April, 1909 
and sanitary bath fixtures. The 
size and shape of the bathroom, 
the relative position of the fix- 
tures, and the run of their 
pipes, should be considered be- 
fore you plan your house or 
before you install its plumbing 
fixtures. Of course, nothing is 
nicer than to tile the floors and 
walls up above splashing 
height, finishing the top and 
angles with sanitary molded 
caps and bases, easy to keep 
clean. A vitrified tile is more 
serviceable for the floor, as you 
do not slip on it when your feet 
are wet, while the glazed white 
tile looks better on the wall. 
But tiling is expensive, not only 
in itself, but because floors and 
walls must be specially pre- 
pared with concrete and wire 
lath to properly take and hold 
the tile. Tiling the floors and 
walls of the average sized 
bathroom up to a height of five 
feet will cost you about one 
hundred and_ sixty dollars. 
You can, however, obtain a 
very clean and waterproof sur- 
facing to walls and floors at a 
considerable less cost. There are many different makes of 
patent flooring consisting of wood pulp, cement, etc., such as 
Lignolith, Asbestolith, Taylorite, ete. They can be spread 
directly on the old or new wooden under-floorings; they last 
well and you can turn a hose on them as easily as on tile. 
You can have them finished in all colors. Run them also up 
a foot on the sides of the walls as a base around the room, 
rounding the angles, and then plaster the lower five feet of 
walls with a hard cement. The mason can line it off neatly 
with his trowel in six inch squares and finish it with a round 
molding for a cap. Five coats of white paint, the last two 
being enamel, will 
give a very close 
imitation of the tile 
and a very wasb- 
able and serviceable 
surface. Sheathing 
the walls with wood 
and varnishing it is 
an alternative, but 
not as advisable, for 
waterbugs will 
lodge in the wood, 
despite every pre- 
caution. 
A good shape to 
make a bathroom is 
eight feet by nine 
feet. The illustra- 
tion gives an ideal 
arrangement. It 
shows the bathroom 
having more than 
room for the three 
fixtures closely hud- 
dled together; it has 
also a convenient 
space for a chair. 
Nothing gives more 
4 GATH WASTE 
ZOOL BRANCH 
2VENT 
FANTRY SINK 
AMERICAN HOMES AND 
SOIL FIPE EXTENDED ABOVE FO0F > 
VENT RETURNED INTO SOIL 
ABOVE HIGHEST FIXTURE > 
BRASS SCREW CLEANOUT~1Sa 
SECTION SHOWING PROPER PLUMBING, 
A model kitchen well equipped with heating apparatus 
GARDENS 137 
comfort; you need it, to 
throw towels and clothes on. 
It further shows the lavatory 
and water-closet located against 
the outer walls, where the soil 
pipe connections are direct and 
short. You are able freely to 
get at the window, and the 
radiator underneath it, without 
having to lean way across a 
fixture; you are able to clean 
and dust around all the fix- 
tures. Your lavatory is placed 
where you get the best light on 
the mirror above it, and you can 
brush your hair or shave in the 
most convenient manner. The 
narrowest you can make a bath- 
room is five feet six inches. The 
shortest length the three fixtures 
can well be set in, side by side, 
is nine feet six inches. The tub 
TH is generally about two feet two 
I me inches broad by five feet long; 
i washbasins about two feet six 
inches long and twenty inches 
broad, while the water-closet is 
about sixteen inches broad and 
twenty inches deep. One must 
not, however, forget that the 
pipe and fittings which come 
underneath, around and behind all, take room. If the house 
builder is in doubt whether or not a fixture will go into an 
alloted space, it is wisest to ask the plumber for the ‘‘over- 
all’”” measurements. Placing a shower with a duck curtain 
around it—which neither rots nor smells like the rubber cur- 
tains—over the tub, is a great luxury in the summer, as well 
as a great time saver where several boys want to wash in a 
hurry after their exercise, and have not the time to wait for 
the successive filling and emptying of the tub. Of course, 
placing the shower in a compartment by itself is ideal, but it 
is costly. Placing the water-closet in such a manner that 
although its piping 
is directly connected 
with the bathroom, 
and it may be used 
together with it, it 
still is in an in- 
dependent compart- 
ment, and may be 
independently se r- 
viceable, even when 
the bathroom is in 
use, is also of value. 
The _ bathroom 
fixtures vary much 
in size, material, 
shape and cost. A 
five foot tub is the 
size most exten- 
sively used. The 
material for both 
tub and the lavatory 
should be porcelain 
enameled iron. The 
water-closet bow] 
should always be 
porcelain. In gen- 
eral these fixtures 
should have as 
