Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-11-20
CHEAPER HOUSES.

who are not supposed to be proprietors
of the amount of coin found requisite
in the erection of a fine brick or stone
building, is to possess themselves of a
substantial and convenient
house at the least possible cost. Per-
haps not being able to employ the brains
of an architect, or the hands of q regu-
lar mechanic, they may have to do their
own planning and building. In view of
this the Rural American makes the fol-
lowing suggestions:
"The popular method Of constructing
wood houses, particularly cottages, has
not been by any means the most econ
omical that "a be devised. From thirty
to forty per cent. more lumber has been
used than is necessary, and much labor
expended that is wholly concealed when
the house is completed, and altogether
unnecessary. Asmall dwelling need not
be constructed as we would build q
warehouse or q grain elevator. 1t is
never subjected to any test ofits strength,
and wooden cottages never fall down so
long as they have a good foundation and
those little repairs which all houses
must have to stand the ravages Of time.
No square timber and but few scantlings
are required in a small cottage. Nor
tises aud lemons are of no account-in-
deed they arc u positive detriment, while
braces are equally useless.
The %studding Of a house may rs we'll
be made of inch boards four inches wide
as of double that thickness. These studs
will hold the nails Of the siding and
lath just as we'll as those two inches in
thickness. Just so the floor joists may
be of inch stuff eight inches wide. Hav-
ing laid up the cellar walls Of stone and
leveled them at the top, boards should
be laid on this wall to form . sill. The
bents of the frame may then be set up,
one after another, and stayed till the
siding can be put on. The bents may
be made on the floor, joists, studs, cross
joints for the ceiling and %rafters, all
nailed together firmly with cut nails,
while lying upon the ground. Every
piece of siding nailed to this frame tends
to make it frmer and sitter, and so do
the laths upon which the mortar is to
be spread. The partitions made in like
manner, we'll secured, also tend to stiff
fen the whole fabric. With here and
there a good support in the cellar, such
a house, when completed, would be
just as desirable for all practical pur-
poses rs one of the same size containing
nearly twice as much material, and it
would certainly be just as warm. A
cottage with five or six room may be
speedily constructed on this principle
a, n much less cost than in the popular
style of building. This is q substantial
building compared with those construct
ed on leased lands about Chicago, and
they are deemed very comfortable and
their strength and safety are not qnes-
toned"
This style of house would be cheap,
but in our opinion hardly substantial
enough for this part Of the country.
One of our lively little 'Washoe Zephyrs'
would be liable to demoralize the
concern somewhat. Under any circum-
stances, two inch ~studding would be
found preferable to inch, being frmer
to nail to, less liable to split in the nail
ing, and doubly as strong when finished.
In exposed situations a diagonal brace
Of even half inch stuff, extending from
o lower corner across to an upper on
each side of the building, would be
found very beneficial and effective.
This brace could be let into the outer
side Of the studding and nailed fast to
each. When q house is lathed and
plastered, if the laths are nailed diagon-
ally to the studding they will brace the
building very much more than people
generally dream of.
Any washoeite endowed with even
ordinary ability might build himself a
very comfortable, cheap, and durable
house by simply taking the waste rock
or ore from the mining dumps, mixed
with common mortar, for the walls. In
order to do this he would have to place
a couple of boards parallel to and dis
tant from each other just the thickness
of his intended wall, keeping them in
their relative position by means of iron
rods or other continuance. The prin-
cipal tools required for this style Of
masonry would be q shovel and Wheel
barrow, and the mode of operation SIM
ply to shovel the mixture of stone and
mortar between the boards, carrying q
course of this about q foot high all
around the wall every day. If he wants
any windows and doors, it would be ad-
visable to place the frames in their de-
sired position at the proper time and fill
to them. Posts, scantliug, or any sort Of
perpendicular straight edges placed tenn
porarily at the corners would perhaps be
found Of assistance by way Of guides in
building. We know Of several localities
among the gold mines of California
Volcano, Amador county, for instance
where many of even the miners cabins
are built of pure marble, necessarily
quarried out in mining for the gold, yet
how much ahead of that, would be the
dwelling Of a Washoe miner, with walls
of silver ore. One Of these days, when
the price of quartz milling is reduced to
a couple Of dollars per ton, it might pay
our miner to tear his house down and
take it to mill. He might thus perhaps
raise q stake for q visit to his old home
in the East, if he chose.
Good comfortable houses are also read
lily made with little fat stones, picked up
almost anywhere, laid in mud by way
of mortar, for the walls. Good neat
roofing is q matter not so easily dis
posed of as to cost, but the grand desid-
eratum, cheaper houses, is attainable in
the points we have taken into consider
alton.
ApoLoeErIc. The Pomeroy (ohio)
T.y.,ro,b says.