142 



The Country Gcntkuuvis Alagaziuc 



hitherto used. The best of these which have 

 been introduced is Taylor's patent faced con- 

 crete walls, illustrated in fig. 1 2, in which a a 

 is the body of the wall in concrete, and /' /' 



the mortar, so as to keep it from freezing, 

 and enable them to go on with the building. 

 This should be carefully looked after. We 

 know of one house, in every other respect 



the facing bricks or tiles ; fig. 13 is a view of admirably built, but which is hopelessly 

 a single brick. We may here remark that we ruined by the dampness of the walls, brought 



believe a good many of the difficulties attend- 

 ant upon the building of cottages of the 

 labouring classes, arising chiefly from the cost 

 of the ordinary modes of erecting them, will 

 be got rid of by the adoption of new plans of 

 construction, of which this of Taylor's may be 

 taken as a type. Under the title of "How 



000 000 



0000 



Fig. 10. Fig. II. 



to Build Cheap Cottages," we propose giving 

 a resume of what has already been, and is yet 

 likely to be done, in this direction. 







In concluding our Note, as to how to pre- 

 vent damp in walls, we must draw special 

 attention to the danger arising from the use 

 of salt in building. Many are not aware of 

 the pernicious extent to which this practice 

 is carried in practice. During hard frosts the 

 bricklayers are in the habit of putting salt in 



about by the bricklayers having used salt in 

 the way above referred to. We consider the 

 practice so disgracefully reprehensible that it 

 should almost be treated as a criminal offence. 

 Another cause of damp walls is the use of 

 sand in mortar taken from the sea-shore, from 

 the banks of tidal rivers, or from localities 

 which have been at one time sea-margins. 



The use of such sand should in all cases be 

 strictly prohibited, and a clause inserted in 

 the specification to this effect. Some archi- 

 tects, indeed, are so careful in this respect, 

 that even where clear, sharp river or inland 

 sand is used, they specify that it shall be 

 washed, to free it from any saline substances 

 with which it may be mixed. Again, in the 

 localities immediately bordering upon the sea, 

 builders are sorely tempted to use sea-shore 

 stones. This should never be done, as a 

 house in which they are used will always be 

 more or less damp. Indeed, wherever salt 

 is present, either in the mortar or in the 

 stones, the walls will form excellent hygro- 

 meters, for the approach of wet weather will 

 always be heralded by the damp exuding 

 from their surface. We have now, we be- 

 lieve, drawn attention to the chief, if not the 

 whole of the causes of damp walls in houses ; 

 and have endeavoured to jioint out how these 

 causes may be avoided. 



