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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 1908 



A Garage Set Against a Hillside 



A Spacious Garage of Quiet Design 



The Simplest Design May Have Real Interest of Its Own 



ness of wall required and binding the wall 

 together where openings for doors and win- 

 dows are left, as well as preventing the 

 occurrence of shrinkage cracks. Or the 

 wall may be built of rough stone backed 

 with concrete to make it weather proof and 

 to give a smooth surface on the interior. 

 Concrete blocks also make an excellent 

 wall, especially if they are of any of the 

 standard hollow forms. 



A construction which has found favor in 

 factory work and which gives an admirable 

 building, especially for a more or less tem- 

 porary construction, is illustrated in an 

 accompanying sketch (C). In this case the 

 building was roughly framed of wooden 

 joists and metal lath nailed to the exterior. 

 The exterior metal lath is plastered on both 

 sides, as shown, with Portland cement mor. 

 tar of the usual consistency, after which 

 the interior metal lath is nailed up and 

 plastered on the inside. This gives a very 

 substantial and dignified appearance if the 

 work is well done, but has the disadvantage 

 of requiring high-priced special labor, and 

 can not be expected to wear well near salt 

 water, where changes in barometric pres- 

 sure will inject salt air into hollow spaces, 

 with the resultant rusting of the metal lath. 



The various methods outlined above will 

 each have its desirable and economical 

 forms, according to the special local con- 

 ditions and problems. In some cases very 

 satisfactory walls may be built, as eco- 

 nomically as any of the above, of rough 

 brick, laid to leave an air space in the 

 center of the walls, and plastered both 

 inside and out with Portland cement 

 mortar. (Sketch A.) 



In cement block construction, blocks may 

 be made with rough faces to be finally 

 plastered, thus giving a smooth wall with- 

 out joints. Or, if the joints are to show, 

 probably nothing is superior to the plain 

 face, accepting frankly its concrete block 

 construction. In any case, concrete, which 

 naturally has a bluish-gray cast with the 

 use of any standard Portland cements, may 

 be finished with a wash or spatter of any 

 tint. 



Needless to say, the various problems of 

 placing door frames and window frames 

 will differ with the several forms of con- 

 struction, as also the various provisions for 

 making a joint between the frame and the 

 wall water and weather-tight. In the use 

 of reinforced concrete, plank frames with 

 three-inch lag screws placed about eighteen 

 inches apart may be cast directly into the 

 concrete, as the walls rise, as shown in 

 the accompanying sketch (B), making a 

 weather-tight job for all time. With the 

 other less substantial constructions the 

 problem of making a lasting weather-tight 

 joint between the frame and the wall in- 

 creases in difficulty. 



Walls of reinforced concrete, which need 

 not be as massive as masonry walls, have 

 been found to be absolutely water-tight 

 and, although solid, they do not sweat. 



