(_Extract from "Country Life," November 9th, 1918_)
300,000 COTTAGES WOULD ENTAIL THE TRANSPORT OF 60,000,000 TONS
OF MATERIAL
In carrying out any considerable scheme of house building two
difficulties will have to be met. The first arises from the scarcity of
building material; the other from the cost and difficulty of transport.
These, to some extent, can be obviated by the use of local material,
which is to be commended on other grounds as well. Local material fits
into the character of the neighbourhood in which it is found and
maintains its traditions.
Very few people realise the bulk of materials, and in order to help them
the following statement has been prepared to show the materials needed
for each cottage and the total for 300,000 cottages:
Materials. Weight.
Per One Cottage. Per 300,000.
Tons. Cwts. Qrs. (Tons.)
Ballast, sand, gravel 78 17 0 23,655,000
Lime 5 18 0 1,770,000
Cement 12 8 0 3,720,000
Bricks 85 0 0 25,500,000
Slates for D.P.C 0 10 2 157,500
Chimney-pots 0 0 3 11,250
Tiles 7 2 2 2,137,500
Carcassing timber 7 0 0 2,100,000
Complete joinery timber 1 12 0 480,000
Cast-iron rain-water goods and sundries 0 9 0 135,000
Stoves, copper, ash-bin, etc. 0 5 2 82,500
Nails, screws, etc. 0 1 2 22,500
Hair for plaster 0 1 0 15,000
Lead flashings, etc. 0 2 1 33,750
Sink, waste pipes, draining boards, etc. 0 2 1 33,750
Sanitary goods 0 1 0 15,000
Whitening, distemper and paint 0 3 1 48,750
--------- ----------
Total 199 14 2 59,917,500
--------- ----------
It will be seen that to carry out the scheme for 300,000 cottages a
total of close on 60,000,000 tons of material will have to be shifted.
In addition to that, it must be remembered that the cost of material is
very small in comparison with that of building. This will be apparent
from an analysis of the items employed for actual cost and the
percentage which that cost bears to the total cost.
Cottages erected 1912 (semi-detached): total interior area of cottage,
772 ft. super, (parlour, kitchen, scullery and three bedrooms, coal and
W.C.):
Per House.
No. Item. Actual Cost. Per cent. of
Total Cost.
1. Sundries 8 2.66
2. Foundations 16 5.28
3. External and party walls (_a_) 77 25.41
Windows and doors (_b_) 23 7.59
4. Internal partitions 36 11.88
5. Ground floor 18 5.94
6. Upper floor 22 7.26
7. Roof and rain-water goods 34 1.22
8. Chimney and fireplaces 30 9.90
9. Sanitary fittings, water supply and
drainage 19 6.27
10. Staircases 11 3.63
11. Fittings 6 1.98
----
Total L300
These facts help to clarify the problem. The weight of the building
materials required for an ordinary cottage with living-room, parlour,
scullery, three bedrooms, etc., the house containing cubic contents of
about 11,500 ft., would come approximately to 200 tons per cottage; and
even assuming that there is only an average transport of fifty miles,
this would give 10,000 ton-miles per rural cottage, which is taking it
at a very low average. In each cottage the weight of the brickwork
represents about 42 per cent. of the total weight. It is, therefore,
apparent that every effort should be made to lessen the transit of
materials required for the external walling. If, on the other hand,
local materials are employed, this carriage would be saved and a great
economy effected. Even if this utilitarian consideration were not so
important as it is, the desirability of making all possible use of local
materials is very great from other points of view. It would stimulate
local interest in building and, in addition to retaining the traditions
of the district, give greater hope of retaining and maintaining the
proper architectural aspect of our villages.
It is scarcely necessary to summarise the advantages that may fairly be
expected to flow from this endeavour to make a real start at finding a
solution for the housing difficulty. First and foremost must be placed
the saving in transport. A casual reader may easily imagine that the
difficulties of carriage will vanish with the end of the war, but that
is not so in reality. Any one who has travelled in France must have
noticed engines bearing such names as Liverpool Street, King's Cross,
Euston, Birmingham, and so on. The meaning of that is that a great deal
of our rolling stock was sent over to France, and at the best will not
be available here for a long time to come. Even the ordinary work of
upkeep and repair has necessarily been neglected owing to the scarcity
of men and other causes incidental to war-time. Transport difficulties
are bound to last for a very considerable period after the peace
settlement, and it would not be at all advisable to delay the
construction of houses so long. The returned soldiers will make us
vividly conscious of the shortage. Nothing could be imagined more likely
to make them look for chances of going abroad than to learn that there
is not sufficient housing accommodation for them in the village in which
they lived before the war, and to which they hoped to return on its
conclusion.
[Headnote: Cost per Foot Cube]