AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
April, 1909 
Plumbing for a Small Country House 
By John A. Gade 
zx HERE is no more vital feature in the con- 
SD struction of a country house than its plumb- 
Al ing. No defects afford such discomfort as 
‘32 improper drainage, water supply and fix- 
tures. 
The principal features which the builder 
should strive to obtain are: A sufficient sup- 
ply of hot and cold water at all times and at all points, for 
cleaning as well as for flushing purposes; economical connec- 
tions; a piping system properly graded, connected and venti- 
lated; pipes of correct dimensions, run straight, with few, 
and no unnecessary bends, and provided wich the best turns 
and offsets and cleanouts; fixtures that are open and ac- 
cessible and of good materials. 
At some point outside the foundations of the house the 
sewer pipe connects with either the cesspool, the sewage 
disposal plant, or other point where the sewage is disposed 
of. This sewer pipe is generally earthenware and of a size 
dependent on the work to be done. Whether of earthen- 
ware or cast iron, it should be laid below frost. Care should 
be exercised in laying it to grade, this being proportionate 
to flowage and size of pipe. All the joints should be properly 
packed and thoroughly clean inside. The pipe should be 
so laid that it is not supported on its hubs. The house drain, 
or the system of pipes inside the house through which the 
sewage and the water from all the various fixtures are led to 
the sewer pipe outside, is naturally located at some point 
(generally below the lowest fixture) in the basement or 
cellar. It had best be made of cast iron, of the grade called 
“extra heavy,” and about four inches in diameter. This 
will make it sufficiently large to drain off properly the great- 
est quantity of water it may have to take care of, and still 
not so large that it is not self-cleaning. Before penetrating 
the house wall the drain pipe should pass through a drain 
trap or vent pipe fitting, which hinders the passage of foul 
air. Back of this point, inside the house, a pipe should be 
run vertically up through the walls and floors of the house 
to the fresh air above the roof, affording fresh air ventila- 
tion to the drain pipe. In running the drain pipe it should 
further be properly 
graded, about one- 
quarter inch to the 
foot, and be care- 
fully supported — 
best, if not neces- 
sary to lay it as low 
as the cellar floor or 
below this, hung 
from the various 
floor beams by gal- 
vanized iron hang- 
ers underneath the 
joists. 
The soil pipes are 
the only other large 
pipes in the house. 
They run from the 
most convenient 
point of juncture 
with the drain pipe 
up through the 
building to wher- 
ever there are plumbing fixtures. As they are pipes exactly 
similar to the drain pipe, they are large and unwieldy. 
They must be dealt with in the very laying out of the build- 
ing. If the fixtures are not so located that the soil pipes may 
be run parallel with and between the beams, the principal 
strength of the beams will have to be cut away for the run 
of the pipe. If possible, do not locate them in chases in the 
outer walls. ‘The soil pipe, like the drain pipe, should have 
fresh air. In the case of the soil pipe, it should be extended 
from the highest point at which it may take care of sewage, 
up above the roof, and its top protected by a wire screen. 
Not only should the drain and sewer pipes be ventilated, 
but every pipe from every fixture in the house should, at a 
point above every fixture, be connected by a pipe with a 
vertical ventilating pipe, bringing fresh air to every fixture. 
These ventilating pipes should be two inches where carried 
to water closets; one and one-half inches where carried to 
sinks, tubs or lavatories. 
In running the sewer and drain pipes, the house builder 
should see that cleanouts are left in accessible positions, , 
that proper pipes are employed wherever a horizontal pipe 
is run into a vertical one, that the openings about the pipes 
through the floors, ceilings and walls are tightly sealed or 
packed, and that the ends of the ventilating pipes come far 
away from dormer windows and in the least conspicuous 
places. 
The pipes carrying the water from the various fixtures 
to the drain pipes should be four inches from the water 
closets, while from the other fixtures two inches is sufficient. 
The pipes providing the house with water are the last. 
They should be made of galvanized iron and of different 
sizes. The connection which is made to the water main 
outside the house should be laid below frost and is generally 
one and one-quarter inches or one and one-half inches in 
diameter. This should be extended horizontally through 
the basement or cellar, as well as vertically up through the 
house in such courses as to give ready connections to all 
points of supply. The best sizes for the pipes or branches 
are, for those supplying bathrooms, laundry tubs, kitchen 
sink and_ outside 
An economical kitchen and laundry combined 
sillcocks, three- 
quarters of an inch 
in diameter; while 
a one-half inch pipe 
is sufficient for the 
housemaid’s sink, 
and one and one- 
quarter inch pipes 
necessary for the 
supply to stthte 
kitchen boiler. 
From the boiler the 
hot water main is 
carried up of the 
same size as the 
cold water main, 
and with various 
branches of  simi- 
larly corresponding 
Sizes. 
It is not expen- 
sive to install good 
