San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-07
WOODEN HOUSE
STILL TYP|F|ES.
HOME TO MANY
Larger Part Of Dwellings
Date Back to Colonial
Home.
BE PROTECTED
Houses Last Longer When
Paint Frequently
Applied.

To many Americans the house of
wood will perhaps always typify
the home. This is not strange when
it is recalled that the larger part
of the development Of our early
houses dating back to the Colonial
days grew up around the use of wood.
Wonderful growths of timber were
lat hand, only needing the axe and
saw to turn them into building ma
terial which can be quickly erected
to form shelter. As time went on
and there was greater opportunity
for more ambitious building, class
of highly-skilled carpenters and wood
workers was built up. The work these
men did seen today throughout the
eastern section of the country and
those houses and churches that for
tunately remain are held as one of
our priceless inheritances. The skill
and knowledge of these craftsmen were
impaired to their apprentices, and in
this way a particular and almost in
born faculty was developed for work.
ing in wood. This briefly is the his
tory of the way in which wood has
played SO prominent a part in the
building of American HOSES.
1t might be contended that the
choice of wood was largely q matter
of chance, but there are, on the other
hand, a number of reasons that make
it specially suitable for house con-
struction, and it is rue as well to
those favorable traits as to early
building conditions that wood is so
popular.
1t has been said for many years
that wood would probably be dis
placed as an American building ma
terial because of diminishing sup
ply. While this is an undoubted
possibility, owing to the fact that
wood is a natural product, there are
still ample supplies of it in most sec
tions of the country, and more eff
ficient modern methods of marketing
and manufacturing it into merchant
able lumber, together with more scien-
tific methods of conservation are
checking the waste, and 1t is more
than likely that for many generations
wood will both be available and hold
its popularity.
Good Workmen Plentiful.
Owing to the fact that carpen.
try is such common trade. pre-
vailing in all parts of the country,
it is comparatively easy to find first
class workmen for wood construc.
ton. Wood building can also be car
ried on quickly, and it is not hinderei
By cold weather; so that in the matter |
of speed there is probably no other |
that can compete with it.
Architectural Use Of Wood.
One of the particular advantages |
of wood 70, home building is the
variety of forms in which it can be
had. This variety makes it possible
to design and build wood house !
that will appropriately fit in with al
most any set of conditions. We have,
for instance, the choice of using clap
boards, shingles, siding. vertical bat
tens, wide weather bOardings and var
ious combinations Of two or more Of
these different forms. Then there are
still further subdivisions clapboards
are made in narrow and wide Widths,
are made short and long so
that totally different effects from an
standpoint may be had
all from the same basic material.
For the country house or cottage
is more appropriate than a
shingled house. either stained in some
color or left natural to
weather. For the more formal sub
urban house the use of clapboards or
siding Is more usual and in better
taste. They have smooth surfacesl