RAPID AND ECONOMICAL METHODS OF HOUSE BUILDING. 
All I have so far contributed personally are certain minor improve- 
ments in plant and procedure that I hope may very soon be eclipsed 
by the ingenuity and enterprise of others. 
Meanwhile, however, a few extracts from the specification of my 
Newlands house may prove of service to fellow-pioneers. 
Specification.—The following is an abridged extract from the speci- 
fication so far as it affects the pisé builder :— 
(1) Excavate to a depth of 9 inches over the site, dumping the 
turf and surface humus where directed. ~ 
This soil is not to be used for building. } 
(2) Lay a 6-inch bed of cement and flint concrete 3 feet wide 
under outer walls. Centrally on this lay two courses of brickwork in 
‘ement to a width of 18 inches, or build up to the same extent in 
concrete. 
Lay on this an approved damp-proof course; if of slates, having a 
further course of brickwork or concrete above it to prevent fracture 
when ramming. i : 
(3) Erect the walls according to the plan on the bases thus formed, 
carrying tltem up plumb and ‘true and properly bonded by working 
round the building course by course, using the special-angle pieces at 
the corners to keep the work continuous and homogeneous. 
(4) All stones and flints above a walnut size to be removed by 
yiddling and reserved for concrete. 
All sticks, leaves, roots, and other vegetable matter to be eliminated. 
(5) The soil immediately on the site to be used without admixture 
of any sort and to be thrown. direct into the shutterings. 
No water to be added without the express permission of the 
architect. 
(6) The boxes are to be filled in thin layers of not more than 
4 inches at a time, and well rammed until solid. The workmen are. 
not to use their rammers in unison, - 
(7) Rammed earth at box. ends to be shaved down to. a 45-degree 
slope so as to splice in with new span of pisé adjoining it. 
Where door and window openings occur, the special “stops” to be 
adjusted and firmly secured so as to withstand hard ramming. Two 
4-inch by 2-inch by 9-inch plugs to be built in to each window jamb 
for the securing of the frames and three to each door jamb. © 
Special care to be taken in the thorough ramming at the corners 
and along the box edges. 
(8) Insert below floor level where directed twenty-four 3-inch field 
drainage pipes to act as ventilators through the thickness of the wall. 
Insert wire mesh stops to exclude vermin. 
(9) Set all frames square and plumb, and where in outer walls, 
flush with finished exterior plaster-face, the joint being covered by a 
2-inch by #-inch fillet. 
Where lintels occur, they are to be tailed in at least 9 inches: on 
each side the opening. 
C.5690.—5 241 
