it is impossible to give precise estimates without exact information upon
such points as the amount of excavation needed, facilities for obtaining
stone for foundation, etc. Then the prices of labor and materials vary
greatly in different localities, so the figures here given can only be
approximately correct. Cottage No. I could be built as shown on plan,
for $500. A cellar under it would make it cost about $100 more. Cottages
Nos. II, III and IV would cost from $600 to $1000. Those shown in plates
VI, VII, IX, X, and others of similar character and size may be estimated
to cost from $2.50 to $3.00 per square ft. That is to say, if, as in
Fig. IX, the extreme exterior dimensions are 21 ft. by 29 ft., the house
covers 609 square ft., and would cost from $1522 to $1827. Cottage No.
XIV could be built for from $3000 to $3500.
These prices are given as guides, and may serve the reader as a standard
to follow. If plain interior finish is adopted, these figures may be
relied upon for ordinary cases. Some sites, however, present unexpected
difficulties, and some localities are peculiarly favored. Then the style
of interior finish adopted affects the cost greatly, and the expense may
be easily doubled by the use of elaborate cabinet work.
A brick house of the same capacity as a wooden one, will cost nearly 20
per cent. more. Rubble stone, if easily obtained, costs about as much as
brick.
In building double houses, we may save from 10 to 15 per cent. on the
cost of the houses singly.
Good materials and workmanship are always the cheapest in the end, and it
is by no means advisable to economize too closely on that score. There
can be no comfort in a house that constantly needs repairs; and the money
spent in building a home, carefully and substantially constructed, will
never be regretted.
[Illustration: SANITARY QUESTIONS]
_By WM. PAUL GERHARD, C. E._
In selecting a site, a loose, porous =soil= is, for obvious reasons,
preferable to ground liable to be damp or wet. Pure, dry sand, and
gravel, make excellent sites for building purposes. Next to these, rocky
soils may be chosen, and are usually quite healthy. Clay soils, which are
more or less impervious to water, and therefore always damp and chilly,
and alluvial lands, must not be chosen as a site for dwellings. But,
above all, avoid _made_ land. Although this refers more particularly to
city lots, it is not uncommon, even in the suburbs of large cities, to
find low ground filled with garbage, rubbish, and decaying vegetable and
animal debris, which are prime causes of impure air in dwellings. Ground
which has not before been built upon is, undoubtedly, preferable to sites
of old, torn-down buildings. If the latter must be taken, a detailed and
thorough examination should be made with respect to the purity of the
soil. Some lots are literally honey-combed with cesspools, privy-holes,
or have a net-work of broken drains full of accumulated filth, and the
soil is at times found to be contaminated from liquid house refuse, or
by soakage from barn-yards, stables, etc. A well should never be sunk
through such formerly occupied ground. It is quite important to ascertain
by preliminary borings, the level of the ground water, for a high
water level means continuous dampness, and must be abated by thorough
under-drainage.
By =underdrainage= of a site, we effect a permanent lowering of the
ground water, and thus secure to the proposed dwelling, dry foundation
walls, and absence of dampness from the house interior. To remove such
subsoil water, small porous, round tile-drains, 1¼ inches in diameter,
should be laid with open joints at least two feet below the level of the
cellar floor. The general arrangement of the lines may vary somewhat
in each case, but ordinarily the branch drains can be laid in parallel
lines, their distance varying from ten to twenty-five feet, according to
the amount of water to be removed. Wherever springs are found, special
lines may be required. The trenches should be refilled with broken stones
or coarse gravel. All branch pipes should be collected in one main pipe,
for which a 2 inch tile pipe will answer in most cases. This main drain
should be continued with proper fall to a ditch, ravine or water course.
There must never be any connection between such subsoil drains and any
foul-water drain, sewer, or with a cesspool or sewage tank.
If the dwelling stands on a hill-side, exposed to subsoil water flowing
over an impervious stratum, the foundation walls of the house nearest
to the hill are very apt to be wet, often even so much as to have the
subsoil water percolate through the cellar walls. In this case, the
subterranean water vein should be cut off by a blind drain, _i.e._ a
trench dug above the house sufficiently deep and carried with proper fall
diagonally across the lot. The trench to be filled with broken stones and
to be carried down the hill to some outlet, either an open ditch or a
brook.
Some attention should be paid to the proper _removal of surface water_.
In the case of suburban cottages the rain falling upon the roof is almost
always collected and stored for use in underground cisterns. Occasionally
a public water supply is available, the cistern is omitted, and the roof
water is allowed to run away on the surface, and partly soak into the
ground, thereby tending to keep the foundation walls damp and unhealthy.
To avoid this evil, the grounds surrounding the house must be properly
graded, in order to shed the water off from the walls. At a good distance
from the house the surface water may sometimes be permitted to soak away
into the ground, the vegetation helping to absorb a part of it. In other
cases, however, surface channels or gutters must be arranged, especially
with clay soils.
Besides water, the upper layers of the soil always contain =ground air=,
which has a tendency to rise into the dwelling, especially in winter when
our heated dwellings act as huge chimneys, drawing up large quantities
of air from the ground beneath them. Such exhalations, which consist in
the case of a pure soil of carbonic acid and watery vapor, and which
in the case of a contaminated soil are largely mixed with gases of
decomposing organic matter, should be rigidly excluded from the interior
of houses. For this reason, dwellings without a cellar should never be
placed immediately on the ground, but must be raised on piers, arches or
posts sufficiently to allow of a large air space and perfect circulation
between the surface and the floor beams. This will, at the same time,
prevent the quick rotting of the joists and floor-boards. To prevent
the rapid cooling of the basement floor this should be laid double with
an intermediate space, filled with a non-conducting material, such as
mineral wool.
It is more expensive, but always preferable, to excavate for a =cellar=
and to build the house on strong, well made foundation walls. The floor
of the cellar must be made perfectly tight against ground water and
ground air. There are different ways of doing this. One of the best
methods is the following: cover the surface of the cellar, which has
previously been levelled, with a layer of concrete, at least four inches,
better six inches deep. Next put on a thin layer (about ¼ inch) of hot,
pure asphaltum, and on top of this a finish of Portland cement.
The cellar walls must always be made impervious to dampness. As usually
built, they are extremely porous, and moisture rises in them by contact
with the adjoining ground and by capillary attraction. The best plan to
prevent =dampness of walls= is to have a complete cut-off between the
foundation walls and the ground, by an open area, carried completely
round the building, and well drained and ventilated. This, however, is
expensive, and a similar isolation may be accomplished by building double
or hollow walls, the space between inner and outer walls being well
aired. The foundation walls should be placed upon a bed of concrete, and
must be covered on their outside with a layer of asphaltum to a point
somewhat above the level of the ground. It is very important to provide,
at this height in the wall, a horizontal isolating or damp proof course,
which may consist of a thick layer of asphaltum, or of slate, bedded in
cement, or of layers of tarred roofing paper, or else of hollow tiles.
The sill and the floor joists must, of course, be kept above the damp
proof course. The surface water may be kept away from the outer walls by
filling the space next to the wall, to a depth well below the foundation
walls, with broken stones or gravel. Sometimes a tile drain is placed
below the foot course to carry off any accumulation of percolating storm
water. This trench may be covered at the top with a stone slab to shed
off surface water.
Most so-called “practical” builders will probably sneer at these
suggestions. I can assure those of my readers who care to build a
_healthy_ home, that the money paid for such preventive measures will
be spent for an excellent purpose. The proper construction of healthy
foundation walls, and of a cellar, dry and cheerful at all times, is the
basis of sanitation in cottage-building. This much accomplished, all
remaining requirements are not so difficult to fulfill.
Next to dryness, the most desirable features of a good cellar are, that
it is well lighted and perfectly ventilated. Good light in a cellar
helps much toward its being kept in a proper condition. As regards
the necessity of cellar ventilation, remember that your floors will
necessarily have some crevices or shrinkage holes, and through these
the cellar air will rise and mingle with the atmosphere of your living
and sleeping rooms. Above all other things, do not allow your cellar to
be made a sort of gigantic poke-hole for rags, cast-off clothing, old
shoes, tin-cans, rotten vegetables, garbage, swill or other offensive
matters. See that it is kept at all times free from rats and vermin. Do
not tolerate any opening in the cellar floor for the removal of surplus
water into foul water drains. Such opening, even if trapped, will be sure
to act at times as an inlet for unwelcome sewer air.
* * * * *
The =water supply= of cottages is derived either from wells, cisterns
or springs. Rarely do we find in the case of scattered houses a public
supply, delivering water under pressure.
A common sight in the country is a =well= located close to or adjoining
a leaching cesspool or a privy. Such wells are usually sunk to but a
limited depth, and the liquid sewage from cesspools soaks through the
porous subsoil down to the subterranean water stratum. The danger to
health from drinking impure water is now universally acknowledged.
Polluted well water is rendered more dangerous by the fact that it often
has a bright, sparkling and clear appearance and has, in summer time, a
low temperature, making it particularly agreeable to drink. Nothing but a
chemical analysis or the microscope reveals its unwholesome condition. It
is extremely difficult to fix a limit of minimum distance between a well
and a cesspool, or privy, as so many different factors have to be taken
into consideration. In rocky ground, especially, there may exist hidden
fissures carrying the contents of cesspools a much greater distance than
is generally expected.
If there is no leaching cesspool, no privy, nor other cause of soil
contamination, in the neighborhood, a well may safely be used. If
cesspools must be kept on or near your, or the neighbor’s, lot, or if the
ground has previously been saturated with filth, do not sink a well.
A properly built well should have walls made tight and impervious from
the level of the ground-water up to the surface, in order to prevent
any filtration from the soil surrounding the well. The surface of the
ground should be raised somewhat at the well, and graded so as to pitch
in all directions away from the well. This will prevent the entrance
of surface-washings. The opening of the well must be _thoroughly well
covered_, in order to prevent the falling into the well of vermin and
smaller animals, or the washing in of decaying vegetable or organic
matter. The following mode of building a well has many advantages over
the ordinary way: Excavate down to the water-level, then arch the well
over with stones, and place the suction-pipe into the well. Next refill
with loose stones, on top of these place coarse gravel, sand, and finally
clean earth. Carry the pipe above ground to the suction-pump. A thus
built well is very safe against introduction of foreign matter.
The best wells are probably what are called “driven wells” or
“Abyssinian” wells. They are constructed as follows: A wrought-iron tube,
1½ to 2 inches diameter, having at its end a steel point perforated with
numerous holes, is driven into the ground, which must, of course, be free
from stones or boulders, until the ground water is reached. If necessary,
several lengths of tubing are screwed together by means of couplings.
The upper end of the tube is attached to the pump, and continued suction
will soon wash away the sand at the lower end of the pipe, and furnish a
stream of clear water.
Wherever a well cannot be sunk, cottages should be supplied with rain
water collected from the roof and stored either in tanks placed in
the garret, or else in underground =cisterns=. The latter keep the
temperature of the water moderately low throughout the year. Most people,
unaccustomed to drink rain water, object to it on account of its flat
taste, but if it is carefully collected, properly stored, boiled before
use, filtered, cooled with ice and well aerated, it makes an exceedingly
wholesome and agreeable drink.
To determine the amount of rain water available from a certain roof,
ascertain the amount of surface of its horizontal projection, and
multiply this by the annual rainfall in feet and decimals of a foot.
The total amount in cubic feet must be divided by two, to allow for
unavoidable loss through evaporation and for wasted, impure roof
washings. It is easy to arrive at a proper size for the cistern, if the
available amount of water is known.
In collecting roof water, it is important to allow the first washings
from the roof, which always contain more or less filth in the shape of
dust, horse dung from the street, excrements of birds, leaves from trees,
etc., to run off on the surface. This may readily be accomplished by
cut-offs on the rain water pipes, to be worked by hand or arranged to
act automatically. The best roofing surface for collecting rain water
is slate, and next to this shingles. Underground cisterns are usually
built circular in shape, of hard-burnt brick, laid in hydraulic cement.
The walls of the cistern must be made perfectly watertight, not only to
prevent leakage from it to the outside, but also to prevent the entrance
into it of ground water. If an overflow pipe is provided, it should
under no circumstances whatever communicate with any drain or sewer,
or discharge into a cesspool. As soon as delivered into the cistern,
the water must be kept scrupulously clean, and any possible source of
pollution should be removed. It is a good plan to build into the cistern
a filtering chamber to remove the coarser impurities in the water.
Cisterns should be frequently inspected, emptied and cleaned; the opening
at the top must be closed by a solid cover, to prevent the falling in
of vermin, mice, rats, etc., and to guard against contamination by
surface-washings.
Occasionally a dwelling-house is supplied from a distant =spring=, by a
gravitation supply in case the spring is near a hill-top, or by means of
a hydraulic ram if the spring is situated at a lower level than the house.
If the dwelling draws its supply from a well or a cistern, the water
is usually lifted by means of suction-pumps, generally located, for
convenience’s sake, inside the house, at the kitchen sink. If the cottage
has any plumbing fixtures on the upper floor, it becomes necessary to
force water by a lift and force-pump to a small reservoir or tank under
the roof, from which it is distributed to the fixtures under a constant
head of pressure. Such =water tanks= should be made of cast iron well
painted, or of wrought iron well protected against rust. Slate tanks are
also very good. Cheaper than either of these are wooden tanks. Wooden
tanks are often lined with tinned copper; lead, zinc or galvanized iron
linings are undesirable. Care must be taken not to run the overflow of
a tank into any soil or drain pipe. The simplest way of disposing of it
is to run it into the gutter of the roof. If this is not feasible run it
down to the kitchen sink, and make it serve as a tell-tale for use with
the force-pump at the kitchen sink.
=Pipes for conveying water= to the plumbing fixtures may be of drawn
lead, or tin-lined lead, or of block tin. Wrought iron is used
extensively, either plain or galvanized or enamelled; rubber-coated,
glass-lined and tin-lined wrought-iron pipes are also made, but are too
expensive for ordinary use.
Drawn lead pipe is a material possessing many merits, and hence it is
used extensively. It should be remembered, however, that soft water
attacks lead, and a sufficient amount of lead is occasionally dissolved
to cause dangerous poisoning of persons drinking water from such pipes.
It is a good precaution in the case of new pipes to allow the water to
run for a while, especially if it has been standing in the pipes over
night. Tin-lined pipes, although more expensive, are much safer for use,
but great care must be taken in making joints in such pipe, lest the tin
be removed at the joints. Tin-lined as well as block tin pipes should
always be used as suction-pipes in wells and cisterns in preference to
ordinary lead pipes.
Plain wrought-iron pipes rust quickly, especially if not constantly kept
full of water; water conveyed through them is apt to make iron stains in
the washing. A further disadvantage is the frequent choking up of the
smaller sizes through rust. Pipes coated with some kind of enamel are
better and safer, provided care is taken in making the joints properly.
Plain wrought-iron pipes, made rustless by the Bower-Barff process, have
lately been used and promise to show good results. Wrought-iron pipes are
largely used, protected with a coating of zinc, and such “galvanized”
pipes may be safely used, for, although water dissolves and is often
found to contain salts of zinc, which are poisonous in large amounts,
dilution makes them practically harmless. A more serious objection to
galvanized pipes may be the fact that the zinc coating, unless applied
with great care, soon wears off and ceases to protect the pipe against
rust. Copper tubes, lined with tin, are occasionally used, but are
expensive and troublesome to put up. In some of the Eastern States
drawn seamless brass tubes are used for hot-water pipes. Their only
advantage over lead would seem to be their neater appearance and less
liability to sag, although changes of temperature affect brass pipes by
expansion and contraction, causing leaky joints. Brass pipes, if used for
drinking-water, should be tinned on the inside.
It is important to arrange all water-pipes so that they can be
completely drained or emptied, when the supply is shut off. Pipes
running on outside walls should be suitably protected against frost. It
is recommended, even in the case of the smallest buildings, to have a
plan, showing the exact size, material and location of all water pipes,
stop-cocks, faucets, cisterns, etc. All pipes should be kept accessible,
and, wherever possible, in sight.
The supply for drinking purposes is often purified by means of
=domestic filtration=. This is especially desirable with cistern water.
Domestic filters should act not only as strainers by removing suspended
impurities, but they ought also to act chemically by oxidizing a part
or all of the dissolved organic matter. Various materials are used for
domestic filters, amongst them being sand, sponge, flannel, cotton,
animal charcoal and spongy iron. Nothing is more erroneous than the
supposition that a filter, once started, will continue to act, without
further attention, forever. Whatever the filtering material may be, it
should be frequently cleaned and aerated, and renewed from time to time.
It must, therefore, always be easily accessible. Most small filters, to
be screwed to faucets on the supply pipe, are made reversible, and if
this operation is regularly performed, they work quite well, although
their action is of necessity largely mechanical. Larger filters are
connected by means of a hose or a pipe with the pressure supply, and
these, too, answer well, provided they have an arrangement for periodical
reversing of the direction of the filtering current. Other filters
are portable vessels to be filled by hand. Filters are also placed in
cisterns, or at the end of the suction pipe in wells or cisterns. A good
plan is to build into the cistern a partition wall, establishing a small
chamber, in which the suction pipe is placed. The dividing wall is built
with courses of brick, some of which, being laid dry, act as strainers.
This arrangement, it need hardly be said, wants periodical cleaning as
much as any of the household filters.
* * * * *
A serious and all-important matter is the question of =removal and
disposal of the household wastes=. We will assume, as is the case in
ninety-nine out of every hundred isolated country dwellings, that there
are no sewers in the streets, and that a discharge into a large creek or
stream, or into the sea, is not feasible.
The common practice is to build a _leaching_ =cesspool=, if the soil is
at all porous. All the liquid wastes from the household are carried by
a drain to this cesspool, and allowed to soak away into the soil, while
the cesspool, and the spaces between its wall-stones, are gradually
filling up with the more solid matter, the grease, etc., which undergo
a slow process of decomposition, creating a noxious and disagreeable
accumulation of gases. The cesspool is usually unventilated, and the only
exit for gases is through the drain pipe, up the house pipes, and through
defective joints and equally defective traps into the house.
Occasionally two cesspools are used, one for the kitchen sink waste,
the other for soil and bath-room waste water. The conditions of these
cesspools after some use will not differ materially from each other, and
such an arrangement is, if anything, more of a nuisance than the one
first-mentioned.
The smaller the house lot, the greater is the danger from a cesspool. No
leaching cesspool should ever be placed nearer to a dwelling than one
hundred feet. To locate such a cesspool close to the well, or even a
cistern, is a practice which should be forbidden by law.
A cesspool or sewage tank, if required, should be built _thoroughly
tight_, tighter even, if this were possible, than a cistern. It should
be of moderate dimensions, preferably circular in shape, built with
hard-burnt brick, laid in hydraulic cement, and the tank must be well
rendered inside and outside with pure Portland cement. The tank should be
arched over and covered with an iron cover. It must be emptied, cleaned
and disinfected at frequent intervals, and it should be at all times
well ventilated, by a pipe, carried up to a good height above ground.
If possible, the cesspool should not be located in a direction from the
house of the prevailing winds.
The liquid contents of a sewage-tank may with advantage be used to
sprinkle and irrigate a lawn, or a kitchen garden, or shrubbery, or a
vine trellis, while the solids, removed at _frequent_ intervals, may be
dug as fertilizers into the ground. If this arrangement is adopted I
usually advise having two chambers in the cesspool; the smaller one for
retaining the solids, the larger one to receive the liquid wastes. The
overflow delivering the latter from the retaining or settling chamber for
solids, into the liquid-tank, must dip well below the water-line, so as
to avoid carrying scum with the water. The liquid manure may be pumped by
a small pump, set over the top of the liquid cesspool chamber.