New-York tribune., 1920-05-04
OvnYourHonle
F,xhibit Draws
City Dwellers
p-osnective Builders and
Housewives Seek Solu-
,;on of Problems in
Grand Central Palace
rorcrete Houses Featured
landscape Gardening Views
Are Contrasted With In
,erior Decoration Plans

x.v Works determination to have its
home and escape the caprices of
-. landlord was aoundantly manifest
...rdsv w. at Grand Central Palace,
.,.r. appearances indicated. that the
.nd annual Own Your Home Expo
49,, would have record eight-day
run.
Thousands with an wn-your-home
-. r their faces circulated before
IA around scores of attractive booths
"a syh;bits designed to make home
.wn;ng more understandable.
correte. brick and wood houses in
.;r;s,ure and life-sized portions there
=, along with everything that goes
.;,b;n and without, from cellar to roof,
are on exhibition in the big hall. From
.ootstoves to draperies and potato peel
are to washing machines, the prospec-
tive own-your-home housewife visual
;zed home routine yesterday, while the
more practical minded husband in
,n;red into plans, locations, materials
os mvriad varieties, foundations and
roodngs, cellars and garrets, doors and
windows and all the what-nots of home
building.
There were attractive exhibits of
landscape gardening contrasting with
shows of interior decoration. There
we're booths where one might learn the
art of saving to build home, and
others from which the blueprints for
sbout three hundred homes by we'll
known architects could be had with a
wears subscription to house builders
magazine.
Concrete Building Is Demonstrated
feature Of the exposition, and one
which drew interested crowds, was the
"Pour Your Home" exhibit where the
simple process of standard concrete
construction was demonstrated. The
selection of the plans and the erection
OF steel forms into which the concrete
is poured builds the walls of these con-
crete homes, according to the eXhibi
tors, nine inches in thickness at cost
under 10 cents square foot of wall
surface.
Another innovation which is claimed
to eliminate lath and plaster in house
construction drew considerable atten
ton. Known as Bestwall. the material
is manufactured of gypsum with five
plies Of mineralized paper in sheets
four feet in width and from six to ten
foo+ IN "a II
Is frep1 oof, dustproof, moisture proof
and crackproof, adding that normal
construction becomes from Is to 25 per
cent cheaper and larger construction
10 per cent cheaper with its use, as
against the cost of the ancient process
Of lsthing and plastering. Thirteen
times less air passes through this wall
ing than through ordinary walls, the
exhibitors claim.
Lumber Prices to Remain High
Lumber dealers exhibiting their
varied products at the exposition yes
terday declared that prospects for
cheaper lumber is not promising and
that home builders should not delay
construction.
Lumber prices closely link with
labor prices" declared Arthur E. Lane,
chairman of the Lumber Exhibitors
Committee. 1--WE do not believe that
there will be much difference in the
price for the next five years at least.
In the yellow pine forests of the South,
negro laborers who used to make rs
cents a day are now making So a day
and working two days week"
c. j. Hogue, in charge of West Coast
lumber exhibits, told The Tribune that
the prospective home owner should
build his home even at prevailing
prices of material.
Supply N6axin Jeopardy
Lumber is 100% per cent up and
30 l-3 per cent higher than it was
Just after the war; declared Mr.
hogue. "Our lumber supply, however,
is not in jeopardy. There is an
abundance of uncut pine in California
alone and the governments reforesta
tion plans will take care of any short
age IN years to come. However, the
labor situation, with it's decreased cf-
hclency, and car shortage cut down the
supply while the lag in building dur
ing the war creates the demand just
now and, of course, increases the cost.
reasonably, | think lumber costs will
settle down somewhat at a later time"
The Own Your Home Exposition is
singularly free of real estate dealers
VINO seek to make quick turnovers and
huge profits. 1t is an extremely at
,factlVe spectacle of intense interest to
nome builders and it tells them the
why's and wherefors in the most vivid
way.