The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-06-13
FIRE PROOF
RESIDENCES.
They Can be Erected at aCoSt
Not Much Greater Than
Frame Dwellings.
SAFER, MORE COMFORTABLE


contains an article on the Need of
Fireproof Country Homes" It is re-
markable that Morristown has not
some examples Of such construction
when ii is considered that clay, sand
and cement are SO close at hand and
ali in such close proximity.
we reprint the following from the
magazine article.
The construction of fireproof coun-
try homes represents the highest de-
velopment of modern architectural
and engineering art, for it requires the
blending Of the artistic and beautiful
with the substantial and enduring.
The destruction Of country homes by
fire forms sad chapter in the history
Of the modern evolution of the home;
but the loss of the houses probably
represents less actual sorrow than the
destruction of the interior furnish
ings and personal treasures. A man
spends a life time of travel and study
in the collection of rare curios, pic
lures and art treasures only to place
them in a wooden shell, which within
few hours may burn to the ground
No money compensation can replace
such priceless possessions, and the in
surance money is a poor return for
what represented SO many years OF
toll and pleasure to collect.
The country home need no longer
be built Of wood. nor Of other fimsy
material to invite disaster The age
of fireproof homes has come for the
country as well as for the city-for the
poor as well as for the rich Two
things have heretofore initiated
against the general construction OF
fireproof homes outside Of large towns
and cities One has been the cost,
and the other the question OF artistic
excellence. Both of these objections
are removed through the invention
and construction of freproof materials
which are cheap in price and can pc
made artistic in treatment
A country house can be built OF
modern fireproof material at cost
not much greater than that required
for wooden house, and the architec-
turaI features need in no way be sacri-
feed in the interests of permanency.
Fireproof tile or burnt-clay material is
moulded in all the forms and shapes
demanded by architects 50 that any
design can be followed closely The
artistic effect may be quite as beauti-
full in such a structure as though the'
house were made entirely of wood.
The cost of hollow thing for house
construction purposes has steadily de-
clined in recent years in about the
same proportion as the price OF lum-
ber has advanced. The employment
of labor-saving machinery for mould
ing and drying the clay tiles has work
ed changes in the industry that prom
ise great things for the future
num6er of houses have recently
been completed in Pittsburg which are
fireproof and ready for occupancy;
they cost $4,000 each. Before the con-
tracts were let, open bids were made
for their construction. and the lowest
of these for wood in place of fireproof
material were $4,000 and $4,125- In
Washington fireproof house that
cost S5,186 had one bid for the old
fashioned wood framing at $5,S75, re
versing in this case the general idea
of the cost of the two classes OF
houses AS a rule. however, the fire-
proof house costs from to per cent.
more than wood frame houses in the
country. This may be figured out as
follows: The ordinary floors OF
rough wooden timber, with 12-in. joists
and a top floor of finished pine, costs
about 2S cents a square foot. This is
the kind of floor used in the cheapest
class of dwellings. In higher class
city houses a couple of inches OF Gin
der concrete are placed between the
floors to deaden sounds, and narrow
strip maple flooring put down instead
Of pine. This brings the cost up TO
about 40 cents square foot. Similar
" partitions of two-by-four wood stud,
with wood lathing both sides and plas-
tered. cost about twenty cents
square foot. Such prices differ some
what in various parts of the country
according to the price of lumber and
labor, but it is only a matter OF rev
cents per square foot in any case.
Fireproof construction Of heavy tile
flooring. finished with incombustible
plastic flooring, such as granolithic or
asbesto-lithic, with the underside OF
the floor plastered, costs from 26 to 30
cents per square foot. This means
the very best work, finished in the
most approved style II modern hol-
low tiles are used for the partitions
and plastered both sides, the average
cost win not exceed 20 cents per
square foot Such floors and parti-
1tions will be not only fireproof but
practically sound-proof and vermin-
nroof Brick and terra Gotta exterior
walls cost little more than wood,
and this part of the house would raise
the average price Ave per cent. high |
er. except in localities where brick
and terra Gotta materials are cheap.
In a number Of the states manuIac-
turers Of both brick and terra GOTTA
building material guarantee to supply
their products at the same cost per
square foot as good seasoned lumber
Once satisfied that flreproof coun-
try homes can be constructed in the I
most artistic way at nearly the same
cost as wooden houses. the public will
.-..s,1z1x onrcniva fI,ss xro 1,1a Of houses I