THK HOl SK AND ITS KQUIRMKXT. 131 



THE CARE OF THE HOUSE. 



I he \ eed /or Regular ami Systematic Examination blxlcriur and Interior I- ea/nres \ ceding 

 Allen/ion Concerning flutters I arings Smokv C/iiinnevs, Their Cause and Treatment 



\oting the Casts nj Maintenance. 



TIIKKK is no little responsibility in maintaining the fabric of a building in sound repair, (ireat 

 care is needed to ensure that no decay of any sort shall be allowed to mature, and systematic 

 and regular examination is required to prevent it. In the treatment of the diseases nl materials 

 use;! in building, the nature and cause ot the trouble must be ascertained before right remedies 

 can be applied. .Much money is uselessly spent and much labour lost by the common liabit 

 of applying a &quot; remedy&quot; hastily before the disease has been diagnosed, a course which generally result- 

 in work having to be re-done. This chapter is intended to help those who have the care of a house and 

 to guide them in examining its fabric, so that repairs may be e fleet ive and lasting. Two things are 

 essential regular examination and systematic examination. The first can be easily arranged. Buildings 

 should have a thorough examination at least twice in the year, of which once should be alter the fall ot 

 the leal. For the; purposes of proper inspection, it is desirable to deal with the; parts ot the structure 

 separately, and the obviously convenient division is into exterior and interior. Starting at the top of the 

 building, the exterior is naturally divided into (a) chimneys and structures above roof. (//) root covering 

 (c) exterior of walls, fittings and attachments, (d) external pavings and adjoining structures. (&amp;lt;) external 

 tanks, pipes, wires and other work, and the interior into (a) roof construction and structures, such as 

 chimney passings through roofs, (/&amp;gt;) ceilings, (c) walls and fittings attached, (d) lloors, (&amp;lt;) internal tank-*, 

 pipes, wires, etc. Roof coverings should be kept in thorough repair, and care is needed during their 

 examination, thick It ll shoes being worn. A careless man on the roofs can do more damage in half-an- 

 hour than the weather will do in twelve months. Before examining the roofs out-ide. it will save time 

 to search lor any sign ot dampness in the interior ; the cause of the trouble can then be generally found 

 quickly outside. hvery piece ol ridge on a pitched roof should be seen to ascertain that the pointing 

 is sound and all broken or loose tiles marked for immediate attention. All leadwork and flashing, 

 especially those round chimneys, should be closely dressed to the adjoining work. Lead gutters and llaN 

 mostly give trouble at the drips and rolls, caused often by dust and leaves. Solder should never be used 

 with any metal in repairing joints in roof coverings or flashings. Lead has a great tendency to &quot; creep.&quot; 

 forming ridges on the surlace and retarding the How of water, and all parts of the roof should give, water 

 the easiest possible way ot escape. If ridges so caused retard the flow, the lead should be taken up and 

 relaid in shorter lengths, with more drips inserted in the gutter. Secret gutters, i.e., gutters hidden by 

 the overlapping of other roof coverings, are a source of trouble owing to their being out of sight, and, 

 being generally of small section, quickly get clogged. Chimney stacks and pots should be examined, the 

 pointing of brickwork kept sound and the pots well bedded and weathered, both to keep damp away from 

 the smoke flues and to prevent chimney-pots blowing off. All parapet walls and copings should be 

 examined, and cracked or loose joints and defective cement rendering or plaster carefully noted for repair. 

 liaves gutters should be examined for cracks or loose joints, and the brackets and screws securing them 

 need special attention, (hitters of every description should be often and thoroughly cleaned out. especially 

 after the fall of the leaf in the autumn, care being taken that all lead or wire balloons, domes and protections 

 over the rain-water pipes and heads and other outlets are properly cleaned and replaced. Nothing is 

 more likely to cause overflow and leaks, with consequent damage inside the house, and nothing is more 

 objectionable than decayed vegetable matter. Roof lights, owing to their exposed position, need careful 

 examination and repair. 



External walls require as much care as the roofs. Practically all materials used in walls are porous 

 it is only a question of degree. Xo matter what the material, it is essential that the pointing of the 

 joints should be kept in thoroughly good condition, both to preserve the materials of which the wall is 

 composed and to prevent moisture penetrating. If the walling has &quot; settled&quot; or cracked, the rain is not 

 only driven into the structure, but capillary attraction sets up, and causes the very heart of the work to 

 decay, a defect which cannot be found out until considerable damage has been done. The expansion 

 and contraction of practically all materials used in buildings vary, and wherever two different materials 

 join small cracks and openings may develop. The pointing to all window and door frames should 

 therefore be kept thoroughly tight. Nearly all materials when first exposed to the atmosphere undergo 

 a kind of oxidising process, which forms a thin protecting skin on the face. Once this is damaged by frost 



