How to Build Dry Houses 



141 



to arrest the upward course of damp, but 

 which object these contrivances do not seem 

 always to effect, judging from the faihires we 

 see around us. Of this class of preventives 

 we know of none equal in thorough efficacy 

 to the "damp-preventing bricks" of Mr 

 Taylor of London. These are illustrated in 



first of these two classes we give illustrations 

 in fig. A^a of a 9-inch wall, in fig. 5 of an 11- 

 inch, and in fig. 6 of a 14-inch wall. In fig. 

 5 the reader will notice that by the simple 

 plan of inserting studs or wood bricks here 

 and there, and nailing vertical battens to 

 these, the advantage of a double hollow wall 

 may be obtained. Of the second class — i.e., 

 bricks hollow in themselves — we give in figs. 



In 



:'^^\1:A 



fig. 4, and being placed at or near the ground- 

 level, the upper courses rest upon them, and 

 are almost completely isolated from the lower 

 courses ; so much so, that daylight may be 

 seen through them. One great advantage of 

 this method is, that a thorough ventilation of 

 the timbers of the floor is secured. 



We now glance for a brief space at the 

 means adopted to prevent the rain which may 

 be dashed upon the outside of a wall from 

 penetrating to the inside through the thick- 

 ness of a wall. The most generally adopted 

 method is to cover the wall thus exposed to 

 a weather course of slates, or to paint it with 



Fig. 6. 



7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, illustrations 

 forms. The forms in figs. 7 and i 



of various 

 are " par- 



tition " bricks. Walls may be lined inside 

 with hollow bricks to prevent the passing of 

 damp through to the room ; for this purpose 

 the form in fig. 1 1 has been used. 



Fig. 4rt. 



a composition of gas-tar and sand. Both of 

 these are unsightly, and the first is costly. 

 Other means have of late been introduced, 

 and first amongst these is the plan of build- 

 ing hollow walls. The walls may be made 

 hollow either by, first, so disposing of the 

 bricks themselves as to form a hollow space 

 or interval in its thickness ; or, secondly, by 

 having the bricks themselves hollow. Of the 



Another, and a recently introduced mode 

 to secure a perfectly dry wall, is to build it in 

 a way quite different from any of the modes 



