HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January, 
1914 
For Your House—Which? 
JP* r 
Porcelain 
Vitreous 
Enameled Iron 
T 
OO often in planning bath¬ 
rooms, the future owner is 
content with the mere enum¬ 
eration of the fixtures in the 
specifications — and an esti¬ 
mate of cost. 
The technical description 
of these fixtures as “porce¬ 
lain”, “vitreous”, or “enam¬ 
eled iron” is Greek to the 
average house - builder — 
equally unknown is the name 
of the maker. 
And yet experience teaches 
that fixtures bought solely on 
a comparison of first costs are 
apt to be an expensive in¬ 
vestment in the end. 
As we make a complete 
line of plumbing fixtures in 
Imperial Porcelain, Vitreous 
Ware and Enameled Iron, we 
are in a position to give im¬ 
partial advice regarding the 
merits of each, and their 
respective fitness to meet 
varying requirements. 
Much of this information is briefly 
given in our 80-page booklet Mod¬ 
ern Plumbing.” It shows views of 
model bathrooms and kitchen interi¬ 
ors, with full descriptions and prices 
of each of the fixtures used. 
This book should he in the hands 
of every prospective home builder. 
Sent on receipt of 4 cents to cover 
postage. 
THE J. L. MOTT IRON WORKS 
1828 EIGHTY-SIX YEARS OF SUPREMACY 1014 
Fifth Avenue & 17th Street, New York Works at Trenton, N. J. 
BRANCHES: 
Boston Chicago Philadelphia Detroit Denver San Francisco Indianapolis 
Pittsburgh Minneapolis Cleveland Atlanta Washington St. Louis Kansas City 
Seattle Portland (Ore.) Salt Lake City 
CANADA': Mott Company/Limited, 107 Union Trust Building, Winnipeg. 134 Bleury Street, Montreal. 
CILH011ETTE 
° WEATHER 
VANES 
iir 
SILVER LAKE A SrS 
(Name stamped indelibly on every 
foot) 
The man who builds a house without 
yj asking about the sash-cord to 
be used is laying up trouble 
for himself. Insist that the 
specifications mention SILVER 
LAKE A. Its smooth surface 
offers nothing on which the 
pulley can catch. Guaranteed 
for twenty years. 
Write for Free Booklet. 
SILVER LAKE COMPANY 
87 Chauncy St., Boston, Mass. 
Makers of SILVER LAKE solid braided 
clothes lines. 
At 
Don't 
Blame, 
the Window 
Put in 
the Right 
Sash Cord 
FIRST 
out the first floor you have the same effect 
as if each individual room were large. 
This allows the whole floor to be thrown 
together for purposes of entertainment and 
is much more easily kept clean. The small 
house is economy so long as it supplies 
your needs; it is more homelike and cosy, 
more easily cared for and sells more 
readily than a larger structure. The econ¬ 
omy in lighting and heating is also not to 
be overlooked. 
Although the matter of plans has been 
covered elsewhere, it must not be forgot¬ 
ten that the specifications are at least 
equally important and that taken in con¬ 
junction the two form the basis upon 
which the contract for building will be let. 
The plans give the general design and 
size of the house and its parts, but the 
specifications list each item of material 
and of construction, distinctly give its 
grade or quality, and otherwise give the 
details which can, at best, but be indicated 
upon the plans. The plans of your house 
cannot show whether the trim and floors 
are to be of hardwood or of common 
pine, nor whether your plumbing and heat¬ 
ing fixtures are to be of the best quality — 
yet the difference in these two items alone 
may amount to one-half the cost of a small 
house! 
If you employ an architect it is safe to 
count on the specifications which he pro¬ 
vides as being correct and covering the 
main essentials, but if your builder sup¬ 
plies the plans — look out! It is a too com¬ 
mon practice for a builder anxious to 
secure a contract to present plans showing 
an attractive looking house, with many 
of those features which appeal to the 
average home seeker; the specifications 
which accompany them, however, and to 
which the uninformed would pay scant at¬ 
tention, may be so loosely drawn that the 
builder has practically a free hand. In 
a very recent instance plans of this nature 
were presented to a man who had had 
some contracting experience, the builder 
accompanying them with an estimate of 
the cost of the work. The specifications 
were too general, however, and the home- 
seeker re-drew them, calling for approxi¬ 
mately the same grade of material whose 
use was implied in the original draft, but 
carefully detailing each item and bit of 
construction in accordance with good 
building practice. The result was that the 
contractor increased his estimate by nearly 
one-third! 
The inference in this case is that the 
contractor expected to take advantage of 
the loose specifications to just the extent 
of this increase, and that the owner 
would have suffered in a corresponding 
degree. His house would have appeared 
much as the plans led him to expect, but 
the finish and workmanship would always 
have been unsatisfactory—in an extreme 
case the building might even have been 
unsafe. 
As a rough check upon such reach- 
made specifications, consider what a prop¬ 
erly drawn set should show. The first 
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