PLASTERING.--GRAY FINISH.--WHITE HARD FINISH.--BACK
PLASTERING.--GAS-PIPING.--TIN WORK.--GUTTERS.--VALLEYS.--DOWN
SPOUTS.--GALVANIZED IRON-WORK.--HOT-AIR
PIPES.--THIMBLES.--PAINTING.--STAINING.--OIL FINISHING.--INTERIOR
STAINING.--FLOOR FINISH.--GLAZING.--PLATE-GLASS.--BEVELLED
GLASS.--CATHEDRAL GLASS.--HARDWARE.
It is only within the last ten or fifteen years that it has been at all
common to do two-coat work in plastering. Before that time three-coat
work was almost universal. Most of the plastering done at this time is
what is called "laid-on" work. The first two coats are put on at the
same time. The last coat is put on after these are dry. The laths are
nearly always of pine. There should be one nail for each contact with
the wood-work; that is, four nails to each lath. The mortar should be
made of the best quality of lime and sharp sand.
A sufficient quantity of hair should be used. The mortar should be
floated, or made smooth, and straightened to receive the wood-work. The
last coat should be put on after the other is thoroughly dry. It should
be trowelled to a smooth surface, and when completed should be free from
chip cracks, stains, and improper mixing of sand. Three-coat work, where
each coat is allowed to become thoroughly dry, is better than two-coat
work. The last coat is usually a white plaster-of-Paris finish, put on
with the skim.
A gray finish is used more generally at the present time than in the
past. It is put on in place of the white skim coat.
The natural color is a pleasant gray tint. It may be made smooth enough
for papering. The skim coat, white or gray, may be tinted with fresco
color at less cost than it can be papered. Paper becomes necessary on a
white skim finish after a short time.
The hard white finish, which is not commonly used at the present time,
is very satisfactory excepting for its extreme whiteness. This finish is
made by the use of white sand and skim rubbed and floated down until
only a sufficient amount of the lime or skim proper remains to cement
the sand to the wall. The same kind of a finish with gray sand is very
satisfactory.
Proprietary finishes for plastered walls are now used to some extent in
the better class of work. They are very hard, of waterproof texture and
of any color desired. The coloring of finish for plastering is
ordinarily not successful. However, some of the proprietary colored
goods before the public are very satisfactory when well put on. The one
difficulty in the way of their use is in getting the plasterer to handle
properly a thing with which he is not familiar.
Back plastering is common in very cold climates, and is done by
plastering on the back of the sheathing between the studding. It is
independent of the inside plastering.
Cement pavements in floors are considered in the previous chapter.
GAS-PIPING.
Gas-pipes are placed in a house before lathing. The gas company which
supplies the illuminating or fuel gas furnishes the inspection for each
set of pipes. Below is given a form of specification in use by an
architect in a natural-gas region.
GAS.
ILLUMINATING GAS.--Provide and fix gas-pipe and fittings according
to gas company's regulations. All pipes shall be concealed,
excepting where it is desired to attach a burner. Cap pipes.
Lights to be placed as indicated by table below.
FUEL OR NATURAL GAS.--Provide and fix pipe and fittings according
to company's regulations. Company's certificate of approval will be
required before payments are made. Cap pipes until mixers and
burners are attached.
Valves and connections shall be provided preparatory to mixer and
burner connections. Provide connection with street mains.
TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION.
+-------------------------+-----------------+---------------+
| |ILLUMINATING GAS.| |
| FLOORS. +-----------------+ NATURAL-GAS |
| |CENTRE. |BRACKET.| FIRES. |
+-------------------------+--------+--------+---------------+
| | | | |
| FIRST FLOOR. | | | |
| | | | |
| Parlor or Reception Room| - | - | - |
| Porch | - | - | - |
| Sitting-Room | - | - | - |
| Front Hall--newel | - | - | - |
| Dining-Room | - | - | - |
| Library | - | - | - |
| Chambers--each | - | - | - |
| Rear Hall | - | - | - |
| Bedrooms--each | - | - | - |
| Kitchen gas stove| - | - | Range. |
| Pantry | - | - | - |
| China-Room | - | - | - |
| Cellar | - | - |{Furnace. |
| | | |{Laundry stove.|
| | | | |
| SECOND FLOOR | | | |
| | | | |
| Chambers--each | - | - | - |
| Bedrooms--each | - | - | - |
| Alcove | - | - | - |
| Front Hall | - | - | - |
| Rear Hall | - | - | - |
| Bath-Room | - | - | - |
| Attic | - | - | - |
+-------------------------+--------+--------+---------------+
TIN WORK.
It is now entirely possible to get first-class tin plate for
architectural uses. The process is very simple. Require and pay only for
a tin plate stamped with a reputable maker's name and brand. There is a
general effort upon the part of tin-plate dealers to raise the standard
of tin in this way; and there are now a number of manufacturers of
integrity who are pursuing the course of branding a first-class tin
plate. All tin work should be painted on the under side before it leaves
the shop.
GUTTERS.
In the matter of general utility the hanging gutter is ideal. It is
below the eaves, where its overflow can injure nothing. It is easy to
reach all parts of it in case of repair. If it is necessary to remove
any of the shingles or other roof covering, the gutter need not be
disturbed. There are those, however, who object to the appearance of a
hanging gutter. A galvanized iron gutter made of No. 26 iron, in form as
per Fig. 33, and which runs four inches above the overflow line at all
times, may be placed on the first or second row of shingles or slate,
and will give very good satisfaction. It is certainly much better than a
wood tin-lined gutter.
VALLEYS AND OTHER TIN WORK.
All valleys should be lined with twenty-inch tin. The connection between
all roof and vertical surfaces should be flashed and counter-flashed;
that is, pieces of tin should be bent to conform to the vertical and
horizontal surfaces, and slipped under the slate or shingles so as to
lap both horizontally and vertically. This is the flashing. The
counter-flashings are the lapped pieces of tin which extend into the
vertical surfaces, and down over the flashings proper.
All wood-work which projects in excess of one and three-eighths inch
from any vertical surface, should be covered with tin. Hip and ridge
coping should be covered with tin in the manner described in chapter
where roofs are considered.
Down spouts should be provided to carry the water from all roofs to the
ground. The presence of more than one gable in the front part of the
building frequently makes more than one down spout necessary. Where the
house is not too large, one five-inch spout will usually take all of the
water from the roof. For a small structure a four-inch spout will serve
the same purpose. Three and four inches are in common use for carrying
water from the main roof where the continuous course of the gutter is
interrupted by gables or dormers. The cistern down-spout should be
provided with cut-off or preferably a switch spout, which connects by a
drain pipe with a dry well or street gutter. Such connections should
never be made with the sewer where a down spout is intended to supply a
cistern. In connecting a roof with a cistern it should be borne in mind
that it is not always so much the size of the cistern which insures a
constant supply of water, as it is the amount of roof surface connected
with the cistern.
Porches are usually provided with two or three inch down spouts
according to the amount of roof to be drained.
Flat roofs are best when made with a standing seam. It admits of the
expansion and contraction of the tin without injury to the joint.
Copper has been extensively used on the better class of buildings during
recent years. The improvement in the quality of tin has rendered its use
unnecessary excepting for down spouts and ornamental purposes. New
processes in the manufacture of sheet copper, and the electroplating of
other sheet metals with copper, promise to reduce the cost of that
material for architectural purposes, so that it will be better and
cheaper than tin. When such claims are substantiated the public will be
informed thereof, through the usual channels.
Galvanized iron does not have the general architectural uses that were
common to it a few years ago. For down spouts in excess of four inches,
No. 26 galvanized iron should be used.
Hot-air pipes which connect the furnace pipes in basement with the
second floor are usually three and three-fourths by twelve inches in
size. Before they are placed, all contiguous wood-work should be lined
with tin. In frame houses the pipes should be covered with iron lath.
They should continue above baseboard, with register opening on second
floor and below joist with collar in basement. Where pipes run in an
outside wood wall, which they should do only in case of extremest
emergency, the back and sides of the pipe should be lined with several
thicknesses of asbestos paper.
A zinc drain should be provided from the refrigerator to the outside of
brick wall. This drain is one inch in diameter, and comes up through the
floor with funnel-shaped opening at the top. An ordinary six-inch tin
funnel let into the tube will answer every purpose. Thus the discharge
pipe from the refrigerator may be readily placed over it.
Thimbles should be provided for the plasterer when he is putting on the
last coat. Flue stops should be placed therein after plastering is
finished. These are for stove connections with brick flues.
PAINTING.
Painting is not so serious a problem as it once was. We hear about
people buying their own paint, the lead and everything that goes with
it, and having it mixed under their personal supervision. But even this
is not satisfactory. After a short time the paint begins to look chalky
and dingy. When the mixing of the paint is not done under the
supervision of the owner, and the result is as above stated, the painter
is often accused of dishonesty.
A painter does not ordinarily have the facilities or knowledge for
properly mixing colored paints. In order to get satisfactory results in
painting, we may again fall back upon the integrity of an established
manufacturer of proprietary goods,--that is, upon ready-mixed paints.
Not all are good. Most of them are made as cheap and common as possible;
but the best results can be secured from really good ready-mixed paints.
Any large dealer of established reputation, who is not himself a
manufacturer of a cheap paint, may ordinarily be relied upon for a
correct opinion.
Preparatory to painting, all knots should be coated with shellac. All
work should be painted with three coats,--one priming, and two
following. One can always be sure of getting the color wanted in
ready-mixed paints of the best quality. All outside frames should be
primed before setting. The painter should follow the carpenter, and
prime all dressed wood-work as put up. Putty work may be done after
first coat, or before final color is applied. There is no advantage to
be derived in painting shingles after they are put on. The paint gathers
in a heavy ridge on the shingle next to the butt of the one above it in
a way to let the moisture lie therein, so that it will rot at this
point.
Brick-work may be painted as specified for wood-work, excepting that the
first coat, or priming, should be put on very heavy.
Tin and iron work should be painted with one coat of metallic paint as
soon as put up. Tin unexposed to view should receive a second coat of
metallic paint before the building is completed. Tin work exposed to
view should have two coats of paint on a metallic prime, same as house.
EXTERIOR STAINING.
Shingles should be dipped in stain and then stood in a trough, so that
they will drain to a barrel. Other external wood-work should have two
heavy coats of stain applied with a brush. Weather-boarding is sometimes
dipped into a trough filled with stain, and then set so that it will
drain therein. Shingle stain is a proprietary finish, and regularly
advertised in leading periodicals.
INTERIOR STAINING.
The staining of interior finish is now rendered simple and satisfactory
by the use of proprietary stains. Sometimes the stain is put on direct,
without first applying filler. At other times a filler of cornstarch and
oil, or a proprietary mixture, which is preferable, is used. One or two
coats of prepared oil-finish follows the application of the stain. The
various manufacturers of interior stains furnish wood samples which
indicate the variety of this material manufactured.
OIL FINISHING.
All wood to be oil-finished should first be filled. The antique and acid
stained effects are derived by the use of different kinds of fillers,
which close the pores of the wood and stain it the color desired.
Proprietary fillers and oil finish may be most successfully used, for
the reason that they are generally prepared by men who have put their
capital into the business for the purpose of getting a return. Such
people cannot put a bad article permanently on the market without
feeling the result themselves. Therefore, those who are permanently
successful in the manufacture of proprietary goods can generally be
relied upon.
In the finishing of wood-work all under coats should be rubbed with dry
hair-cloth, burlap, or fine sand-paper. On top of the filler two coats
of prepared oil finish should be applied; the first one rubbed as above,
and, if desired, the last left bright. A dead finish may be secured by
rubbing down the last coat with fine pumice stone and water or oil.
External exposed wood-work and bath-rooms may be finished with a
water-proof varnish by treating as above, excepting that the last coat
should be a water-proof oil finish made by some well-known manufacturer.
FLOOR FINISH.
All manufacturers of first-class interior finishes prepare a special
floor finish. It is usually applied in two coats over a filler as
described. In such cases the filler is not stained. Each coat is
thoroughly rubbed. A satisfactory floor finish may be made by washing
the clean wood floor with a solution of salt and water, and afterwards
saturating with paraffine wax, and then rubbing.
GLAZING.
All glass should be embedded in putty and secured with glazier's tacks
and putty. American sheet glass is made in two thicknesses--single and
double strength--and in four qualities. _A_ or _AA_ only should be used
in a good house.
Plate glass costs about five or six times as much as double-strength _A_
American sheet. A thumb rule for calculating the cost of plate glass,
which is not strictly accurate but which gives a general idea, is to
calculate on from fifty to seventy-five cents per square foot.
CATHEDRAL GLASS.
Of cathedral glass proper there is only one quality. In ornamental and
colored glass work the different kinds of glass used will not be here
enumerated. Bevelled plate is becoming quite common. Generally speaking,
cathedral glass may be arranged in geometrical forms in sash with wood
separations or muntins. Cathedral glass proper for such purposes costs
from twenty-five to thirty-five cents a square foot. Cathedral glass
leaded may cost almost any amount in excess of a dollar per square foot.
In selecting cathedral glass for sash with wood separations, the best
and most satisfactory results may be reached by choosing the lighter
tints, and not having more than one or two colors to the window.
HARDWARE.
It is difficult if not impossible to write a general specification for
the hardware which goes into a house. It cannot be done excepting by
specifying particular goods, which cannot be done here. However, a few
general statements in regard to hardware may not be amiss. The cheapest
locks used should have brass fronts and bolts, and be of the mortise
pattern. Night-locks should be provided as desired. Outside knobs of
rear door and those inside the kitchen may be of bronzed iron. The price
of bronzed-faced locks is not much greater than brass-faced locks. A
good bronzed-iron knob has not been made up to this time. Therefore, the
fixtures for the front door, if not all others, should be of real
bronze.
Butts of bronzed iron have been made which are very satisfactory. Sash
locks should be provided for all windows. Sliding-door hardware should
be of real bronze. The locks should be what is known as "astragal"
fronts, and the trimmings flush. Sliding doors should be suspended from
above on hangers. Bolts of wrought-iron should be placed on all outside
rear doors, and, if desired, on the inside of all chamber and bedroom
doors; always on the bath-room door. Such bolts may be mortised or
otherwise, as desired. Foot and top bolts may be provided for double
doors and for sash. Pivots should be provided for all transoms; transom
lifts as desired, also sash lifts. There should be wooden base knobs
with rubber buffers at all doors. Double-spring hinges should be
provided for doors leading to and from kitchen and china-closet or
passage. Necessary drawer hardware should be provided, and butts, knobs,
and fastenings for inside shutters.