REMODELLING OLD BUILDINGS 35 



ing be set low, so that the sills are constantly wet, it 

 might be economy to raise the whole building to a foun- 

 dation a foot or two higher and put in windows, so that 

 the inside sills and floor timbers may be kept dry, under 

 which condition they will not decay any more rapidly 

 than other parts of the frame. 



Roofs and Gutters. 



Next after the foundation and sills the roofs should 

 have attention; in fact, no part of a building will last 

 long under a leaky roof. If the leaky condition is due to 

 decayed shingles they should be replaced by new or 

 some of the asphalt roofing materials, many of which 

 if carefully laid, the joints well cemented, and after- 

 wards given a coat of asphalt every two or three years, 

 will last a long time. Good clear butts spruce shingles 

 are perhaps cheaper in the end than these roofing ma- 

 terials, but the first cost is more and more skilled laborers 

 are needed to put them on. Roof gutters and spaces 

 about chimneys should have careful attention and tin, 

 lead, or asphalt roofing, well cemented, be laid so wide, 

 that the water will not set back and run through to the 

 rooms below. To prevent water from setting back 

 from the eaves during severe cold weather in winter, 

 two or three thicknesses of ordinary building paper 

 should be laid under the shingles, or other roofing ma- 

 terial. Where warmth in the rooms immediately under 

 the roof is desired, building paper should first be laid. 

 Many poultry -houses are built with side walls well 

 lined with paper and then shingled, while the roof (the 

 most exposed part) is shingled upon only open jointed 

 boards, the cold dropping quickly to the floor, and no 

 amount of side covering will make them warm. 



