Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1908-09-16
c oncrete House Building Described.

We are 10 receipt of the annual re
port OF the State Board of Agricul
ture for 1908, and flnd therein among
other interesting Information a des
cription by Mr.. VIM. Riehl of this
place OF the building of bis concrete
farm house at The Naples farm. Be-
lieving this may prove OF interest to
many Of our readers, We reproduce the
article:
A CONCRETE HOUSE
In compliance with your request
am sending you photograph and
plan OF our cement house. The size of
the house is 2Sx34 feet !; contains eie ht
rooms and bath room cost 81 800, 10.
cluding hot water heater aud system !;
cellar .20x28 feet; built of solid con.
crete, one part cement and nine parts
sand and gravel. We put a good
many rocks In the cellar walls. Thick
ness Of walls: Footing, Is inches; up
to first floor, II inches; above first
floor, 8 inches. Cost OF excavating
cellar, cement. hauling sand and
gravel, and labor for putting up walls,
$3.50. 10 putting up the cellar walls
we boxed up in the usual way to the
FIRST floor. 1n building the upper
walls we followed Instructions given
10 your "Cement Workers Hand
book" page 81. except that we put
box al: around the building, as we
found this method decidedly the best.
Would have boxing not less than II
inches: Is inches is better. Use for
the boxing or frames the best Of lum-
ber one and one-fourth inches thick,
dressed on both sides, and any length
you choose, acd put sticks four or i've
feet apart. Would prefer green lum-
Der; ii dry, soak it we'll, as it will
then cup less. Whenever it shows
signs OF cupping, change sides 1--WE
side out). Where lends butt otgether.
make sticks one one-half inches wide
Make sticks inches longer than wall
is thick, and make the sticks little
smaller at one end so they will push
out easily, and when you take out a
stick fill the hole at once. In putting
up box!ng plumb the corners aud use
a chalk line. same as laying brick.
Door and window frames are made
same as for brick walls. You must
build them out to the thickness Of
the wall by mailing a one-inch strip
to the outside. Ii the wall Is niue
inches and the frame seven inches,
put on two.inch strip. Also nail a
strip 90 each side of frame (perpen-
dicular) to stay 1t in the wall, and be
sure to put brace across the center
Of tue frame so that it will not spring
in when you tamp your wall. Put
wood blocks in wall above floor aud
around door and window frames to
nail Dashboard and castings to. When
you have your boxing up set door
frames and build up to height OF win
dows. Then set the window frame
level aud plumb and tack the boxing
to the frames: as this will steady your
frames take less sticks, aud make a
better wall Don't drive nails clear
up.)
Ii your concrete is not too wet. you
can put up two rounds a day. We
filled the box half full. then tamped;
fill and tamp again, not too hard, just
SO that the water comes to top. We
did not screen gravel, as we found
by pouring concrete against front OF
box that the Jorge gravel worked to
the inside of the wall.
In building chimneys put up three
sides Of box: then board up four sides,
as you work up. For the ordinary
chimney four inches Is thick eoough.
To make the flue, make box the
size you want the tiue, cut side pieces
six inches longer than front aud back,
nail together, keep even 90 the bot.
tom. and uail round stick on top be-
tween long ends. Place it In position
fill 10 six or eight inches of concrete,
and tamp. When you get to top of
box, take lever, put under the round
piece on top and lift box up, not quite
out, then Fill In and tamp again. II
there is but one tiue. you can 90 to
top at once il there are two fiues 10
chimney. with PARTITION between,
would not 90 more than six or eight
feet 10 one Gay. Be sure and d. not
concrete too wet; it should retain its
shape. II you take it 10 your hands
and squeeze it.
Our chiEneys are 80 feet high; one
l6x1G inches with 8x8 inch fiue, aud
the other lex34 inches, with one fiue
Sx8 inches for fireplace. and the other
ski for heater. They cost s17. TO-
Guiding fireplace and hearth. II built
OF brick, they would have cost sl25.
We haYe seventy feet of porches and
eleven columns built at a cost for
cement OF 32O. Lumber for same
would have cost fully twice as much
as for cement work. We built a wall
around front OF porch, then filled 10
with rock twelve to eighteen inches,
tamped well, put On three and one.
half inches OF concrete, and finished
| with One-half inch mortar, one part
cement and Two parts sand.
Our columns are square. Make a
box the size you wish, nail two strips
across the top to keep from spreading.