BUILDING 



987 BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 



as an aid to dry ness and warmth. Sometimes 

 stone is used on the outside and brick on the 

 inside, the two materials being bonded together. 



The more windows there are in a brick or 

 stone wall the more danger there is that cracks 

 will appear; the principle of this is exactly 

 that illustrated above concerning footings. If 

 window and door openings in upper stories are 

 directly over those below, as in colonial archi- 

 tecture, the danger is less. The distribution 

 of weight is also to be considered in placing 

 stone steps, sills or lintels. Sills are of two 

 types, slip sills and lug sills. The former are 

 just the width of the opening which they bor- 

 der; the latter enter the wall a little at each 

 end. Lug sills and stone steps are supported 

 by mortar at the ends only; in other words, 

 they are given isolated footings. A lintel is 

 a beam supporting the wall over an opening; 

 it is inserted into the brickwork only a few 

 inches at each end. 



Steel Frames. The highest buildings in 

 the world have skeletons of steel which carry 

 the weight of the whole structure. The walls 

 of each story are called curtain walls, because 

 they bear no weight but their own; they are 

 usually of brick or tile or terra cotta. The 

 floors are of hollow tile, which, though flat on 

 their surfaces, are built on the principle of an 



FLOOR OF FIREPROOF BUILDING 

 The hollow tiles, which are supported like an 

 arch, are covered with concrete before the wood 

 floor is laid. 



arch, with a keystone in the center and all 

 the weight thrusting against the I-beams at 

 the side, as in the illustration. An explanation 

 of the use of I-shaped beams will be found in 

 the article BRIDGE. 



Reinforced Concrete. Except for the frame 

 itself, the making of which is described in the 

 article CONCRETE, buildings of this material are 

 constructed like steel frame structures. C.H.H. 



Related Subjects. The following article will 

 give a more detailed knowledge of the materials 

 and principles in use in building : 

 Adobe Calcimine 



Brick Carpentry 



Building Stone Carrara Marble 



Pile 



Plastering 

 Plumbing 

 Roof 



Sandstone 

 Shingles 

 Staff 



Strength of Materials 

 Steel 

 Stucco 

 Terra Cotta 

 Tiles 



Wire Glass 

 articles listed under ARCHITEC- 



Cement 



Concrete 



Fireprooflng 



Girder 



Glass 



Granite 



Iron 



Limestone 



Lumber 



Marble 



Masonry 



Mortar 



Nails 



See, also, the 

 TURE. 



BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS, or 

 BUILDING SOCIETIES, are private organiza- 

 tions whose primary object is to make it 

 possible for people of small financial resources 

 to own their homes. This is best accomplished 

 by lending the savings of all the members to 

 the few who at any one time wish to build or 

 buy a home. All such societies may be divided 

 into two classes, private corporations and mu- 

 tual companies. 



Private Corporations. Private associations 

 are operated for the profit of the shareholders. 

 The corporation receives money on deposit, 

 like an ordinary savings deposit, and pays in- 

 terest therefor. These deposits it lends to 

 people who wish to build homes. The borrower 

 mortgages the new home as security, and agrees 

 to repay the loan in installments. The bor- 

 rower pays a higher rate of interest than the 

 depositor receives, thus giving the corporation 

 its profits. 



Mutual Companies. In a mutual company 

 every depositor is a stockholder. A stock- 

 holder who wishes to borrow money subscribes 

 for the number of shares which equal in par 

 value the amount he wishes to borrow. He 

 pays for this stock in small installments, and 

 meanwhile he is also paying interest on the 

 loan. If he is unable to complete the pay- 

 ments, he must surrender possession of the 

 house and land, which becomes the association's 

 property. If he completes the payments on the 

 stock the mortgage on the property is auto- 

 matically cancelled. 



A mutual company has no capital except the 

 weekly or monthly savings of the members. 

 This capital naturally grows from year to year. 

 It sometimes happens, however, that the 

 amount available for loans is less than that 

 required by a number of the members. In 

 such a case the money is usually loaned to the 

 one who offers the highest bonus over the reg- 

 ular interest. The disappointed members must 

 wait until more money is available. 



