Concrete Building on t!ie Farm 



125 



rod. Being thus telescopic in construction, 

 the pieces of wood can be lengthened or 

 shortened according to the extent of the 

 building. At intervals between the panels 

 are placed upright blVs, called separating 

 posts, several feet high, through which the 

 iron rods supporting the panels pass 

 and are secured. At equal distances 

 of 1 8 inches, ascending upwards, there are 

 apertures in the posts for the insertion of the 

 iron rods, and the panelling round the entire 

 structure can be raised with great ease as the 

 building advances. When operations are to 

 be commenced, a quantity of packing, which 

 may consist of rough stones of any shape, the 

 more ragged the better, which forms the lirst 

 layer of the building, is thrown in, care being 

 taken to keep the packing i inch from the 

 the face of the work, so that it may not shew 

 through it. When the 18 inches of packing 

 are filled up, the concrete, which is in a semi- 

 liquid state, like mud, is-poured into the box, 

 and percolates down through the stones, 

 thoroughly filling all cavities, and binding the 

 stones and rubble together so tightly that the 

 whole forms one solid mass. For a day the 

 portion of wall thus made lies encased within 

 the panelling. By that time it has become 

 quite dry, and the panelling or frame is taken 

 off and lifted up other 18 inches, the bottom 

 of the frame resting where the top was before. 

 Thus another box is formed above the piece 

 of finished wall, and identically the same pro- 

 cess which we have described is repeated, 

 stones and rubble being thrown in, and the 

 liquid cement being poured over them. 

 In this way 18 inches of building are finished 

 each day if the weather be good, so that in the 

 course of a week, the walls of a cottage 8 or 9 

 feet high are strongly and firmly built. 



When the panelling is screwed together to 

 the separating posts, it is so mathmetically 

 exact, owing to its careful structure, that the 

 wall is built as straight as if tested with a 

 plumb line. Indeed, it cannot fail to be so, 

 and it is interesting to note that the whole 

 builduig is finished without the aid of a plumb 

 line, which is quite unnecessary. 



A noteworthy feature in connexion witli the 

 building of these concrete houses is that the 



usual cumbrous and often dangerous scaftbld- 

 ings which are used in erecting ordinary 

 buildings is superseded by a much better, 

 more secure, and much less unwieldly 

 arrangement, by which ropes are entirely 

 dispensed with. Little hollow iron tubes, 

 called cores, are placed in the walls, through 

 which iron rods are inserted, connected with 

 brackets, which are securely attached to the 

 wall, being firmly screwed through the build- 

 ing with nuts. The brackets are just similar 

 in form to supports used for shelving, and on 

 tlie top of the brackets are laid the planks 

 for the scaffolding, forming altogether a neat 

 and strong support. 



The two cottages, which are built as one, 

 are 32 feet in length, by 22 feet, and 8 feet 

 high. In each cottage there are three rooms, 

 those in the front being about 12 feet square, 

 and the back rooms meas iring about 7 feet 

 by 12. The cottages are lighted by two 

 windows in front, and four in the back. The 

 flooring is of concrete, which, being 

 thoroughly impervious to moisture, makes 

 the apartments very dry and comfortable. 

 It is intended to have the roof built in the 

 ordinary way with rafters and slating, but it 

 is not uncommon for concrete to be used as 

 a roofing material, for which purpose it 

 answers very weU. The outside walls, when 

 built, are finished with a coating of concrete, 

 about a ^ of an inch thick, a little finer in 

 the quality than that used for the ordinary 

 building, which gives a smooth finished ap- 

 pearance to the structure. No supports are 

 requisite for the lintels of the doors or win- 

 dows, because after. the concrete is hardened, 

 it is stronger than any support of wood or 

 stone. When the building is in progress, 

 spaces are left for the joists, which are tem- 

 porarily filled with sand, which is easily remov- 

 able at any time with a trowel. The spaces for. 

 the joists are made, alternately, 3 inches and 

 6 inches in depth on each side of the build- 

 ing, which diminishes the pressure on the 

 walls considerably. 



Houses finished in the way we have de- 

 scribed are much cheaper than those built in 

 the ordinary way, the saving being from 35 

 to 40 per cent. The buildings, at the same 



