20 Capital Journal Building Section, Friday, March 10. 1950
A FOLDING LADDER
Summer cottages and small
homes frequently have no stair
way to an attic, which may of
fer excellent storage space, and
often there is no space in which
to build stairs. A folding ladder
may solve the problem.
The steps of this ladder are
hinged to the upright pieces.
One upright can be fastened to
the wall under the attic trap
door. Hinges on the ends of the
rungs nearest the wall are at
tached to the tops of the rungs;
on the side away from the wall
they are fastened to the bot
tom of the rungs.
This ladder will fold neatly
against the wall, projecting only
a few inches when not in use.
A hook will hold the ladder in
its folded position.
GRIPPING TINY SCREWS
Small screws often are diffi
cult to start because they are too
tiny to grip with the fingers. An
PIECE OF PAPER
Screw feSv.
easy way is to stick the screws
through a stiff piece of paper.
Tap the screw lightly with a
hammer, twist it farther with a
screw driver, and when it
nearly firm, tear off the paper
and tighten the screw.
A woman's bobby pin often
can be used the same way for
starting brads too small to hold
with fingers.
FRENCH POLISH
French polish is one of the
most beautiful and lasting of all
finishes for furniture. It has
been used for generations and
can be seen on period furniture
and old grand pianos.
To obtain this polish, the sur
face should be prepared with
extreme care and stained only
with water stain, which must be
allowed to dry thoroughly.
Then pure white shellac should
be thinned to approximately a
one-pound cut. The Shellac In
formation Bureau recommends
that this be done by adding
about 2H quarts of denatured
alcohol to one quart of 4 lb. cut
shellac.
Apply this with a soft lintless
cloth, rolled into a ball, dipped
Into the shallac and rubbed on
the wood in rapid straight strok
es under light pressure.
As soon as the finish is dry,
the wood is sanded again and
the process is repeated. The sur
face can be sprinkled with very
fine pumice before sanding.
Many coats are applied in this
manner, and each one is sanded
smooth, until a light glow be
gins to appear.
After the first few coats, a
faint sheen often develops.
When this occurs add several
drops of boiled linseed oil or
pure olive oil to the shellac and
apply with a rotary motion.
More oil is added by degrees
with subsequent coats.
The result is a superb finish
that will last for generations.
Hints Given for Cutting
Home Buildina Cost With
No Scarcity of Quality
There are many ways of cutting costs without cutting corners
when building a modern home. They can give you more house
for less money. Better still they can give you a better, larger
home for the same money.
It isn't a matter of skimping, but a matter of thinking.
The man who attempts to build cheaper by making all rooms
smaller and by cutting down on quality of materials can only
expect to have a skimpy, uncomfortable and anti-social house-
a house that can lead to family quarrels and perhaps the verge
of bankruptcy through repair bills.
But prudence in simplifying sound construction and in elim
inating useless details can add to the beauty, convenience and
efficiency of a house.
Jule Robert Von Sternberg, architect specializing in small
house design, points out that waste motion is one of the costliest
phases of home building.
With care in planning and in choice of materials," he says,
"much waste motion on the job can be saved. The time re
quired to trim a door to fit, to hang a door, to finish the average
closet, to cut a piece of wallboard, to saw an inch or so off half
a hundred boards, to make the countless small operations involved
in lathing, plastering, trimming and flooring, is all time that
costs dearly."
On the other hand, time spent in planning the avoidance of
such chores will pay real dividends. And von Sternberg cites
other investment opportunities for planning.
The cost of roughing in plumbing for a small house can be
cut in half," he says, "if bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and hot
water heating plant are centralized. Much economy in plumbing
can be achieved merely by planning kitchen and bathroom back
to back.
Planning the layout of a house holds the key to many savings
"If a house is kept simple in outline," the architect advises.
with few breaks to interfere with the flow of walls and wall
materials, it will be cheaper to build than one with many wings
and ells. Every house aooendage is an extravagance. That means
bay windows, dormers, cupolas, dovecotes and all the emoeuisn
ments that involve money that might better be put into larger
rooms or more rooms.
Stairs that bend, wind or change direction with a landing
cost more than a straight flight. Windows bunched in twos and
threes not only look better, but cost less."
Here are 17 ways to keep costs down in building a home
1. Simple perimeter Keep plan and elevations as free of breaks
as possible. The nearly square rectangular plan is cheapest.
2. No roof hips or valleys. Every change in a root line aaas
extra cutting, fitting, roofing, flashing. A simple gable roof is
cheapest. Make it steep enough to avoid the need for expensive
underlays of felt or built-up membranes also steep enough to
utilize the attic for extra bedrooms.
3. No sheet metal. Eliminating leaders and gutters is possible
with the wide projecting eaves. Although a wide roof overhang
is not cheap, it will help to shade and shelter windows and side
walls. keeD the house cooler in summer.
4. No basement Elimination of basement frequently saves
considerable. Compensating storage can be provided in attic,
garage, or first floor store rooms.
5. Roof trusses. Trussed rafter construction, spanning outer
walls permits the finishing of the entire interior without waiting
for partitions and framing. According to the University oi Il
linois, the use of trusses alone may save more than 5 per cent
6. Pre-cut lumber. The use of one-length studs (7 ) pre-
cut in the yard allows for the use of standard 4 by 8-foot wall
board panels without cutting.
7. Dry wall construction. Standard 4 by 8-foot panels for walls
and ceilings save lathing and plastering.
8. Minimum interior walls. Open planning of rooms, dwan par
titions (walls that don't reach to the ceiling), built-in plywood;
storage compartments combine to save much money.
9. Fewer doors. Every door costs from $o0 to 51UO to miy,
frame, trim. hang, equip with hardware and paint. Use doors
only for bath or bedrooms. Light plywood and jalousies make
ideal closet doors.
10. Interior trim. Use no molded trim. A piece of 1 by 4
inch lumber can make a baseboard and lattice strips can trim
windows and doors.
11. Windows. Stock windows of simple design can be placed
so as to impose the least interference with wallboards.
12. Stairs. Keep them straight for economy. Avoid winders
and landings, elaborate handrails and newels.
13. Back-to-back plumbing. When kitchen and bathroom are
so planned, one plumbing stack serves both. Also plan on the
shortest run to street utilities.
14. Centralized heating. A heating plant near the center of a
house involves shorter ducts and pipes. Remember, an inside
chimney draws better than an outside flue.
15. Prefabricated chimney. Low-cost composition chimneys are
now approved in many localities and are far less expensive than
masonry chimneys.
16. Prefab built-ins. Wardrobes, dressers, chests, china closets,
coat closets, beds, etc., can be built of fir plywood and installed
on the job when other interior finishing is completed.
17. No paint. At least t.void the necessity for expensive paints.
Use stains on natural wnml
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such as asbestos siding and asphalt shingles that require no paint.
Aluminum windows, although requiring no paint, may be more
expensive originally than wood windows painted, but in the
long run aluminum windows will save their extra cost. Keep
long-term economies in mind.
A Practical Painting Tip
AS A HOUSEHOLDER vou can tret manv useful tiDS from
builders when it comes to loing a job yourself.
Contractors, architects, material dealers, craftsmen of all trades
are continually exchanging ideas. Saving time and effort is their
goal.
Their ideas are not trade secrets, but being exchanged through
their trade publications, seldom seen by the dayman, such iob
pointers reach the householder only by roundabout ways.
1 2 3 I
PAINTING DOWNSPOUTS
Sheet metal leaders will last longer if they are painted inside
as well as outside. The problem is how can you paint the inside
of such a pipe. Here's a method described in "Practicol Job
Pointers" by the American Builder.
Tie a metal weight to a piece of stout cord a little more than
twice as long as the downspout. Wad a largi rag into a ball and
fasten it in the center of the cord. From the roof drop the
weighted end of the cord through the downspout.
Then as shown in Figure 1, pull the cord down until the
wadded rag is at the bottom of the spout, forming a plug. A stick
tied across the other end will prevent the cord from falling
From the roof, pour a quart of red lead slowly down the pipe,
as shown in Figure 2. Put an empty bucket under the outlet on
the ground to catch surplus paint.
Then from the roof, as shown in Figure 3, pull the wadded
rag slowly up through the pipe, taking care not to raise the paint
out of the leader.
From the ground, Figure 4, pull the wad down again, and the
inside should be thoroughly painted. The surplus paint can then
be used on the next leader with enough added to suffice.
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Value-minded buyers will be quick to recognize the top.
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built right into this medium-priced lavatory.
Included in the list of Oxford lavatory features are
Crestmont faucets with Dial-ese controls comfort angle
control panel built-in soap disli easy-to-dean vitreous
china handy shelf back distinctive panel design large
rectangular basin. Let us show you how the styling and
quality construction of this Crane lavatory will contribute
to better living in your home.
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N. COMMERCIAL ST.
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