Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-05

One often hears a homebuilder boast of
how much he was able to save during the
construction of his house through exer-
cising rigid economy from first to last. If
the saving has been made through con-
structing the home in a systematic man
ner and obtaining good prices in fair com
petition with a careful selection Of all men
and materials. the homebuilder is justi-
fled for the pride he takes in the applica-
ton of good busine principles. But If
the saving has been accomplished through
a reduction in the quality Of materials
and through obtaining the cheapest men
to do cheap work, regardless Of their
reputation or ability, the saving OF pennies
in this manner will often mean dollars
wasted ip( subsequent repairs. Many houses
built to sell furnish good Illustrations to
where the saving of pennies means a waste
Of dollars. a poor quality Of lumber is
used throughout the building. the builder
knowing that plastering on the inside and
painting on the outside will cover 1t up.
Single studs are used around openings in
stead of double studding, A poor grade of
plaster Is used, composed of sand and water
more than anything else. When the work
Is complete the whole house is painted up
in nice shape, but with a cheap quality of
paint which only lasts In good condition
lot lne mouse 10 De SOlu. A man DuylnE
such a house soon finds that he has a
big repair bill for the repairing Of plas-
tering. replacing doors that have gone to
pieces, plumbing repairs and countless other
Items, to say. nothing OF having most Of the
paint burned off Of the house and the house
entirely repainted.
There are two things that every house
builder must always bear in mind. They
are, first, that the best man is the cheap
est man, from the architect who plans mis-
home clear through the construction of his
home to the painter, and that the best ma
terials are by far the cheapest, in the long
run. The reason one basement floor lasts
so much longer than another without re-
pairs is that the one has just a little more
sand used I'm the mixture to save cement.
The reason one cellar floor is damp, caus-
ing a constant decay of everything in It,
including the partitions, is that the home
builder thought il too expensive to put a
coat of cement on the outside of the wall.
The reason that it takes twice as much
fuel to heat the house as compared with
his neighbours house of the same size may
be due to many causes, one OF them being
a poor heating plant. another being his in
experience in handling II, but more often
it is caused through little n~eglects in the
construction Of the house, such as omit
ting thc-6eam-fill, between the joist in the
basement, good papering on the outside OF
the sheathing under the siding and careful
workmanship around the window frames,
~eornice, etc. The reason his paint peels off
IS because he bought il from a dealer at
half the price another dealer asked him
for what he supposed TO he the same ma
terial without investigating the relative
quality OF the paints, The reason his mill
work comes 10 pieces, such as castings,
doors, built-in sideboards. mantels, etc. is
because ne let'the mill-wOrk at tho lowest
price he could get for IL to irresponsible
people, who furnished him green or wet
lumber for his finish. The reason his roof
leaks, spelling the ceiling decorations on
the second floor. is because ne hires some
high school boys to do the work after
school hours instead OF employing expert
enced men for the performance Of this
part Of the work,
There can be a big difference between
the way the heating plant and plumbing
system is installed IN a house. One CON
Germ will send mere boys to do the work
who have little experience and no heart in
II. Another Will send competent workmen
with considerable experience, who work for
their employer the year around. who are
anxious to increase their employers repu-
4 tation for good work. realizing that il Is
money in their own pockets. In a hot