The Osceola times., 1885-08-22
CONCRETE WALLS.
usw fhsy Ought 70 he ConstructsA-sse-
gsstsons ~ an Expert.

OONOUGbe = WAeI0s
Kew fAsy Ought 70 he ConstruetsA- -ssg-
gsstsess ~ IN Expert.
Many farmers are troubled, when In
tending or desiring to put cellar walls
under basement barns. to provide suffi-
cient support for the building while The
wall Is made. The building is sup
ported upon posts or blocks, and these
are In the way Of stone or brick wall.
They cannot be removed, and as there Is
. post or block at each corner, the most
important part Of the wall is left poorly
finished and very weak. have just
given q friend advice in such . case,
and as his Is . common experience, 1t
may be useful to many Of your readers.
The wall, in such case, is made Of con-
crete; half hydraulic cement aud half
lime makes . wall sufficiently strong for
any purpose, as the mortar SO made Is
impenetrable by tenpenny nail, which
win bend and break before 1t can be
driven into 1t. This makes the wall
cost more than one-third less than IL all
cement 10 used. The first thing to be
done Is TO level up the building upon
row Of four by four oak or chestnut
posts, and brace It firmly. Then the
standards and box plank are set, and
the wall built around these posts, en-
closing them completely. They will
never rot, II the precaution Is taken 70
set each one upon fat stone, which
hur - ~ fh<. a
ners need particular attention, - these
will soon be bruised and broken II made
square and sharp, and left unprotected. I
have finished the corner by putting In
tier Of stone or brick; II OF stone, finish
ing II with squared faces, and having
them lap in among the concrete 10 make
broken joints. With brick, l make q
half.square corner by building ia the
bricks which encloses the post
against the brick, and In the
concrete, and holds the brick
very firmly, leaving no corners to
WA fortv-eight by forty, and q
wall eight feet high. built In this way,
cost him e88, . very small sum for
basement Of nearly 1900 square feet,
where space Is most valuable. The win
dow frames and door frames are built
into the wall, and in this case I had
three-inch oak plank used, with anchor
bolts built into the wall, to hold the
frames firmly at' the doors. l have
found the door frames to work loose at
times and give way. when they ought
to be the strongest part Of the structure.
In ekA 1T Il
very important A. hydraulic cement
sets and becomes hard very soon, and
Is damaged IL disturbed afterward, It 10
best to mix only 30 much at once as can
be used before 1t will set; and to pre-
vent loss Of time, the mixing should 90
on concurrently with the laying. Tho
mixing Ia done as follows, and much
time Is saved by this method: The dry
cement il mixed with three times %
much dry sand, as evenly a. possible.
Three barrels Of sand ere spread on .
large mixture platform, BY twirling
the barrels around 30 - to scatter the
contents about three inches thick. The
cement is then scattered over IL in the
same way, as evenly a. may be. The
mass Is then thrown TO the centre In q
conical heap, which is hattened, and
this is divided by throwing 1t again into
two heaps, one on each side Of the first
one. These two heaps are then thrown
together, and the mixing is sufficiently
done. Five barrels Of coarse broken
stone-large fat ones are not broken,
but are used to build in the wall-for
each barrel Of cement arc put on TO q
second mixing platform, for ease in
shoveling it, and the mass Is wetted by
throwing water over it. This is q small
thing. but important, because II secures
the adhesion Of the cement and the
solidity Of the concrete. Everything Is
then ready to begin work. II lime ID
used, this is already slaked in the usual
manner; the sand and cement are mixed
with it by means Of hoes, water being
added TO make . rather thin mortar;
the wet stone is then worked in with
hoes, until every piece Is coated with
cement, and the concete Is placed 10 the
plank box and well rammed. II lime
II not used, the cement and sand ars
mixed in q thinner mortar, as more
water 10 taken up than when lime Is
used.-AgTcsltsral Engineer IN Cd~sst,y 3
Gentiemaa.