CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT 



THICKNESS OF WALLS AND INTERNAL 



PARTITIONS 



IN small houses, where economy must be studied, it is not 

 advisable to indulge in a thick wall in brickwork, for its 

 advantages will hardly be justified by its cost, and the money 

 so spent would probably be more wisely devoted to an increase 



of the floor space. In such cases a nine-inch brick wall covered 



with cement rough cast and strengthened where required with buttresses, will 

 answer all practical purposes. 



In stone districts, however, the thin wall is no longer an economic gain, 

 and the exterior walls may be made two feet thick. 



This has many artistic as well as practical advantages, giving deep jambs 

 to windows and recesses, enabling one to get a broad window-sill or seat 

 without projecting into the room, and giving the whole interior an effect of 

 solidity and comfort. To enter such a house is to feel really indoors, 

 sheltered and protected from external conditions. Practically, also, the thick 

 wall helps to maintain in the house an even temperature uninfluenced by 

 external heat and cold. In winter it is easily warmed, and in summer it 

 remains cool. But these conditions do not apply to the average modern 

 house, where the builder, having built a thick wall to retain the heat, makes 

 a large window to let it out, and to reap the advantage of the thick wall the 

 window openings must be small. 



Another advantage of the thick wall is that, with a high-pitched roof 

 especially, it enables one in many cases to get a lower eaves line with the 

 same inside height. 



Internal walls should vary in thickness according to their position and 

 structural requirements. The kitchen premises should be divided from the 

 rest of the house by a solid wall, and this may be made more impervious to 

 sound by the introduction of cupboards. 



Between the family rooms generally, except those which require isolation, 

 it will be noted that the principles advocated involve the breaking away of 

 the usual partitions, and much of the beauty and interest of the house will 

 depend on the extent to which this principle is judiciously applied. If, for 

 instance, one imagines the corridor in the house called " Springcot," flanked 

 with ordinary partitions, much of its character would disappear, and very much 

 of its effect here depends on the suggestion conveyed by the glazed screen tc 

 the dining-room of something beyond half-concealed and half-revealed, and 

 such effects as may be legitimately obtained by such means are very helpful ir 

 obtaining a successful interior. As in all Art this suggestive quality is mon. 

 potent in its charm than a complete revelation. In old buildings the wood 

 and plaster partitions were often constructed to display the framing, as in half 

 timber work, and this displayed use of construction may be effectively used in 

 the house. The practical objection to it is that the vibration caused by the 

 doors is apt to shake the key of the plaster filling ; and so in modern work 

 K 73 



