Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-04-15
From ,he Amencsu chronological journal.
THE GRAVEL WALL:

depend on the height Of your building Nv
own house is four stories high. aud The wall
of the FIRST IS IL inches, the next sixteen.
the next twelve, the other ten; while the
inside walls. or partitions, are, for the first
story, ten inches, and the second eight; but
If | were to build another four story house.
should deem fourteen inches amply sulIi-
Gent for the FIRST story, twelve inches for
the second, ten for the tbnd, and eight for
the fourth
My inside walls are twenty feet high, and
seventy feet long, with a cross wall IN the
middle, making span of thirty-6ye feet.
The flooring of the two upper stories aud
the roof rest on the wall, SO that at the
points of pressure the weight resting on the
walls is Immense, but they stand any thing
thus FAR put upon them. without the first
sign Of giving away. should not lie n
iraid to put one hundred tons on the roof
such is my confidence ia the strength of the
wall
Still, the thickness Of the wall is too
small matter for serious consideration as
shown in the last article, The cost of the ma
ierial IS too trifing, and 1t does not cost any
more to get ready to build a thick than
thin wall, so that the difference is not
great
TO those, therefore, who are timid,
would recommend twelve zach wall for
the first story, aud ten for the second yet
would deem ten inches for the first, and
eight Tor the second, sufficient, provided the
material used be of the right kind, and prop.
erly mixed.
When the wall is completed and levelled,
4. ~
around, you are now ready to lay your tim
hers as you would on brick wall lfthese
floor timbers do not run clear across the
house, of course the inner ends must rest
upon some thing, which should he the usu-
al mode Of siuddlng should hardly rec
ommend the gravel material for the inside
walls, because that can be made cheaper by
studs, lathing aud plaslering. The floor
imbers and the studs TO support them re-
qulre to be laid story by story, as you pro-
coed with the wall
IT. you have a pitched roof you need to
serve this wall exactly as you would brick
wall under like circumstances. The roof
must, If pitched, be sefsupporiing, as on
BRICK walls, the details of which belong To
the mason and carpenter but my own judy
meW iayoTs roof nearly fiat, SO that the
top of your house VIII Furnish beautiful
promenade, aud place for flowers, grapes,
hanging clothes, &c.
But here difficulty arises to render
these roofs tight when so nearly fat My
own house is barely pitched enough to turn
the water TO two points of that root, 1t GO
lng down inside INTO cisterns. 1t has so
little pitch that in some places the water
stands and dies up, aud yet it has never
leaked one drop.
The material Of which ii is made is en-
tirely new The original Biake's ONO
Paint constitutes one of the ingredients, and
clean sand another; but | am not al hber.
ty 10 state the details, nor need readers
trouble me with questions or letters upon
the subject, because, when my judgment
deems IT best to make il known, shall do
So unsolicited. The cost of my roof Is less
by from 30 to 50 per cent. than single
roof, and rs better, being smooth as glass,
aud so hard that you can grind of the head
of uail, without making any perceptb,e
impression upon IT. 1t costs less than hall
as much as TIN aud is every way better, can
be repaired by any body for the meiest tri-
( le-is fire-proof as well as frost aud water
proof. | once did build quite fire ON the
roof, without making any impression upon
it, 1t can be put on for from three to four
cents per square foot. As a place Tor our
evening promenade, or for drying clothes or
fruits, aud many other like uses, | consider
The top of my house a very valuable acqui-
sllion, aud lncomparably superior TO a Sian
gle roof 1t also deserves marked attention
that, in making a roof pitched, say al the
a a Hanrpqe
are obliged to have one-clghth more square
feet of root, than the square feet you cover.
Those cottage roofs, so steep, with so many
angles and corners, | consider perfect mon
uments of folly as they are very expensive,
aud very liable 10 leak at their points OF
conjunction.
Let rs return to the wall When the
boards remained on one, two or three days,
according to the weather, they may be re-
moved or taken off below to put on above.
carried up wall of eleven feet in seven
days, with an average of about three tiers OF
boards In good drying weather 1t will be
perfectly safe 10 fill up eighteen inches for
he first tier, eighteen Tomorrow for the
second and the third day take of the first
tier or course-yet this Is hurrying II faster,
perhaps, than would be ludlcious. A foot
per day, with a house say twenty feet high,
would only take some three weeks, and to
20 much faster would not be desirable, yet,
# you would 90 faster use more boards
Care should be taken to sci the standards
true, also to adjust the boards SO as to make
a plumb, smooth wall, as by So dung 1t viii
save plaster in dwelling the suffice IN hui
shng.
We now come TO the process Of hnlshIng
the walls outside. This may consist OF a
plain coat Of mortar like the inside OF the
wall; or, by putting lamp-back, together
with some kind OF spirits, into the last coat,
il can be rendered cloudy, aud allerward
sprinkled with coloring matter, so as TO re-
sembe marble or granite. For all practical
purposes for keeping out moisture, single
coat of mortar may be put OIL the outside
side, as on the lath, which, besides look
ing we'll, will render the house tenaniable
all you can finish the outside TO your Tx
ing.
Ii may be objected that the outside coal
will peel by the action of the rain aud frost
| answer No, because II Incorporates lisei
into, aud becomes part ofthe wall lher'
will be more OF less holes, and inlo ,hes'