CHAPTER X 



INSIDE FINISH, KEATING, AND VENTILATION 



As a rule, houses are built too quickly. 

 The frame timbers are only partly seasoned 

 when placed; the rains which fall before the 

 house is roofed-in and the dampness caused by 

 plastering all conspire to swell and make damp 

 all portions of the wooden parts of the struc- 

 ture. Formerly, the casings of doors and 

 windows and the floors were placed before the 

 rooms were plastered ; the better practice of 

 plastering on "grounds"* and placing the wood- 

 work after the mortar is dry is now observed 

 by the builders of all good houses. In most 

 cases even these improved methods of con- 

 struction do not result in securing what is 

 wanted — tight floors and doors and casings 

 which will not shrink and warp out of shape. 

 Nearly all of this trouble may be traced to 

 two principal causes : the lumber which con- 

 stitutes the inside finish may not be thoroughly 

 seasoned, or the house may be so damp that the 



*Narrow strips of sufficient thickness to receive the lath and plaster, 

 placed on the frame and other places Tvhere needed. 



(181) 



