Evening star., 1915-02-20

If you can't afford an expert you may
find 81 day Italian who knows
the prime pies of grading. Nothing
is impossible: if we have cash we can
remove mountains, or, like tobacco
king. make them; but small purse
requires caution.
Urges Study Of Subject.
Before giving a few points on house
construction 1 would emphasize the
need of every homemaker to study
this subject for himself" Maybe you
| haven't the time; you know nothing of
mechanics; so you will leave it all to a
trustworthy expert. The answer is
! that trustworthy experts come high
and Furthermore there are few experts
| cialrvoyant enough to read their
clients minds and give them exactly
what they want. You can't abdicate
your appetite to a chef nor your home
to an architect.
You do not know intelligently what
you want until you have studied the
matter. For example, you are spend
ing $4,000 on a house and think YOU
would ike a porte cochere. If you
knew that the cost of a porte cochere
would put an indestructible roof on
the house in place of wooden shingles
and that good roof is of prime i'm
portance. you would quickly forego the
| porte cochere. Another case which
Is d real one, is that of commuter
who planned low-price house having
two chimneys. Architecturally that is
excellent, but at the price neither
chimney can be good one. A single
substantial chimney would be better.
Client Often at Fault.
The architect and the contractor are
| often blamed for inferior results when
the fault is really with the unknow-
| ing and headstrong client. Having
fathomed to some extent my own igno-
rance as well as that of others, 1 have
come to sympathize with the builder
| Many of his sinful deeds are forced
] upon him by clients who want much
! for little, who nurse the fallacy that
| the lowest bid is always the best bar
| gain, and who will not listen to Sug-
| gestions- 1t is difficult for archi-
| tect or builder to give a client COM
| plete lecture on the art of construc-
| ton; the unprepared client would not
| understand, and besides he might get
| mad and go elsewhere.
To become fairly intelligent on con-
struction will not cost an amateur
more time and money than he cheer
| fully spends to learn pool or poker
| and the returns on the investment are
| considerably greater. A pocket volume
| on building costs 35 cents; set of
| specifications for a house and two or
! three technical books may be had for a
| few dollars. The public library has
| literature on the subject. Catalogues
| and pamphlets on special materials and
| systems may be had from dealers at
| postage cost. And lot of free infor-
! nation may be picked up in the street
| if you watch new building going up
| instead of watching a street faker
| selling novelties.
Concerning the signing Of a contract
for building a house. the writer states:
| In any building the foundations are
| of first Importance. Upon them de-
| al warmt n
| and endurance of the superstructure.
! A good foundation saves coal and
| doctors bills. Better skimp the build
! ing anywhere else than here. The out
| rageous innocence of one commuter
planned a cottage without any founda-
/ tions whatever If he had carried out
his plan his cottage would have en-
joyed a tidal motion with the frost at
( least twice a year. the sills and moor
beams would have quickly decayed and
the family would have harvested a rec
ord crop of chilblains, not to mention
other results.
| There was also a hasty commuter
who had house pu. up on cedar
posts Afterward he found 1t neces-
! sary to have all the ground under the
house dug out and proper foundations
and cellar put in, which cost a great
deal more than 1t would have had the
Job been done right at the start. 1t fs
highly desirable to Rave complete
cellar under every house; that Is, all
the space beneath should be excavated
and walled and foored with concrete.
In the BUNGALOW style a basement
with substantial walls may take the
place of cellar, but the foundations
in any case must go below the frost
line. Outside grading or banking uE
of earth may save some digging with
in. An exposed north side of house
needs more frost protection than the
other sides. Clay freezes moro readily
than sand. A well drained soil Is safer
than a wet one
Take Nothing for Granted.
1t is well to take nothing for granted
contractor will not even remove
earth and rubbish from his Job unless
that item is mentioned in the contract
You must specify dimensions and
quality of materials. There Is lumber
full of knots and "all clear stuff
There are all grades in brick, window
glass. hardware roofing, plumbing ma
terials and. in fact, everything that
goes into the making Of a house. Be-
tween worthless stun and fancy ma
which mean sound. serviceable quality
The cost of labor is greater than the
cost of material in a house. Where
labor is high 1t pays to get as much
ready made or worked up" material
as possible.
In order to get an idea of the cos,
of building material and to have q
basis of comparison with prices of loca
| lumber dealers, contractors and car
| penters the home maker should send
| for the catalogues of large mail order
| houses which boast of selling every.
| thing from pin to mansion. A post
| card request will bring you severa
| pounds of FREQ catalogue. all handilJ
| indexed. Without regard to buyin5
| anything by mail. the comprehensive
| price list is invaluable.
In fact, all catalogues that concern
| house making are worth getting. Ever
if the article material may not bl
| lating to your enterprise.
IL To pick up crumbs OF knowledge
i everywhere is the mark OF the scien'
\ tific home maker.