HOUSE AND GARDEN 
13 
January, 1911 
With the exception of the soil pipe, the 
plumbing and heating pipes and the 
wires may be run in the vertical chan¬ 
nels formed in the tile 
An English scheme for embellishing the surf ace of a stucco wall is to cover it with a net¬ 
work of wires on small iron posts, not unlike heavy iron nails, on which the vines are 
trained 
ject of this exterior treatment is a 
large one in itself and one that has 
been taken up in this magazine some 
months ago, so that it is perhaps un¬ 
necessary to go very deeply into the matter here. It might be 
mentioned, however, that the hollow terra cotta blocks are 
grooved so as to give a “key” for the stucco which, of course, 
is applied directly to the terra cotta surface. Usually the stucco 
work is put on in two coats, and it is well to remember that the 
tile should be thoroughly wet before applying the first coat. This 
latter will be at least one-half inch thick outside of the tile sur¬ 
face, and will consist of one part Portland cement, three parts 
of sand, with a “guaging” of not more than 10 per cent, of 
lime putty. This first coat should be applied under pressure to 
give it a good grip on the tile, and it should be well scratched 
before it sets. The finish coat will be one-quarter inch thick, and, 
for a plain cement finish, will consist of one part cement and 
two parts sand. It is possible, of course, to vary this finish coat 
both in color and in surface texture, but this is beyond the scope 
of the present article. 
The question is frequently asked: “What sort of foundation 
is necessary for this tile 
construction?” It is pos¬ 
sible to use a foundation of 
any material that will serve 
for the ordinary frame or 
brick building. The choice 
of a foundation material 
depends usually on what 
material is most readily 
available in that particular 
locality. It is possible, and 
may be more economical, 
however, to use for the 
foundation these same hol¬ 
low terra cotta blocks in 
the size that is made for 
that purpose — 12 x 12 x 12 
inches. The bonding at the 
corners is secured by start¬ 
ing each course with a 
block six inches wide. 
Above the foundation 
the walls are usually laid 
with 8 x 12 x 12 blocks 
with -the holes running ver- 
Shingles have been used here for the roof, doubled every fourth 
course, but tile or slate are more common in the fireproof type 
Where stucco is used with other materials there is usually too great 
contrast, rather than the restraint manifested here 
The hollow tile wall ready for the 
stucco finish. A facing of brick is 
also used occasionally 
