The sun., 1908-12-13

the careIessness Of the public IN fAiime
to differentiste one from the other.
'The various types Of construction tn
which cement forms q more or less Inn
portant part and that have been confused
in the public mind With real monolithic
concrete construction are Ave. .t
First. stucoo on wooden lath covering
. wooden frame. This construction is
exactly identical with that Of a wooden
house save only that the exterior walls
are lathed and plastered with q sand and
cement mortar instead Of being covered
with shingles or olapboards, While tbis
construction is obviously In no sense
hreproof. 1t has proved exceedingly
satihactory and durable in hot southern
countries. AS the stlooo Ia a very poor
conductor Of heat such houses are cooler
than the ordinary wooden house. and where
there is no frost stacco serves to protect
the wood and make an exceedingly dure-
BILE construction.
"The second type is of the same con-
struotion except that metal instead OF
wood lath is used. This has practically
the same advantages and disadvantages
as the wooden lath except that 1t win
not swell when the wet mortar Is applied
and then shrink away from the plaster
when 1t dries out. as Is often the case
with the wooden lath, but instead OF
this the metal lath is subject to rust.
1.-THE disadvantage of stucoo in north
ern attitudes, where frost and rapid
changes of temperature are common
during the winter, is that moisture gets
into the stucoo and freezes. Then the
stucoo peels of In great slabs. Experts
agree that the life OF stuooo wall in the
latitude Of New York, when built in the
best possible manner, is from six to
twelve years. er
"The third type is Of the concrete block
construction with wooden frame. This
OF course is practically no more fireproof
blocks which are most invariably made
In imitation stone are pitiably crude
and poor mutations.
4'The fact, as before stated that the
cement has never been allowed to flash
and properly to bond the aggregates to-
gether renders the block not only weak
but exceedingly porous, and unless one
ing and plastering the inside of the walls
Of such a house an umbrella indoors
becomes an Indispensable adjunct to ite
inhabitants. A... ~,
-The fourth type Is house built Of terra
Gotta blocks covering q steel frame and
stuocoed with concrete. The stucco In
this case is open to some objection In
northern latitudes as 1t Is In the case OF
wooden or metal lath, and the results
shown in the Baltimore and San Fran
cisco fires furnish ample evidence that
terra Gotta does not In reality fireproof
steel frame.
-The late j. Edward Atkinson, founder
OF the factory mutual fire insurance
system, summed up the reason for the
failure Of terra Gotta after the Baltimore
fire in one sentence: The coefficient OF
expansion under heat Of steel and con-
crete arc practically identical, whereas
the expansion OF terra Gotta is four times
as rapid as that OF steel. 1t necessarily
follows, therefore, that when subjected
TO heat the terra Gotta covering OF steel
beams peels of, leaving the steel exposed
to the ravages OF the fame Givon ono
exposed column or girder in house. it's
60 far to wreck the entire structure.
aThe' fifth type is Of the reinforced
concrete wall with O wooden interior.
This construction gives q thoroughly
good exterior wall and affords some
manner OF fire protection from the out
side, but not very much more than does
the stucco OF block house. The interior
10 OF course no Ulof1 IlI6pTVOi tndn tnAS
of the ordinary wooden house.
sin the real reinforced concrete house
the columns, beams, floors are all Of
concrete. and the partitions that ara not
used to carry any loads may be OF terra
Gotta block or concrete, depending upon
which will be the more economical under
the given conditions. The walls may
either be of concrete or OF brick or stone,
as fancy dictates. all being OF absolute
nj, bla construction htIt tho hrioL
or stone is considerably more expensive
than the entire concrete building,
@As ] have already said, the building
Of concrete houses Ia practically q new art,
and as such there have necessarily been
some failures In its construction through
the ignorance of those who have used Il.
No fear need exist on this point in the
prospective owners mind, however. 1t
Is an absolute fact that no concrete build
ing has ever failed after IL was finished.
The reason for this Is that concrete con-
tinues to 90 stronger for several years
after il is made and 1t gains immensely
in strength during iCs first sixty days.
aThe forms which support the concrete
are removed in from four to seven days
and every failure that has ever been
recorded has taken place upon the re-
moval Of these forms. II the concrete
is able to Withstand the strain that comes
upon it when these forms are removed
while 1t is still green and has less than a
third Of its final strength it is absolutely
certain that nothing can bring such q
building down short Of an earthquake
and the earthquake would have to be
worse than San Franoisco's
aAs to the cost, the reinforced concrete
house Is to-day practically as cheap as the
wooden house and cheaper than a brick
stone or even stucco house, provided the
house in question is not too small. The
principal reason for it's economy lies in the
TACT that aside from skilled superin-
tendence necessary for the proper mixing
of the concrete and the design and placing &
of the reinforcement all the work may be
done by unskilled labor. These state
ments apply to any home costing upward
of $4,000. Below that point the expense
of the engineering supervision puts q
burden on the cost and thus offsets the
money saved i'm the lsbor item. T.,
"There are many methods OF treating
the exterior walls of q concrete house
that make it fully as beautiful as any
other material. The way not to beautify
concrete is to try to initiate stone with it.
No imitation is ever beautiful. 1t is only
aThe boxlike factory which is generally
left aa jt comes from the forms is OF course
not thing OF beauty. No money is spent
for Rsthetic effect in such construction.
In the house, however, the comparatively
small wall surfaces can be treated In many
different ways at an exceedingly small
cost, each bringing out the true character
of the concrete and each making thor
oughly effective structure.
sOne Of the simplest and best ways OF