Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-07-01
Homes May Be Made
Modern by Utilizing
Old Lumber
Every Bit Of Old Material
Should Be Saved to
Reduce Cost

The owner of an old neglected
frame house may be more fortunate
than he suspects, for by modernlz-
Ing ard utilizing the lumber in the
structure he can transform his home
into a modern, convenient and at
tractive dwelling.
The first step in undermining any
home is to secure some competent
advice The lumber dealer can tell
which architects and which builders
specialize in undermining work and
how the financing can be handled
to best advantages; he can show you
ready-built articles for easy installa-
ton which will simplify housework,
such as kitchen cupboards. break
fast sets, linen closets, china cabi-
nets, mantels, stairways, and COM
plete new entrances with architectu-
raj enhancement; he will visit your
house to determine which parts need
replacing, if any, and examine the
framing to see if you have a sound
base on which to proceed
When the actual work of planning
Is under way, it should be regarded
as definite requirement that every
bit of the old work should be saved
which can be without sacrificing or
defeating the purpose of the change.
r. 'Ono roorrorooy,, ont doc+r11,e ~
much of the old work, try another
until the arrangement is found
which preserves intact the greatest
percentage of the existing structure.
1t will help if it is realized that the
usual result of well-executed remod-
cling is picturesque, unsymmetrical
and informal.
In the building of any home good,
sound construction should start with
the foundation. Many defects, both
latent and patent, above the grade
line In a new home can be directly
attributed to poorly built founda-
ton.
Foundation walls are enlarged at
their base to provide larger bear
ing surface against the soil beneath.
This base is termed a footing" and
bears most of the weight of the
structure. 1t should be carried
down to firm ground and below the
frost line. In homes where low cost
is paramount they are frequently
sighted, being undersize or with
round or wedge-shaped bearing sur
faces. Good footing must have
Hat bottom with a minimum depth
OF 8 inches and extend inches
on each side beyond the walls above.
Poor footings cause uneven set
Ting OF the foundation walls which
is in turn transmitted to the whole
house. The damage resulting is
visible inside the house in the
form Of cracked basement walls,
cracked plaster on the upper floor
walls, binding doors and windows,
and sloping floors Joints in the
woodwork will be forced open both
inside and outside the house, and
the pitch of the cutters may be
changed causing water to back up
intead of flowing off.
A cleaning closet close to both
kitchen and laundry requires a
minimum of space and returns a
maximum of convenience.
In a wide shallow closet can be
stored all of the brooms, mops.
busters, vacuum cleaners, and
sWeepers needed for orderly house
keeping, while at the same time it
frees kitchen cupboar6s of the odor
OF soaps, polishes and wax. The
closet should be provided with
shelves to contain dust cloths,
sponges, cleaning fluids, soap pow
ders, machine oil, insect spray and
countless other household necessi-
ties which, if not assigned some
central location, do much to reduce
order in the home.
Addition of a shower to a bath
room increases its usefulness and
can be achieved now in both the
leg type and the built-in type of
tub
There is a variety of equipment
on the market, and the home own
er may select one of the new types
OF showerheads said to effect a wa
ter savings of Is to so per cent over
the OLD style. Showers can be in
stalled in any built-in tub by an
experienced plumber in short or
der. Such showers involve no
changing of pipes, they are perma-
nent, fully automatic with a mini
mum number of moving parts, and
low in cost and economical in the
use of water.