1506 . The Cornell Reading-Courses 



plans and this book correspond in a rude way to the architect's drawings 

 and specifications, and will serve to crystallize the alterations into 

 definite form. 



Generations of building experience have shown that successful results 

 must be based on definite instructions. No man's memory should be 

 trusted for measurements or other information, and, since purse and com- 

 fort are valued, verbal directions should not be given to workmen. 

 Building operations are exceedingly definite; walls and openings when 

 in place cannot be budged one inch in order to suit a piece of furniture or 

 to make way for an altered notion. All these experimental ideas should 

 be worked out on paper; it is cheaper to erase a wall than to tear it 

 down. To rip out a partition or pull down a chimney two or three 

 times before it is right, is deliberate wastefulness and often represents 

 a sum that would build a cabinet or repaper a room. 



As the owner studies over alteration problems, the best arrangement 

 will at length take shape in his own mind. An intelligent home-made 

 drawing and an explicit written list of his requirements may then be put 

 in shape, so that the carpenter or contractor can make a fairly accurate 

 estimate of the cost before work is begun. In order to obtain intelligent 

 results the owner should read up, in reliable books, such subjects as water- 

 works and heating systems and should freely investigate catalogues of 

 equipment. 



When the contemplated alterations are extensive and therefore costly, 

 or when a new house must be built, the work should by all means be 

 turned over to a good architect. Forceful arrangement and good design 

 require trained experience; an attempt to get along without such pro- 

 fessional help is, on the face of it, false economy. It is the architect's 

 daily business to put building requirements into buildable shape. Practi- 

 cal construction is the basis of his design. Moreover, he is acquainted 

 with all the short cuts whereby efficient results may be obtained quickly 

 and permanently. 



The chief difficulty usually lies in finding a good architect. It is 

 frequently complained by country people that there is no architect within 

 miles of the home place; or that the nearest one is merely a fancy carpenter 

 who has set up for himself and whose taste is no more reliable than that 

 of an honest workman. This is a very real dilemma, and one not easily 

 solved. 



The best course to pursue in such a case, after drafting the proposed 

 plans as definitely as possible, would be to go on a still hunt for a 

 good architect, taking the plans along or, better still, inviting the man 

 selected to visit the site. The desired work should be explained to him 

 by the owner clearly and definitely in order that relations between archi- 



