May, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XIX 



WHO IS YOUR BUILDER? 



" F TE IS a rogue, watch him!" "No, he's 

 I I all right, trust him." "Look out for 

 the extras, he'll soak you!" "He's 

 one of the squarest men I ever met." 



Opinions of the average building contractor 

 vary widely — perhaps more widely than of 

 men in other occupations. To a layman his 

 methods are a mystery. A layman can not 

 see how estimates involving the entire cost 

 of a building are made, or how there may be 

 any sort of system in the business. Some- 

 times he swings to the extreme of not seeing 

 how any work at all is necessary in the office 

 from the time of signing the contract until 

 the final bill is made up. An engineer in 

 one contractor's office has been asked re- 

 peatedly by his friends: "Just what do you 

 have to do anyway?" 



This article is to deal with the average 

 ,small contractor whom everyone meets at 

 least once — if one builds one ordinary-sized 

 house ; and not with the large firms of million- 

 dollar contractors doing large city work or sky- 

 scrapers or, in rare cases, private work. For 

 many small builders a notable feature is a 

 lack of up-to-date business methods. He 

 often works up from an able, progressive 

 journeyman who knows how to do his work, 

 and who learns all he can about costs, buying 

 and estimates, but who naturally has less op- 

 portunity for acquiring business-like methods 

 and systematizing. This lack is a severe 

 handicap. He often spends his life in the 

 business, respected and honorable in all his 

 dealings, turning out many jobs of excel- 

 lence, but closing up with but little money 

 for his old age. In fact, this is decidedly the 

 rule for small builders, as it is, for varying 

 reasons, in all kinds of business. These state- 

 ments apply equally well to all the various 

 building trades. It is to these men, who as a 

 class are hard workers and have to be, whose 

 methods are not understood and are often 

 thought to be of the hit or miss variety, and 

 who often do not accumulate money enough 

 to have easy credits, that the home builder 

 must look for the execution of his plans. 

 These plans often represent long considered 

 and cherished ideas, involving, perhaps, the one 

 large expenditure of a lifetime. The choice 

 of a builder, then, should be a very serious 

 matter. 



One of the first questions coming to the 

 mind of a man about to build is: "Why do 

 prices vary so?" It is true that for the same 

 section of the country (not to deal with dif- 

 ferences between sections) bids upon a small 

 house, costing, say, between four and ten 

 thousand dollars, may vary twenty-five per 

 cent. Yet in each bid is included the house- 

 complete as called for, and when figured from 

 architect's plans and specifications it might 

 seem that general uniformity of workmanship 

 and material was insured. 



Plans and specifications, however carefully 

 made, are subject to varying interpretations 

 of meaning because of the imperfections of 

 language as a method of communication. This 

 can not be overcome — and an architect's in- 

 sistence upon the grades of material and work- 

 manship he has specified as plainly as possible 

 is often hindered thereby. It is easy for a 

 job to vary largely in quality and cost to the 

 contractor between the best and a grade which 

 to the architect or owner may be clearly en- 

 ough not what they desire, and yet not be so 

 poor that there is any chance for complaint of 

 deficiencies obvious enough to be beyond dis- 

 pute. Disputes of this sort are long, annoying 

 and often fruitless. 



It is worth while recalling just what varia- 

 tions in bids upon a house mean. Two fig- 

 ures twenty-five per cent, apart may each give 

 an owner his money's worth. In this case 



fl 



CREX Sanitary Carpets and Rugs 

 have become so universally known 

 that at the mere mention of CREX 

 you associate healthfulness and clean- 

 liness with the most sanitary and dur- 

 able floor covering 



In thousands of homes where 

 CREX was introduced as the 



Ideal Summer 

 Floor Covering 



it is serving its purpose all the year 

 round. 



You do not tire of CREX — it al- 

 ways appears fresh and restful. The 

 toughness of the grass resists wear and 

 is not injured by sweeping or the use 

 of water. 



Avoid imitations. Look for the 

 CREX Trade Mark. 



For sale by all up-to-date Depart- 

 ment, Furniture and Carpet Stores. 



rC 



Where A Broom 

 Cant Go 



The Bissell Sweeper is the every-day 



ne.essity and convenience of the home. 

 It reaches the dust under couches, beds 

 and other places where it is awkward 

 and distressing to use a corn broom, 

 making an easy task of what is or- 

 dinarily a hardship. The superiority 

 of the 



Bisse/J 



Sweeper is recognized throughout the 

 world, and over nine million homes 

 can testify to its efficiency and labor- 

 saving qualities. It performs its work 

 so easily, quietly and thoroughly as to 

 win the everlasting approval of the 

 user. It has robbed sweeping day of 

 its terror, making the work a pleasant 

 pastime instead of a disagreeable 

 drudgery. 



Bear in mind its great economy in 

 dollars and cents, as it will last longer 

 than fifty corn brooms. 



Buy of your dealer now, send us the 

 purchase slip within 

 one week, and we 

 will send you FREE a 

 good quality Morocco 

 leather card case with 

 no printing on it. 



Prices $2.50 to $6.50. 



Free booklet upon 

 request. 



Address Dept. 125 

 BISSELL CARPET SWEEPER! 



GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 

 (Largest and only ex- 

 clusive carpet sweeper 

 makers in tbe 

 world.) 



clearly the higher price gives the better job. 

 A high figure may give a poor job — yielding a 

 large profit unless wasted by bad manage- 

 ment; or a low figure may give a good job, 

 if a contractor has made a mistake through 

 ignorance or carelessness. Contractors doing 



'\i0i- 



either kind of work, poor or good, may be 

 estimating too low, and after a time may go 

 into bankruptcy. Of course, the extremes of 

 figuring would be the good contractor making 

 a good profit and the poor contractor figuring 

 too low, and the variation between these two 



STUDY ARCHITECTURE 



EASY LESSONS 



OR STEPPING-STONE TO 



ARCHITECTURE 



BY THOMAS MITCHELL 



A SIMPLE TEXT-BOOK telling in a 

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 illustrated by 150 engravings, amongst 

 which are illustrations of various historic 

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PRICE, FIFTY CENTS, POSTPAID 



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Written & Illu strated by E. S. Child, Architect 



They show large, correctly drawn perspec- 

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If you are at all interested in the subject, 

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