*45 



BUILDING. 



BUILDING, ACTS FOR REGULATING. 





ends of the adjacent stones must not be worked hollow, with a view to 

 making the joint perfect at the edgea. A better plan is to work them 

 flat, and insert a thin sheet of lead between them, cut a little smaller 

 than the column itself, thereby leaving a small open joint all round, to 

 be filled up with fine putty. Stone walls are usually measured by the 

 perch of 21 superficial feet, of an assumed standard thickness of 

 18 inches, and therefore containing 31J cubic feet; but sometimes the 

 rod is used as a measure, as in brickwork, assuming however a thickness 

 of 18 instead of 13 J inches. 



Besides brick and stone, other materials are occasionally employed 

 for the construction of walls, of which we may allude to flints and 

 earth. Houses built of flints, which can only be used to advantage 

 in certain localities where that material abounds, necessarily depend 

 much for the cohesion of their walls upon the strength of the mortar, 

 and on the judicious introduction of bonding courses of brick or 

 larger stone, and of quoins or angles of the same. When well executed, 

 the appearance of flint buildings is far from displeasing, and by a little 

 management of the contrast afforded by the white outside and black 

 centre of the flints may be made absolutely ornamental. Building 

 with compressed earth, or building en Pint, is a very cheap, simple, and 

 when properly managed, durable mode of building, which has been 

 long and extensively practised in some parts of France, especially in the 

 neighbourhood of Lyon, and has been adopted in this country not only 

 us a substitute for the rude plan of constructing cabins with mud tem- 

 pered with straw, and held together by wattles and timber framework, 

 but also in lieu of regular brickwork. In vol. xsvii. of the ' Transactions ' 

 of the Society of Arts, pp. 185-197, is a minute description, illustrated 

 by a plate of the apparatus employed, of an improved mode of exe- 

 cuting this kind of work, invented by Mr. Robert Salmon, of Woburn. 

 The foundations, and the walls to a short distance above the level of 

 the ground, are built of stone or brick, but all the upper part of the 

 ivalls consists simply of earth, beaten or rammed into a compact mass 

 between two boards, which are fastened in such a position that their 

 inner surfaces correspond with the faces of the wall. The work 

 proceeds iu courses, and each course in^portions of convenient length ; 

 and the boards, which serve as a mould, are so connected by bolts 

 that they may be readily separated from one another, and from the 

 completed portion of wall, and put together again in the required 

 position for forming another portion of wall. The earth is thrown 

 in in small quantities, so that every portion may be very completely 

 beaten, and an it is thrown in, a little is drawn away from the surface 

 of the mould, and its place supplied by a facing composition, con- 

 sisting of about one-fourth lime and three-fourths of the earth used for 

 walling, mixed together with water and slaked like mortar, but allowed 

 to dry and pulverise before it is rammed in. This facing composition, 

 which is appliel about an inch thick, forms a cement-like face to the 

 wall, and it preserves the earth from the access of moisture. When 

 the surface of one course of earth has become hard before another is 

 added to it, a little thick grout of lime and earth is added to facilitate 

 the adhesion of the new and old work. Mr. Salmon observes that the 

 earth for this work " should be neither sand nor clay, but partaking of 

 both." " Clay," he adda, " is particularly objectionable, as is also 

 chalk or calcareous earth of any sort. Sand is also not proper, unless 

 accompanied with some binding quality : the bolder and coarser the 

 sort of earth the better. When used, it should retain no more 

 moisture than just to make it adhere together under the pressure of 

 the thumb and finger." Earths containing a mixture of grit or fine 

 gravel he considers generally the best. Bond-timbers, wall-plates, and 

 all other pieces of wood inserted in the walls, are kept as thin as may 

 be, to avoid settlement from shrinkage ; and doorways and openings 

 for windows may be conveniently formed by the insertion of temporary 

 frames of stout planking, against which the earth is rammed as against 

 the mould. In this mode of building labour forms the most important 

 item of cost. At Woburn, with labourers at 1. Klrf. per diem, Mr. 

 Salmon found the expense of a 16-inch wall to be about 2. 8rf. per 

 superficial yard if faced and finished on one side only, and 3. 4d. per 

 yard if faced and finished on both sides ; while the value of a super- 

 ficial yard of brickwork, 1 4 inches thick, would have been more than 

 10*. at the same tune and place. The walls may be finished externally 

 by lime-washing, and, if intended to look very neat, by wetting and 

 rubbing the surface with a plasterer's float, until it is smooth and even. 

 A full account of the French mode of executing this kind of building 

 is given in the sixteenth volume of the ' Dictionnaire Technologique ' 

 (8vo, Paris, 1829), art. 'Pisai, Pise,' and in a briefer notice in the 

 fourth volume of the ' Dictionnaire de I'Jndustrie' (8vo, Paris, 1795), 

 article ' Muraille* Economiques,' are some remarks respecting the 

 meaning of the term Put, or, as it is sometimes written, Pitt. If the 

 projection of the roofs be sufficient, and other precautions be taken to 

 keep the walls dry, buildings of this character may be safely con- 

 structed of two or three stories in height, and they will prove very 

 durable, many such buildings in France having stood more than a 

 century without any symptom of decay. 



Respecting the means of protecting walls from damp, whether 

 arising from the foundation or not, some information is given under 

 ASPHALTK. Double walls, in which a space is left between the exter- 

 nal brick or stone wall, and the lining of the room of whatever kind it 

 may be, are sometimes resorted to as a means of preventing the 

 of damp, and limple mode of producing the same effect, 



which answers well when great strength is not required, is accom- 

 plished by the use of bricks laid on their edges instead of their flat 

 sides. In a single brick or 9-inch wall of the ordinary construction 

 there are no hollow spaces, because, the bricks being laid flat, the width 

 of two stretchers, being 4 4 inches each, is exactly equal to the length 

 of the headers, that is to say, 9 inches. If, however, the bricks be 

 laid on edge, but otherwise disposed in the same way, while the 

 headers are, of course, of the same length, the width of the stretchers 

 will be only 3 inches each, so that if they are laid to the face of 

 the wall they will leave an intermediate space of 3 inches. Of course 

 a less number of bricks will be required to produce an equal surface of 

 wall by this than by the ordinary mode of laying. 



Of the various departments of building relating to CARPENTRY and 

 JOINERY brief notices will be given under those heads, with references 

 to the various articles relating to them. Here it is only needful to 

 observe that the portions of a building supplied by the carpenter 

 should be so contrived as to strengthen and bind together the whole 

 structure. The ROOF, especially, of which a full account is given 

 under that head, should contribute greatly to the solidity of the 

 building, as well as answer the primary purpose of a covering. In 

 London houses, owing to the great value of space, sleeping-rooms are 

 very often formed in roofs ; and in certain cases, when the ridge of the 

 roof is made parallel to the front of the hoxise in order to secure as 

 much internal space as possible, the front gutter is connected with that 

 at the back of the house by a covered trough passing through the 

 apartment formed in the roof, so that although the fall of water from 

 the roof may be equal towards the front and back, the pipes for conduct- 

 ing the water to the ground may be confined to the back of the house. 

 For the external covering of walls in which the brickwork is coated by 

 a stone-like composition, see STUCCO ; and for the lining of walls, the 

 formation of ceilings, &c., see PLASTERING. Internal decorations are 

 treated of under PAINTING, HOUSE, and PAPER HANGINGS. More 

 specific information respecting the various parts of a building will be 

 found in such articles as STAIRCASE, DOOR, WINDOW, ARCH, DOME, 

 and CHIMNEY ; aud under FIREPROOF BUILDINGS, will be noticed some 

 important deviations from the ordinary mode of building, in order to 

 diminish the risk of fire. 



BUILDING, ACTS FOR REGULATING. Provisions for regu- 

 lating the construction of buildings are generally introduced into Acts 

 for the improvement of towns. To permit houses of wood or thatched 

 roofs in confined and crowded streets would be to sacrifice the public 

 welfare to the caprice or convenience of individuals. There is no 

 general measure ensuring uniformity of regulations for buildings 

 throughout the country. In the session 'of 1841 the Marquis of Nor- 

 manby, then a member of the government, brought in a bill " for the 

 better Drainage and Improvement of Buildings in large Towns and 

 Villages," but it did not pass ; and a bill of a similar nature was 

 unsuccessful in the session of the following year ; and it was not until 

 the Public Health Act, 1848 (11 & 12 Viet. c. 63), that a general pro- 

 vision was made for controlling the sewerage and drainage of towns. 

 In the session of 1844, however, an act was passed (7 & 8 Viet. c. 84), 

 entitled " An Act for Regulating the Construction and the Use of 

 Buildings in the Metropolis and its Neighbourhood ; " and this measure, 

 though applicable only to London, was an important step towards 

 improving the condition of large towns. It was amended two years 

 afterwards, but was (with certain exceptions hereafter noticed) repealed 

 by the Metropolis Building Act, 1855 (18 * 19 Viet. c. 122). London 

 has had Building Acts ever since the reign of Queen Anne ; but their 

 object was chiefly to enforce regulations calculated to check the spread 

 of fire. A Building Act, commonly called Sir Robert Taylor's Act 

 (14 Geo. III. c. 78), was passed in 1774, " for the further and better 

 regulation of buildings and party walls, and for the more eB'ectually 

 preventing mischiefs by fire." It extended to the cities of London 

 and Westminster, and their liberties and other places within the bills 

 of mortality, and to the parishes of St. Marylebone, Paddington, St. 

 Pancras, aud St. Luke's, Chelsea. The administration of the act was 

 confided to district surveyors, each of whom had independent authority 

 within his own district ; but the magistrate at the nearest police-office 

 might enforce or not, at his own discretion, the decisions of the sur- 

 veyor. The technical regulations of this Act were many of them, 

 generally speaking, of so impracticable a nature that their evasion was 

 connived at by the officers appointed to superintend the execution of 

 the law, and it did nothing to discourage the erection of imperfect 

 buildings in districts which have become a part of the metropolis since 

 it was passed. 



The objects of the more recent legislation may be gathered from 

 the preamble to the Act of 1844, which was as follows : " Whereas by 

 the several Acts mentioned in schedule (A.) * to this Act annexed pro- 

 visions are made for regulating the construction of buildings in the 

 metropolis, and the neighbourhood thereof, within certain limits 

 tin-nun set forth ; but forasmuch as buildings have since been ex- 

 tended in nearly continuous lines or streets far beyond such limits, go 

 that they do not now include all the places to which the provisions of 

 such Acts, according to the purposes thereof, ought to apply, and 



Thcte Acts are 14 Geo. III. e. 78, partly repealed; 80 Geo. III. c. 78, 

 wholly rppenled ; and 8 & 4 Viet. c. 85, repealed BO far as it relates to flues and 

 chimneys. 



