Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-24

IXAY things necessary to make a
wv home complete and satisfactory
- they can all collectively be
hSG1EE4t placed under three heads, good
49, plans, good labor and good ma
terials. 1t cannot be said that any one of
these three is more important than any one
OF the others, all must properly perform
the parts consigned them in the construc-
ton OF a home and each reflects greatly
on the other. If the plan is that Of an
attractive and convenient home, IL the
contractor is honest and therefore employs
competent labor, and buys good material,
both contractor and architect are given
more credit by the owner, his family and
friends, than If the contractor were. to
shirk his duties toward the proper con-
struction of the home and not use suffi-
Client care In selecting his employees, even
though the materials they use, be good.
Or, IL the contractor should deliberately
skin the Job" or pick the bones, to
speak with familiar trade expressions and
purchase inferior maerials, even though
he employees competent help. The ~contrac-
tor receives more credit for building an
attractive home than he would for building
an unattraetive one, no matter how COM
petent his help or how good his materials,
and in any case the owner profits or loses
according to his selection of architect and
contractor.
Since the materials that go into the con-
struction of a home play a very important
part in the final results, Their selection
should be made with the utmost care.
Take the materials in the exterior. For
residence work the walls are usually stone,
brick, cement, siding or shingles. The
above list being given in the order of pref
erence as to warmth and durability and ar
tistic effects. II placed in the order of cost
the items Of siding and shingles should
change places.
Due allowance should, of course, be made
for the artistic effect desired. 1t might
be desirable to use a certain material for
one design that should not be used for
another. regardless Of their comparative
prominence or cost. For example, it would
not look well to make a three story house
with a shingled exterior, although this
material would be very appropriate for a
bungalow. Building materials com and
go by fads and fancles the same as every
thing else in this world that is important
enough TO engage human attention. Some
twenty years ago. all first class houses
NNA0 mNaN VI SNoANt 1ASA bAiN NAAefloiS
came into favor and now we are living In
what is destined to be the cement age.
A great many comparisons are being
made between the ACCESSIBILITY and cost
of cement used in various ways on exter-
iors OF homes as compared with other
materials. Comparatively speaking a
cement dash on metal lath. two coat work,
costs about the same as brick veneer. A
solid cement wall with a dash on the
exterior costs less han stone, less than
brick and about 10 per cent more than
frame construction. While 1t seems as
though we had handled cement long enough
TO know its limitations as well as its
advantages. many people are using cement
In the construction OF their homes in ways
which they will live TO regret. Cement
struck on metal lath has always been NOR,
or less OF an experiment for no one coulC
state definitely just how long the meta
lath would Withstand corrosion. Every pre-
caution has been taken to g~alvanize IL Of
coat 1t In other ways In order to max,
it frost proof. but in many instances wher,
concrete has been removed from the wall
from eight TO ten years later. it has beer
found hat only the nails with which tn,
metal lath was secured to the studing wer,
holding the concrete stuck in place, rec
streaks through the cement being the onl,
visible evidence Of the metal lath.
Experiments are being made with inter
woven wood lath, following out the idel
Of cris-crOss lath hat has been used 10
SO many years In England; and while thii
does not at first sight appear to be yer!
substantial form OF construction, Il 4
really the most practical OF the method
known, except to apply a cement dasl
directly onto a masonry wall OF brick tnI
or hollow concrete blocks. Whatever ma
terials are used for an exterior OF a home
none but the best OF their respective kind
should be used. There is no economy what
ever In materials OF a cheap grade. Whel
they are placed where they viii have q