Sec. 19.] COST OF A BALLOON-FRAME UOUSE. 329 



"In story-aiid-a-lialt' Imililings, it is very desirable that collars be put on 

 securely, so as to pivveiit any thrust of the rafters ; where the side girt is 

 not gained in, as in small unpla.^tcred buildings, the collars may be nailed 

 or spiked to the rafter. If the side girt is set into the studding, iis it should 

 be in a plastered building not lined inside, it makes a weak point in the 

 studding, leducing thorn from 2 by 4 to 2 by 3, and the collars should bo 

 put on in such a manner as to guard against any thrust whatever. The size 

 of the building and the judgment of its constructor will indicate the best 

 course to pursue. Buildings of one, two, or more full stories have no collars ; 

 tlic joists of the upper floor tic the top of the building, and take the thrust 

 of the rafters. In the usual mode of inside lining, one side laps the stud. 

 The ends of the lining of the adjoining side are nailed to a strip fastened to 

 the stud to receive them. 



" "We have built balloon frames with green oak studding, basswood siding, 

 and butternut trinnnings, that have never yielded. There is a system of 

 compensation among the light sticks of a balloon frame by which the sea- 

 soning process goes on without injury to it. "We have seen warped siu-faccs 

 produced by using green oak siding and by careless building, but there is 

 no good reason why a balloon-framc building should not be always square 

 and pliunb, and the outside boarding remain secure. 



'•The subject of tajiering rafters has been jtretty thoroughly discussed here- 

 tofore. The same amount of strength can be had with a less amount of 

 lumber. There is an additional labor in sawing such rafters, as well as a 

 ditlerent calculation to be made in using up a log to the best advantage. It 

 is necessary always to order this special bill of rafters direct from the mill, 

 and the result will be that the e.\tra cost will, nine times out of ten, over- 

 balance the amount saved." 



;i:>l. The Cost of Ihc Aiitlior's Rallooii House and Darn.— There is not only 

 a saving in first cost of lumber, l)Ut a very large item will be saved in the 

 bill of carriage, ])articularly where it has to be hauled a long distance on a 

 wagon. The saving in the carpenter's bill is very large, because so much 

 of the work may be done by persons less skillful than a well-bred caq>entcr. 

 And then there is a total saving of all that troublesome, dangerous, hard 

 work attendant upon an old-fashioned "raising." 



"We have lately built (that is, we were our own architect) a house and barn, 

 a few miles out of the city of New York, ujion the i)lau wo are ailvocating, 

 and therefore can speak from actual experience of the benefits of the i)lan 

 in an old as well as in a new country. The house, or rather the addition to 

 an old one, is IS by 2i feet, with an attachment eight feet square upon ono 

 side and a piazza six feet wide on the other. It is one story of 10} feet, and 

 has nine windows and seven doors. Both floors arc deadeneil by a course 

 of boards and heavy coat of clay mortar. The siding is nailed \\]H>n studs 

 3 by 4 inches, and there are two coui-ses of lath and plastering — one half 

 way between the sitling aiul inside lath. The roof projects, and is orna- 

 xuented, and the garret is lathed aiul plastered, and tho lower part divided 



