James Bartlett

“ The object of all heating apparatus is the transference of heat from the fire to the various parts of the building it is intended to warm, and this transfer may be effected by radiation, by conduction or by convection. An open fire acts by radiation; it warms the air in a room by first warming the walls, floor, ceiling and articles in the room, and these in turn warm the air. Therefore in a room with an open fire the air is, as a rule, less heated than the walls. ”

“ It is certainly true that daylight has much to do with the sanitary condition of all buildings, and this being so the proper distribution of daylight to a building is of the greatest possible importance, and must be effected by an ample provision of windows judiciously arranged. The heads of all windows should be kept as near the ceiling as possible, as well to obtain easy ventilation as to ensure good lighting. As far as is practicable a building should be planned so that each room receives the sun’s rays for some part of the day. ”

“ But when concrete is used as a substitute for a wall, in carrying a wall down to a low level, it is in fact a wall in itself, wide only in proportion to its comparative weakness in the absence of manipulated bond in its construction, and encased by the soil within which it is placed. When a concrete wall is used in place of brick the London Building Act requires an extra thickness of one-third; on the question of reinforced concrete no regulations as to thickness have at present been made. ”

“ After being rolled, structural steel is stored or handled out of doors for a varying period both at the mill and then again at the shop before the building is started. This period of open-air exposure allows the process of rust to start under the scales. If the rust so covered up has not begun to pit the iron the chances are that it will do no harm; but, if it is already well developed and of some thickness, it will have enough oxidizing agents in its pores to develop more oxide, and to swell up and crack the paint. ”

“ The art of joinery has for its object the addition in a building of all the fixed woodwork necessary for convenience or ornament. The joiner’s works are in many cases of a complicated nature, and often require to be executed in an expensive material, therefore joinery requires much skill in that part of geometrical science which treats of the projection and description of lines, surfaces and solids, as well as an intimate knowledge of the structure and nature of wood. ”

“ In the construction of a building the weights are concentrated at given points on piers, columns, &c., and these foundations require to be spread so as to reduce the weight to an average. In the preparation of a foundation care must be taken to prevent the lateral escape of the soil or the movement of a bed upon sloping ground, and it is also necessary to provide against any damage by the action of the atmosphere. The soils met with in ordinary practice, such as rock, gravel, chalk, clay and sand, vary as to their capabilities of bearing weight. ”

“ The most simple test for the value of a system of fire-proof coverings, and of partitions and furrings, is to erect a large sample of the work and to subject it alternately to the continued action of an intensely hot flame which is allowed to impinge upon it, and to a stream of cold water directed upon it from the ordinary service nozzle of a steam fire engine. ”

“ To regulate the heat it is necessary either to instal a number of small radiators or to divide the radiators into sections, each section controlled by distinct valves; steam may then be admitted to all the sections of the radiator or to any less number of sections as desired. In a hot-water system the heat is given off at a lower temperature and is consequently more agreeable than that yielded by a steam-heating apparatus. The joint most commonly used for hot-water pipes is termed the “rust” joint, which is cheap to make, but unfortunately is inefficient. ”

“ GLAZING.—The business of the glazier may be confined to the mere fitting and setting of glass (q.v.) , even the cutting up of the plates into squares being generally an independent art, requiring a degree of tact and judgment not necessarily possessed by the building artificer. The tools generally used by the glazier are the diamond for cutting, laths or straight edges, tee square, measuring rule, glazing knife, hacking knife and hammer, duster, sash tool, two-foot rule and a glazier’s cradle for carrying the glass. ”

“ In ordinary practice the architect usually cubes a building at a price per foot cube, as will be described hereafter, but an architect should know how to measure and prepare quantities, or he cannot be said to be master of his profession.
Building includes what is called construction, which is the branch of the science of architecture relating to the practical execution of the works required to produce any structure ”

“ He is distinguished from the joiner by his operations being directed to the mere carcass of a building, to things which have reference to structure only. Almost everything the carpenter does to a building is absolutely necessary to its stability and efficiency, whereas the joiner does not begin his operations until the carcass is complete, and every article of joiners’ work might at any time be removed from a building without undermining it or affecting its most important qualities. ”

“ It is a disadvantage of the system that defects of proportion, material, or workmanship, which would be of less moment in an old-fashioned construction, may become an element of danger in building -with the steel cage, while the possibility of securing a permanent protection of all parts of the cage from corrosion is a most serious consideration. ”

“ An arch of masonry, however large it may be, is not necessarily a piece of construction complete in itself, for it would fall to pieces without abutments. Thus a bridge consisting of a series of arches, however extensive, may be but one piece of construction, no arch being complete in itself without the collateral arches in the series to serve as its abutments, and the whole series being dependent thereby upon the ultimate abutments of the bridge, without which the structure would not stand. ”

“ A plentiful supply of hot water is a necessity in every house for domestic and hygienic purposes. In small houses all requirements may be satisfied with a boiler heated by the kitchen fire. For large buildings where large quantities of hot water are used an independent boiler of suitable Hot-water supply. size should be installed. Every installation is made up of a boiler or other water heater, a tank or cylinder to contain the water when heated, and a cistern of cold water, the supply from which to the system is regulated automatically by a ball valve. ”

“ It is not always that a site answers to this description, and the problem of what will be the best form of foundation to use in placing a building, more especially if that building be of large dimensions and consequently great weight, on a site of soft yielding soil, is one that is often most difficult of solution. ”

“ Sewer gas is a term applied to the air, fouled by mixture with gases which are formed by the decomposition of sewage, and by the organic germs which it carries in suspension, that fills the sewer in the variable space above the liquid stream. It is universally recognized that sewer gas is a medium for the conveyance of disease, and in all well-designed sewers systems of sewerage stringent precautions are taken to keep it out of houses. It is equally certain that the dangerous character of sewer gas is reduced, if not entirely removed, by free admixture with the oxygen of fresh air. ”

“ Although the styles of architecture have varied at different periods, buildings, wherever similar materials are employed, must be constructed on much the same principles. Scientific knowledge of the natures and properties of materials has, however, given to the modern workman immense advantages over his medieval brother-craftsman, and caused many changes in the details of the trade, or art of building, although stones, bricks, mortar, &c., then as now, formed the element of the more solid parts of all edifices. ”

“ Compared with heating by hot water, steam-heating requires less piping, which, further, may be of much smaller diameter to attain a similar result, because of the higher temperature of the heat yielding surface. A drawback to the use of steam is the fact that the high temperature of the pipes and radiators attracts and spreads a great deal of dust. There is also a risk that woodwork near the pipes may warp and split. The apparatus needs constant attention, since neglect in stoking would result in stopping the generation of steam, and the whole system would almost immediately cool. ”

“ It is a common fault with workmen to rub the bricks thinner behind than before to lessen the labour required to obtain a very fine face joint. This practice tends to make the work bulge outwards; it should rather be inverted if it be done at all, though the best work is that in which the bricks are gauged to exactly the same thickness at the back as at the front. The same fault occurs when a gauged arch is inserted in an old wall, on account of the difficulty of filling up with cement the space behind the bricks. ”

“ This method of bills of quantities and prices is absolutely necessary to any one about to build, and means a considerable saving to the client in the end. For example:—Suppose that bills of quantities are not prepared for a certain job by a quantity surveyor, and, as is often done, the drawings and specification are sent to several builders asking them for a quotation to build the house or factory or whatever it may be, according to the drawings and specification. The prices are duly sent in to the architect, and probably the lowest price is accepted and the successful builder starts the job. ”

“ It is most important that the brickwork be kept perfectly plumb, and that every course be perfectly horizontal or level, both longitudinally and transversely. Strictest attention should be paid to the levelling of the lowest course of footings of a wall, for any irregularity will necessitate the inequality being made up with mortar in the courses above, thus inducing a liability for the wall to settle unequally, and so perpetuate the infirmity. ”

“ When, therefore, suitable stone of both qualities can be obtained, the harder stone can be exposed to the weather, or to the action which the softer stone cannot resist, and made to form the main body of the structure of the latter so protected. The hard and the soft should be made to bear alike, and should therefore be coursed and bonded together by the mason’s art, whether the work be of stone wrought into blocks and gauged to thickness, or of rough dressed or otherwise unshaped rubble compacted with mortar. ”

“ In carpentry framing owes its strength mainly to the form and position of its parts, but in joinery the strength of a frame depends to a larger extent upon the strength of the joinings. The importance of fitting the joints together as accurately as possible is therefore obvious. It is very desirable that a joiner shall be a quick workman, but it is still more so that he shall be a good one, and that he should join his materials with firmness and accuracy. ”

“ It will be clear from this that if a building is to be erected upon rock as hard as the main constituent of the walls theoretically no expanded footings will be necessary; if upon chalk, upon strong or upon weak gravel, upon sand or upon clay, the footing must be expanded with reference to the power of resistance of the structure to be used as a foundation; whilst in or upon made ground or other loose and badly combined or imperfectly resisting soil, a solid platform bearing evenly over the ground, and wide enough not to sink into it, becomes necessary under the constructed footing. ”

“ When work is painted one or both of two distinct ends is achieved, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material painted. The compounds used for painting—taking the word as meaning a thin protective or decorative coat—are very numerous, including oil-paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, tar; but the word “paint” is usually confined to a mixture of oil and pigment, together with other materials which possess properties necessary to enable the paint to dry hard and opaque. ”

“ An architect should have a scientific knowledge of the various soils he may meet with, such as clay, earth, silt, rock, gravel, chalk, &c., so that when the trial holes are dug out on the site, he can see the nature of the soil, and at once know what kind of a foundation to put to the building, and the depth to which he must go to get a good bottom. ”

“ On exposure to the air copper develops a feature of great beauty in the coating of green carbonate which forms upon its surface protecting it from further decomposition. Perhaps the chief disadvantage in the use of copper lies in its first cost, but against this must be set the almost imperishable nature of the metal and the fact that by reason of its light weight less substantial framework is required for its support. ”

“ Thus when an arch is built to bear against an upright wall, a buttress or other counterfort is applied in a direction opposed to the pressure of the arch. In like manner the inclined roof of a building spanning from wall to wall tends to thrust out the walls, and hence a tie is applied to hold the opposite sides of the roof together at its base, where alone a tie can be fully efficient, and thus the roof is made to act upon the walls wholly in the direction of gravity ”

“ Where there is risk of fire, as is often the case in business and factory premises, it is necessary to select a stone able to stand the effect of a great heat without damage. Great experience of the strength of stones and, of their behaviour in different situations is desirable; but even when this knowledge is given and the greatest care is combined with it, some point may be overlooked. For example, the stone facing of the Houses of Parliament at Westminster was chosen on the recommendation of a committee composed of men of eminent scientific and technical skill ”

“ In America the standard quality for all materials is set out, but in no English acts do we find the definition of the quality of timber, new materials, steel, &c. Iron and steel construction is in its infancy in England as compared with America, and probably this accounts for no special regulations being in force; but part 22 of the New York Building Code, section 110 to 129 inclusive, deals very fully with iron and steel construction, and this is further supplemented by sections 137 to 140 inclusive. ”

“ Bond in brickwork is the arrangement by which the bricks of every course cover the joints of those in the course below it, and so tend to make the whole mass or combination of bricks act as much together, or as dependently one upon another, as possible. ”

“ When concrete is used to obviate the tendency of the soil to yield to pressure, expanse or extent of base is required, and the concrete being widely spread should therefore be deep or thick as a layer, only with reference to its own power of transmitting to the ground the weight of the wall to be built upon it, without breaking across or being crushed. ”

“ It may be taken as a general rule that a brick should never be cut if it can be worked in whole, for a new joint is thereby created in a construction, the difficulty of which consists in obviating the debility arising from the constant recurrence of joints. Great insistence must be laid on this point, especially at the junctions of walls, where the admission of closers already constitutes a weakness which would only be increased by the use of other bats or fragments of bricks. ”

“ Care must be taken to keep the “perpends,” or vertical joints, one immediately over the other. Having been carried up three or four courses to a level with the guidance of the line which is raised course by course, the work should be proved with the level and plumb-rule, particularly with the latter at the quoins and reveals, as well as over the face. A smart tap with the end of the handle of the trowel will suffice to make a brick yield what little it may be out of truth, while the work is green, and not injure it. The work of an efficient craftsman, however, will need but little adjustment. ”

“ The next step is the partial purification of the sewage by means of a chemical process. When a town lies some distance up an estuary, as for example London, Glasgow, Rochester and many others, the dilution may be insufficient to prevent a nuisance, or the suspended matters may be deposited upon the foreshore to be uncovered at low water. The first stage of purification is then employed, namely, clarification in tanks. Practice varies with regard to tank capacity, but as a general rule it should be at least equal to, half a day's dry weather flow. ”

“ Quartz is the principal constituent and imparts to the rock the qualities of durability and strength. Stones containing a large proportion of quartz are hard and difficult to work. Felspar of an earthy nature is opaque in appearance and is liable to decay; it should be clear and almost transparent. The characteristic colour of the granite is generally due to this substance, but the stone is often affected by the nature of the mica it contains, whether it be light or dark in tint. Granite is the hardest, strongest and most durable of building-stones, and is difficult and costly to work. ”

“ If the mortar be too thick, extra labour is involved in its use, and much time wasted. If it be so thin as to run easily from the trowel, a longer time is taken in setting, and the wall is liable to settle; also there is danger that the lime or cement will be killed by the excess of water, or at least have its binding power affected. It is not advisable to carry out work when the temperature is below freezing point, but in urgent cases bricklaying may be successfully done by using unslaked lime mortar. ”

“ The regular and determined form of bricks makes it to a large extent a matter of practice to enable a man to become a good bricklayer, but beyond these a continual exercise of judgment is required of the workman in stone, who has for the most part to deal with masses of all forms and of all sizes.
Setting Stones.—All beds and joints should be truly worked and perfectly level. If the surface be convex it will give rise to wide unsightly joints; if concave the weight thrown on the stone will rest on the edges and probably cause them to “flush” or break off and disfigure the work. ”