Plumbing and Drainage 

 Problems of the Bungalow 



By John A. Gade 



12 



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HE selection of the best location and site is, 

 in the case of a bungalow, of even greater 

 importance than in that of the ordinary 

 country house. Conveniences are fewer 

 and distances from assistance or supplies 

 generally greater. The governing factor in 

 constructing a bungalow is economy; in liv- 

 ing in it, that such a practical necessity as the plumbing does 

 not "go wrong." 



If possible the bungalow should be placed near a stream 

 or within easy reach of it. A good spring will in all prob- 

 ability be found near at hand, and nature supplies you 

 with water free and plenty. Locate the building on sandy 

 soil on account of better natural drainage. If you place 

 it on rock, as you are tempted to by the natural solidity 

 of the foundations, stagnant water is very liable to lodge 

 in pools under the house. 



You are unable to telephone to 

 the plumber from your bungalow, 

 or to procure any skilled assist- 

 ance, and the careful consideration 

 of the original expenditure on the 

 plumbing, as well as a personal 

 comprehension of it, are well 

 worth while. 



The plumbing and drainage 

 ought to cost about one-quarter of 

 your total outlay. Most bunga- 

 lows have no bathroom fixtures at 

 all; the old-fashioned outhouse is 

 used as a closet, the river or pond 

 is bathed in and the water piped 

 to the kitchen. One bathroom, 

 however, is of tremendous com- 

 fort to the establishment. Even 

 the installation of merely a cold- 

 water shower makes a world of 

 difference. It can be put in for 

 about twenty-five dollars. This 

 will consist of piping, valve, 

 shower-head, lead, or, better, ce- 

 ment tray, and the drain pipe to 

 the outside of the house. As 

 nothing but comparatively clean 

 water comes out of it, no special 

 sewage disposal system is neces- 

 sary in connection with it. Such 

 a shower, in connection with an 

 earth closet (Fig. i ) in a separate 

 little old-fashioned outhouse, is 

 the best "cheap" combination for 

 a small camp. Installing, how- 

 ever, a single bathroom in connec- 



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Fig. 1 



tion with the necessary kitchen fixtures is the most usually 

 considered problem. A tub, a basin and a watercloset, with 

 the necessary drainage connection, not including any sewage 

 disposal system, will cost about two hundred dollars. In se- 

 lecting the fixtures the layman is naturally confused. Both 

 the small local plumber and the larger manufacturer or his 

 agent produce catalogues with hundreds of fixtures of dif- 

 ferent types. Select a tub four feet six inches or five feet 

 long, standing sufficiently high to enable cleaning and dust- 

 ing under it, and a lavatory about thirty inches wide. 

 Enameled iron is the best ware for the purpose in question. 

 It is less expensive than porcelain-lined fixtures and easier to 

 transport without breakage than the ordinary marble slab of 

 the washbasin. The feet of the basin should also be enameled, 

 so as neither to collect rust nor to need polishing. You can 

 not afford a douch or rubber curtain, for they cost, if well 



made and durable, about ten dol- 

 lars. Placing your shower as 

 shown on Fig 2 obviates this, for 

 the water will practically only 

 splash against the walls and floor 

 of the shower compartment. 



Place the bowl of the water- 

 closet upon a piece of slate or 

 marble. Do not place it directly 

 upon the wooden floor, for this 

 shrinks, breaks the joint, and the 

 fixture commences to leak. 



In the kitchen there will, of 

 course, be a range, a boiler, a 

 sink, and probably also a couple 

 of laundry tubs. The range 

 should, for protection against fire, 

 be set on a cement hearth, and be 

 of the "portable" type, procured 

 in the cities for twenty-five dollars. 

 The hot-water boiler can either 

 be of galvanized iron or copper. 

 Copper is preferable, because in 

 the case of a camp the boiler is 

 very liable to be left empty for 

 months, and the galvanized iron 

 boiler will become rusty when not 

 constantly used, and thus render 

 the water unfit for laundry pur- 

 poses. A forty gallon boiler is 

 sufficient for a bungalow having a 

 single bathroom. The galvanized 

 iron one of this size costs about 

 sixteen or eighteen dollars, the 

 copper one about thirty-two dol- 

 lars. Purchase, a plain galvanized 

 iron sink about eighteen by thirty- 



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