Evening star., 1952-11-24
Poorly Built Houses
May Be Best After All
Modern Godeets Fill Homes
With Destructive Vopors
By Thomos R. Henry

Design for comfort in the modern
small home is backfiring. Tight conStruc-
tlon TO keep out winter winds, plus wash.
Ing machines. two or three bathrooms.
clothes dryers and the like are turning
1t into box filled with water vapor
which causes paint to peel, shingles to
stand on end, floors to buckle.
The problem is so serious all over the
country that it has become a special
investigation project of the Building Ad-
vlsory Board OF the National Research
Council. 1t is one of the toughest
projects yet encountered because, al
though the causes can be determined,
the whole trend of civilization seems in
the direction of increasing the trouble.
First, it was stressed at a builders
conference recently that the rising cost
OF labor and materials puts a big
premium on the small home. The l2-
room house Of the last century is some
thing for the very rich these days. The
high cost OF fuel has placed a premium
on the tightly insulated house. The
virtual non-existence of domestic labor
has spurred the development of many
labor-saving devices. Then there is tho
growing demand for comfort. The
modern bride would consider living in
the drafty home of her grandmother
almost like camping out.
Labor Saving Disadvantages.
All this. experts at the National Re-
search Council explain, is very good for
while but there is a payoff. It
almost seems that the better built and
more costly the small home the worse,
in the long run-because all the devices
for comfort and labor saving tend to
backfire. 1t is a problem for experts
but for different kinds of experts in
almost every locality. A conscientious
builder often gets kicked for his pains.
The modern home becomes a fine
water container. it was brought out at
the conference. Water is in the form
of the invisible water vapor which is like
steam existing at much lower pressure.
1t builds up. There is no easy way for
1t to escape, as was the case in the old,
dratty houses.
This water vapor finally must seep
through roof and walls, often with dew
astating results. Insulating material
becomes soaked, perhaps freezes. A
poorly-built house may escape all this.
Dr. T. S. Rogers. of the Research
Councils Building Advisory Board, said:
Il am sure the cave dwellerS complained
Of condensation. In recent years 1t has
come into prominence not because of its
newneSS, but for several other reasons.
With new materials, techniques and de-
signs, we have new things to blame. We
have advanced so far in building design
that imperfections of this character
simply must be eliminated"
Shower Bath Menace.
One of the new elements which has
entered the picture, it was declared, Is
the shower bath, usually inclosed in a
supposedly moisture e-impermeable room.
1E some families every member takes a
hot shower every day. The hot water
different from the old days when baths
were pretty much confined to Saturday
nights and wooden tubs filled with water
pumped from wells. This made bath
a job. There was no excess of water or
water vapor. The situation was not so
bad even in the bathroom tub days when
by no means so much water was needed.
Such devices as dishwashing machines
require continuously flowing hot water.
Other household appliances are almost
equally guilty. The conference sug-
gested some tentative solutions but de-
ciGed there was no absolute formula
which could be applied everywhere un-
der all circumstances. An impossible.
and probably entirely undesirable and
inadequate solution, would be to turn
back the hands of the clock away from
shower baths and modern kitchens. The
only practical solution seems to lie with
the architects and in more skillful use Of
building materials.