FARM BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT. 



229 



6, or 6 inches, and are known as di- 

 mension shingles. 



Slate shingles are used where fire- 

 proofing and permanency are of im- 

 portance. A good slate should be 

 hard, tou^h, and uniform In quality 

 and color. The color of slates varies 

 from blue-;black, dark-blue, and purple 

 to gray and green, and In some quar- 

 ries, red. The size of slates is also 

 subject to variation, from 6x12 inches 

 to 14x24 inches. They are sold by the 

 "square," which means a sufficient 

 number of slates to cover 100 square 

 feet of roof with a 3-inch lap over the 

 course below. 



Roofing tile is a term applied to ex- 

 terior roof covering, made from clay, 

 with overlapping edges. Their com- 

 paratively high cost has prevented 

 the wide iise of tile in America, though 

 in better classes of residences their 

 use is common because of their adapt- 

 ability in lending themselves to fancy 

 treatment in architectural details. ' 

 They compare favorably with slates 

 in cost. Tile manufactured from sheet 

 metal heavily tinned or galvanized, or 

 painted, are coming into quite com- 

 mon use. 



Tin roofing is made with the use of 

 sheets of steel coated with tin or a 

 mixture of lead and tin, called teme. 

 Where the roof pitch is less than one 

 third, the plates are united with flat 

 seams, and are fastened by means of 



one-inch tinned and barbed roofing 

 nails over which the seams are well 

 hammered down, and then soldered. 

 For steep roofs, standing seams should 

 be used composed of two "upstands" 

 with a cleat holding them in place, 

 as shown in Figure 14. Nails 

 should be driven into the cleats 

 only. A tin roof properly mad© and 

 kept well painted should last thirty 

 or forty years. 



Gravel roofing is used on very low- 

 pitched roofs. It is formed ordinarily 

 by covering the surface of the roof 

 with dry felt paper, and over this lay- 

 ing three, four, or five layers of tarrea 

 or asQihalted felt, the layers overlapn 

 ping each other, so that only from 6 

 to 10 inches of the 30-inch width of 

 paper is exposed. This is then cover- 

 ed with a uniform coat of pitch into 

 which, while hot, gravel or slag is im- 

 bedded. A responsible roofer wiU usu- 

 ally guarantee his work for five years, 

 although a good roof of this kind 

 should last from fifteen to twenty 

 years. 



"Ready roofing," made by cementing 

 together two or more layers of satur- 

 ated felt or felt and "burlap, and then 

 coated with either a hard solution ot 

 the same cementing material, or with 

 hot pitch or asphalt in which is Im- 

 bedded sand or fine gravel, is quite 

 widely used. It is usually sold in rolls 

 36 inches wide. When mad© by a r©- 



■n-o' 



siA 



Ground plan of barn . See page 226. 



