Evening star., 1939-09-09

knowledge EnobIes Them
To Judge QuoIity Of
Contractors Work
Every home builder should have
some understanding of the more i'm
portant points of frame construc-
ton so he may intelligently discuss
the building of his home with his
architect or contractor and Judge
the soundness of the construction
principles to be incorporated in his
house.
First, as to the foundation, he
should make sure adequate drainage
for the soil beneath and around the
structure is provided. Ventilation
As essential under porches as well
as buildings. Bungalows or frame
houses without Easements should
be raised from the ground to a
height of at least 18 inches to permit
the penetration of light and air
beneath. # supported by means of
. solid foundation wall there should
be openings of a net area Of 2
square feet for each Is lineal feet
OF foundation.
Foundation walls and piers must
rest on concrete footings of suf11cient
size to prevent settlement. Footings
for walls should 60 to a depth Of at
least inches and should extend
a minimum of inches beyond each
side. For piers the extension should
be from to inches beyond all
four sides with the minimum depth
the same as for the walls.
Basement Bearing Posts.
Where there is basement, the
bearing posts which carry the load
In the center of the building should
have footings to II inches deep
and from 18 to "a inches square,
projecting 3 inches above the fin
ished basement floor. A s4x6-inch
dowel set in the footing should
project into the post.
The sill which fastens the house
to the foundation should be from
2 to 4 inches thick. 1t should be
bedded into mortar and bolted to the
foundation. The bolts should be
placed at intervals of not more than
6 feet and extend into the masonry
wall inches or more.
Probably no item in the building
of a home is of greater Importance
than floor joists They support the
floor and the entire contents of the
building. They should be spaced
~ S11fHoyAnt
stiffness to carry maximum load
without undue detection. Under
partitions and around openings
double or triple joists should be used.
Under partitions double joists should
be separated by solid bridging at
intervals not to exceed 4 feet.
Eliminating Vibration.
To increase the stiffness of the
floor and eliminate vibration, the
ioists should be securely braced with
small members, commonly called
cross bridging; 19X4 inches in the
form of an x should be placed be-
tween the joists at intervals of not
over 8 feet double nailed at each
end
The studs in walls and partitions,
too should be spaced 16 inches on
centers. They should be doubled
along the sides of doors and windows
and tripled at corners in exterior
walls. 1t is Of extreme Importance
that the sheathing on all outside
walls be applied at an angle OF As
degrees. Walls sheathed diagonaNy
In this manner have approximately
seven times the strength of walls
sheathed horizontally. This dag
onal sheathing should be carried
down to the foundation and securely
nailed to the studs, joists and sill.
All sheathing should be covered
with a layer of waterproof building
paper, which affords protection
against dampness, drafts and dust.
This building paper should be tight
ly fitted around all openings and
securely nailed to the sheathing
throughout the entire surface area.
Large head roofing nails or tin
washers should be used to- attach
the paper which should also be well
Tapped at joints.
The sub flooring should be laid at
an angle of As degrees from the line
of the joists and carried In between
studs to outside wall sheathing. Sub
flooring provides mailing base for
the floor and when laid diagonalfy
adds to the bracing of the building.
1t also serves as an effective in
sulator and should be covered with
a layer of waterproof building paper,
we'll Tapped.
All partitions which carry a load
from the floor above should have
two 2x4-inch plates on top of the
studs. Wherever possible bearing
partition studs should be set di-
rectly above beams or other bearing
partitions below.
Headers or lintels are supports
over openings. When an opening
is feet or less in bearing walls
and partitions and 3 feet or more
in non-bearing partitions, two 2x4s
should be used. Over the top of
windows and doors they should be
laid on edge. Headers under WIN
dows may be laid fiat. The headers
of all wider openings in bearing
walls and partitions should be
trussed. Roof rafters should be
anchored to the walls by spiking
them to 2-inch blocking fitted be-
tween the rafters and securely
spiked to the wall plates. This will
furnish an adequate anchorage of
the roof framing to the side walls,
often point of weakness in i'm
properly constructed houses. An
other method of anchoring roofs is
by means of 1x4s which are nailed
to the end of the rafters and to the
corresponding ceiling joist. This tie
Is placed at every other rafter Col.