June, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



245 



The problem of the roof next requires 

 our attention. In a garage the living quar- 

 ters may be adjoining the garage or over 

 it. If above, the floor for the living quar- 

 ters should be of reinforced concrete, as 

 fire protection is here most necessary owing 

 to the rapidity with which conflagration 

 would spread in the garage. This floor 

 should be most carefully made in order to 

 prevent any possibility of leakage and 

 thereby damage to the machines below. 



The roof is, first, to keep out the ele- 

 ments, and, second, to be strong in order 

 to provide support for the hoists and tackle 

 used in lifting bodies and other heavy 

 weights in process of repair. It is desir- 

 able, although of course not necessary, to 

 have a roof of unburnable construction. 

 The questions of porosity and inflamma- 

 bility are not as serious in the case of the 

 roof as in the case of the walls and floors 

 of the garage. A wooden frame roof cov- 

 ered with slate, or asbestos shingles, makes 

 a lasting, effective roof. For a very small 

 garage the roof may be nearly flat and 

 built of carefully made reinforced concrete 

 without special water-proofing. If the roof 

 is larger and more complex in character, a 

 concrete roof would need to be water- 

 proofed with the usual elastic felt treat- 

 ment of at least three-ply in order that the 

 inevitable shrinkage cracks might not allow 

 the water to penetrate. 



A wooden roof may be sheathed inside 

 with metal lath and this plastered with 

 Portland cement mortar, thereby making 

 the roof practically unburnable. The roof 

 timbers thus encased in plaster are liable to 

 rot if care is not taken to provide them 

 with ventilation, but this is easily accom- 

 plished during construction. 



A very charming and attractive appear- 

 ance is obtained by using red or green tile 

 roofs. This tile may be laid on the wooden 

 roof frame, or may be secured to a concrete 

 roof either by wires or nails before the con- 

 crete is hard; or the roof may be con- 

 structed of ribs of reinforced stone concrete 

 with a filling of cinder concrete, to which 

 cinder concrete the tiles may be readily 

 nailed. It should be borne in mind that 

 a roof of concrete can not be easily cast if 

 it is steeply pitched, that is, concrete of the 

 usual consistency will run down the incline 

 of a steeply pitched roof, so that the use of 

 concrete lends itself specially to a flat roof. 



In considering an automobile garage 

 there are many appliances and labor-saving 

 devices which will prove, in actual use, very 

 great helps in keeping a machine in good 

 appearance and ready for use at all times. 



It is well to equip the large door through 

 which a machine may be taken out with a 

 standard type of lock, which can be un- 

 locked only by the use of its key, the idea 

 being that at times it may be desirable to 

 prohibit the exit of the automobiles con- 

 tained in the garage, although workmen 

 and attendants have access in the course of 



The Floral Setting Should Not Be Overlooked 



Exterior Walls of Field Stone Are Highly Effective 



Residence of Reinforced Concrete with Garage in Cellar Under the Kitchen 



