The Use of Portland Cement for 
Modern Dwellings 
By SEYMOUR COATES 
P ORTLAND cement, when properly mixed and 
intelligently used, forms one of the most 
valuable and lasting of building materials. 
The enduring and other desirable qualities in con¬ 
crete and stucco have been recognized for a great 
many years, but only within the last decade has it 
been considered of a sufficiently mobile nature to 
employ to any considerable extent in domestic archi¬ 
tectural work. In recent years, however, great 
strides have been made in this direction, and to-day 
a monolithic residence, practically fire-proof, is no 
great rarity. In this form of house, the moulds are 
set up, filled with concrete, rammed and allowed to 
set. When this is accomplished the forms are raised 
and the process repeated until the highest point of the 
structure has been reached. Air spaces are provided 
in various ways which prevent the moisture absorbed 
on the outside from being carried through to the 
inner surface and making the house damp. These 
air spaces also insure the more equable temperature 
of the house at all seasons. In localities subject to 
earthquakes, iron or steel rods or heavy wire is 
embedded at intervals horizontally as well as perpen¬ 
dicularly in the concrete to make the structure less 
liable to crack in the peculiar racking movement of 
an earthquake. Buildings of this character with¬ 
stand such disturbances with less damage than almost 
any other form of construction. This method is in 
many places so expensive as to almost seem to be 
prohibitive, but the results fully warrant the cost. 
With reasonable care such a building is of unlimited 
life and, instead of deteriorating, actually improves 
with age. To verify this, one has but to look at the 
many examples of early Roman work which to-day are 
in a perfect state of preservation, after nearly two 
thousand years’ exposure to the elements. These 
works were executed with a very crude mixture of 
materials, but the efficiency cannot be doubted. 
The careful tests and analyses which are continually 
being made in the laboratories of the industrial world, 
enable the manufacturers of Portland cement to 
maintain to-day a uniform quality of product and to 
know that each barrel will, if properly mixed and 
handled, produce the same results. Certainly a great 
advantage over the ancient methods. 
A more common method of employing cement is 
in the form of stucco. I lus may be applied to a 
structure built of stone or brick or one having a 
THE HOUSE OF W. C. BAKER, ESQ., PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. SPATTER-DASH STUCCO ON METAL LATH 
