The Importance of Cement and Its Products in House Building 
The ultimate degree of hard¬ 
ness attained, however, will be 
the same in either case. 
Advantages We haVe > then . tWO ’ ° r 
Of Cement rather three, indispensa- 
Mortar ble q ua liti eS not pos¬ 
sessed by the old-fashioned lime 
mortar. 
First. Cement mortar becomes 
hard within a comparatively short 
time, varying from two or three 
hours to a day, according to the 
brand of cement. 
Second. A degree of hardness not 
attainable with lime mortar except 
after a lapse of years. 
Third. It is unaffected by the 
presence of moisture or even free 
water in any quantity. 
This latter quality makes the use 
of cement mortar imperative for all 
foundation work and no basement 
walls should ever be laid in any 
other kind, as lime mortar, which 
hardens very slowly even under the 
most favorable circumstances, never 
hardens at all so long as it is kept 
moist. 
Economy of For this reason > even in 
Cement the cheaper class of build- 
Mortar ing, ce ment mortar 
should be used from the lowest 
course of the foundations to and 
A CONCRETE HOUSE IN SAN FRANCISCO Cement Age. 
When the planting of the lot is completed much of the bareness of the side wall will disappear. 
The other side of the house is the more important and the photograph should 
have been taken from that point of view 
CLOTHES POSTS, SUITABLE FOR BACK NETS, CLOTHES 
YARDS, ETC. Cement Age 
including the water-table course, up to which 
point the moisture of the soil is apt to rise 
Above that point, even 
by capillary attraction, 
where, for the sake of 
used, it is a further 
to the lime mortar a 
economy lime mortar is 
real economy to add 
small portion of cement, 
about a fourth or a fifth of the volume. Even 
this slight addition effects a radical change in 
the character of the mortar, and the increase 
in setting or hardening capacity, in resistance 
to moisture and in ultimate strength, is greatly in 
excess of the ratio of increased cost, which is slight. 
The Value The va l ue an d importance of good mor- 
of Good tar is usually not understood by house¬ 
owners. Speaking from an active ex¬ 
perience of twenty-five years gained in the erection 
of many kinds of buildings 1 may say that if I were 
offered the choice between building an important 
wall of good mortar and indifferent stone or brick or 
with the best quality of stone or brick and indif¬ 
ferent mortar, I would invariably choose the former. 
The strength and durability of old Roman work is 
mainly due to the excellent quality of their mortar 
237 
