144 



The Farmstead 



2x4, 2x5 or 2x6, and the length desired. The 

 2x4 studdmg are too light for an ample two- 

 story house, and they 

 i do not give enough 

 thickness of wall for 



Fig. 55. Bridging the joists. 



the most desirable 

 window and door- 

 jambs. The doors are 

 not held firmly in 

 place, and when they are closed quickly by the 

 wind or by children, the plastering is injured. 

 Studding 5 inches broad, fortified by outside 

 diagonal boarding (Fig. 56), gives the ideal 

 conditions unless the house is unusually large, 

 in which case the studding should be 6 inches 

 broad. The diagonal boarding costs a trifle 

 more in material and labor than the horizontal, 

 but it is so much superior that the extra ex- 

 pense may well be incurred. Every board forms 

 a double brace, one where nailed to the stud- 

 ding and one where the siding or " clap boards " 

 are nailed to the rough boards and the studs. 

 Nothing has yet been discovered which is so 

 satisfactory, and which gives such strength and 

 protection to the frame as does this preliminary 

 diagonal boarding, covered with paper. When 

 completed it forms a wall open enough to pre- 

 vent dry rot and tight enough to prevent the 

 entrance of wind. 



