Glasshouse Building 219 



line can be laid down between the pegs so found, and the outline of the 

 house will be complete. 



Before proceeding to take out the footings it will be as well to consider 

 the question of the walls. The simplest and the quickest to put up are 

 wooden walls, but an efficient wooden wall will cost almost as much as 

 concrete and will always be a trouble. 



However, if wooden walls must be built, the best way to do it is to 

 get good oak posts, and set their butts in concrete after thoroughly tarring 

 them. As space is limited, the details of only one form of wall can be 

 given. Brick walls can be made in 4^ -in. work with 9-in. piers every 

 6 ft. along the outside, but for strength, durability, cheapness, and ease 

 of erection the concrete wall takes first place, and so this is the wall chosen 

 for description. 



For this work a quantity of thick plauk and some 3-in.-by-2-in. quarter- 

 ing will be required. The planks must not be thinner than 1^ in., and 

 1| in. will be better, though the thinner size will do well enough if it is 

 well supported. This planking will by no means be wasted, as it can be used 

 after to make part of a shed, frames, or may simply be kept for wheeling 

 on till wanted for building again. Enough planking should be got for 

 about a day and a half's work and to make a platform about 12 ft. square 

 to mix concrete on. For two men and a boy this would mean about 1400 ft. 

 run of l^-in.-by-7-in. plank, and about 400 ft. run of 2-in.-by-4-in. scantling. 

 The quantity would vary a little, according to the size of the house. The 

 above quantities were used on a house 140 ft. long, and have since helped 

 to build several more. 



A 4-in. wall will be quite thick enough for any ordinary height of 

 greenhouse wall; a lean-to wall would have to be thicker. 



To return to the footings. The four pegs are now in position, marking 

 the corners of the inside of the house. Lay down the line 6 in. inside 

 these pegs, and cut all round with a sharp spade. Shift the line outside 

 the pegs 18 in. away from the line just cut, and cut all round as before. 

 Now dig out the trench so marked out, one spit deep, putting the earth on 

 the inner side of the line for use on the borders, or else far enough away 

 from the outside to allow a barrow to be wheeled along between. Stretch 

 lines tightly between the four corner pegs, which should have been left 

 undisturbed, and peg the line down at intervals to make sure it will not 

 get moved. The 4-in.-by-2-in. scantling is now cut into convenient lengths 

 for posts, say 4 ft. for a 2-ft.-by-6-in. wall, and a chisel point is made at one 

 end, making the cuts on the 4-in. side of the wood only. A post is now 

 set up in each corner just so far inside the lines as to allow the planks to be 

 used for the concreting to be set up on edge between the line and the post 

 both ways. Get the posts perfectly upright with a plumb-line, and fix 

 them so by means of two stays made of slating batten driven into the 

 ground behind each post, and nailed to it near the top so as to hold it 

 firm in two directions (see fig. 165). The simplest way to get all the posts 

 the right distance from the line is to make a plumb-board like fig. 166. The 



