Practical Hints 



may be repaired to a certain extent by clipping on the lines of these irregular 

 imperfections, with results both pleasing and in good taste. This scheme has 

 already been carried out with the above results. 



Laths. All laths that show knots or stains or portions of bark should be 

 rejected, as such will be sure to stain the plastering. Such stains can never be cov 

 ered up by any plaster finish, and are even apt to force their way through wall paper. 



Lumber. It is often possible, in some rural districts, to build the inexpensive 

 house to a certain extent of second-hand lumber. When this is done one should 

 make sure that the stock is sound and not suffering from dry rot. It should never 

 be used for exposed work nor for the principal sticks in the frame. The carpenter 

 is apt to object to this, and naturally, too, as he may be obliged to saw into more 

 nails than his contract calls for. 



Mouldings. On the principle that a piece of wood planed on both sides and 

 later disturbed by the moulding tool, as in the case of the wooden moulded casing, 

 will curl or warp toward the side which has thus been cut away, it is customary 

 to reduce the back of a casing slightly, leaving a 



slight margin on either edge so as to obviate this. ^p^Z^IP^I^ C^IS^^vl 

 Should the moulding on the face of the casing Fig . 60 . Sections of casings 



be deep enough to still occasion a slight warping, 



this reduction will prevent it from pulling away from the other members and 

 leaving a crack, as the slight depth of the reduction keeps the centre from reaching 

 a bearing on the supporting member and thus throwing out the edges (see Fig. 60). 



Pictures. In setting the studs in the walls of the principal rooms it is advis- 

 able that a heavy stud be placed exactly in the centre of such sides as it may be 

 desirable to hang heavy pictures or mirrors from. In this way the support is 

 absolute. The spacings may be made in any order, as long as they are marked on 

 the plans with their correct locations so that they may not be forgotten. 



Pictures should not be hung at too great an angle to the wall, unless it be 

 absolutely necessary to do so in order that they may be properly seen. The lines of 

 an inclined picture frame never harmonize with any other lines in the room, thus 

 the picture that is so used becomes a foreign element which does not belong in the 

 space that it occupies. 



Pigeons. Paint the roof of a pole house white, so that it may be easily 

 located by young birds and serve as a guide to the old birds in foggy weather. 

 After the same manner the roofs of dove-cotes and barn vents may be treated. 



Pipes. The cross-sectional area of a service pipe should equal the area of 

 probable flow as determined by the various outlets. 



Planning. In making preliminary sketch plans it is of great help to use a 

 piece of cross-section paper in which the inch is divided into eighths. Over this a 

 piece of tracing paper which is of rough enough texture to take the pencil can be 

 stretched. Thus we have a scale which will make the free-hand sketch in propor- 

 tion, and we can tell better in this way whether things are going to fit or not; it 

 is also a saving in time over the use of the ordinary scale. 



Plaster. An old way of drying out the rough plastering, and a good one, too, 

 was to delay the placing of the outside wall covering until the plaster had become 

 fairly hard. It can readily be seen that the cracks in the wall boarding effected 



