COST OF PAINTING 337 



Red Lead (National Paint Co.). One gallon of paint. 



20 Ibs. red lead at 5 cents $i .00 



5^ Ibs. raw linseed oil 4 gallon at 56 cents 42 



Cost of materials per gallon of paint $i .42 



Graphite Paint (Dixon's Graphite). Five pounds of graphite paste 

 and I gallon of oil make iy 2 gallons of paint. 



3^4 Ibs. graphite paste at 12 cents 45 cts. 



24 gallon boiled linseed oil at 59 cents 44 " 



Cost of materials per gallon of paint 89 cts. 



Mr. A. H. Sabin in a paper read before the American Society of 

 Civil Engineers, June, 1895, gives the following as the minimum costs 

 of paints : Iron Oxide paint, 6 1 /^ Ibs. of oxide worth 95/2 cents ; 6*4 

 Ibs. of oil worth 46^ cents; mixing in a mill, barrels, etc., 5 cents; 

 making the actual cost of the paint 60 cents per gallon. The cost of a 

 gallon of pure lead paint using 20 Ibs. of red lead per gallon and oil 

 at 56 cents per gallon will cost not less than $1.50 per gallon. 



Cost of Painting. The cost of applying the paint depends upon 

 the condition of the surface to be painted, and upon other conditions. A 

 common rule for ordinary work is that the cost of painting is about 

 two to three times the cost of a good quality of paint required for the 

 job. The cost of labor may not be more than the cost of the paint, and 

 may be four or five times as much. The cost of painting light struc- 

 tural work in which considerable climbing has to be done is very dif- 

 ficult to estimate. The average cost of painting four bridges in Den- 

 ver, Col., with a finishing coat of Goheen's Carbonizing, in 1899, was 

 51 cents for paint and 80 cents for labor, per ton of metal painted. 



Priming Coat. Engineers are very much divided as to what 

 makes the best priming coat; some specify a first coat of pure linseed 

 oil and others a priming coat of paint. Linseed oil makes a transparent 

 coating that allows imperfections in the workmanship and rusted spots 

 to be easily seen ; it is not permanent however, and if the metal is ex- 

 posed for a long time the oil will often be entirely removed before the 

 second coat is applied. It is also claimed that the paint will not adhere 



