------++--------+----------++--------+----------+
FILTERS.
There are various ways of forming a filter. One is to have a small
cistern of eight or ten barrel capacity, located between the main
cistern and house. It should be divided by a brick wall laid in mortar,
but not cemented on either side. The water enters on one side, passes
through the brick wall in the middle, and from thence to the cistern
beyond. Another plan is to cement the wall, leave an opening at the
bottom, and pack the side on which the water enters with charcoal, sand,
and gravel. The water passes through this packing and the opening below
to the other side of the filter, and then to the cistern. Still another
plan is to build the partition as first described on the inside of the
cistern proper. All of the water passes to one side of the divided
cistern, and through the partition before being drawn out. Thus it has
to pass through the brick before it is to be drawn out. Still another
filter is made by building what is called a beehive in the bottom of the
cistern. It is a beehive form of brick work, with the pump pipe leading
to the inside, so that all water has to be drawn through the brick
beehive before it is pumped out. According to this plan, as well as the
others mentioned, the water is strained through the brick.
It is best that the cistern and independent filter, when used, should be
provided with iron rims and cast-iron covers. It is good practice to
connect the cistern with a dry well, which is constructed the same as an
open vault excepting that the top is arched. This dry-well connection is
by means of five-inch vitrified pipe laid in the same manner as sewer
pipe.
There is a practice, altogether too common among builders, of connecting
the cistern overflow with the vault or sewer. Nothing could be worse
than this. The water is certain to be polluted.
BRICK PAVEMENT.
Brick pavements are used for walks around the house, and sometimes for
cellar floors. Cement floors, however, are better for cellars. Brick
pavement of all kinds should be made of hard-burned bricks, laid on a
six or eight inch bed of sand. The brick walk should not be laid until
after all the grading and filling of the lot has been done. It is best
to leave the brick walks out of the general contract, so that this work
can be delayed until after the house is finished. It is a good thing to
have the sodding and the paving in the same contract. The contractor who
attends to the sodding can work the two together to a better advantage
than if the walks were placed and the sodding done afterwards.
CEMENT PAVEMENT.
Cement pavements are used for walks around the house, and for cellar
floors. Cement is more expensive than brick. The surface to be covered
should, first, be levelled, then saturated with water; after which is
laid a three-inch bed of cement concrete, made of gravel, sand, and
cement in proper proportions. Upon this is placed a three-fourth-inch
layer of cement mortar. Ordinary American, hydraulic cement may be used
for concrete, but for the three-fourth-inch layer nothing but best
Portland cement should be considered. Sometimes the cement work in the
cellar is done by the plasterer. Outside cement work for walks requires
special skill. In most large cities there are those who make a business
of doing this work. They have different formulas and methods of reaching
the proper results.