Real   Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS^ GUIDE.





YoL. XXI.





NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 1878.





No.  515.





Publhhed Weekly by

CIjc %nx[ Estate lietariJ §,ssonattff u.

TERaiS.

0!VE YEAR, in advance.. ..StO.OO.

Coinmunications should bo addres.sed to

V.   %V.   SAVEET,

Nos. 345 AND :i47 Broaowav.





ECONOMICS OF BUILDING.
IL

I'KODUCTS.

Ill the language of science, the operation of
building may be termed an integration of infin¬
itesimals. To the minds of the majority of our
citizens it no doubt presents itself us the Avork of
evoking or«ler out of chaos; a.s a dirty and labo¬
rious occupation concerned iirincipally with bricks
and mortiir und timber. As fascinating as the
work of th© artisan always is to the ctusual ob¬
server, there is probably less clear and definite
knowledge in respect to it than in regard to any
other manufacturing or mechanical calling.
Though all citizens have spent their lives in
building structures of some sort, it is possibly a
nij'stery and puzzle to most of them how the
integral pai'ts were ever fashioned and brought
together in such orderly arrangement, \vhile tbe
technology of the building trade "would sound in
their ears like the language of an unknown
tongue.

As in the case of all munufacturei-s and nianu-
factm-ing business, there are in the building busi¬
ness classifications of workmen and varieties of
productions. The orders of merit in both build¬
ers and in their productions might fitly be
delineated by a circle starting at zero ami pas-sing
through the various arc^s to :HiO'-'.

As most of our reiulors are aware, the work of
building con.struction in this city is presided over
by a Building Department, which is supposed to
administer what is known as the Building Law.
As a matter of fact, tliis particular law is ex¬
ceedingly well framed in reganl to iLs-.specitica-
tious of work; and, if competently ;iiul honestlj'
executed, all citizeii-s and all owners might dis¬
miss from their minds any anxiety as to the
merit of building construction. The specitica-
tious of brick work, framing and timbering,
together with all the provisions in regard to
flues are as full, coinplete and circumstantial as
the best architect could dicttite. But, unfortu¬
nately, in this country, the law may be well
framed, and yet its execution ma.v be exceed¬
ingly faulty. AVhether in the inspection of
buildings and whiskey, or of banking and in¬
surance corporations, one rule seems to be ajipli-
cable to all; and that 5vas fitly enunciated by a
prominent distiller, who was heard to my, during
the most flourishing days of tho whiskej' ring,
that the United States goveniment employed an
inspector to watch him at three dollars per day,
and he could afford to pay the same man fifty
dollai-s a day to let liim alone. The execution of
the Building Law iu this city ho-s ii.sually been a
vexation and annoyance to the best and most
careful builders, and a comfortable cloak and
screen to disreputable members of_the profession.





No good builder has anything to fear from the
rigid enforcement of this law; and when its exe¬
cution is thoroughly and impartiallj- undertaken,
architect's specifications will be shorn of one-half
of their detail and volume.

Tlio building business is simply a high order of
medianical manufacture; and tho merit or
demerit of productions lies wholly in the compe¬
tency, conscientiousness and honesty or the re-
vei-se of respective builders. To suit our present
purjioses, we will endeavor to sketch briefly the
outlines of gwid and bad work, confining our
specifiimtions to the class of work which attracts
tho largest share of popular interest.

A b.ad job would be thus described. AVhether a
building bottom is of rock, hard-pan or swamp, is
quit« material. Less danger is likely to result in
the two first cases from neglect or bad workman¬
ship. AA'hatever it may be, little or no care is
tjiken, no unneces,sary labor spent upon the prep¬
aration of the foundation. If base stones are
used, they are simply dumped in line and angled
into place bj- tbe aid of a crowbar. Frequently
the foundation is started without any preliminary
provision of base stones. The blue .stone work is
carried up with small and irregular shaped cob¬
bles, lacking any sufficient bond, and forming, to
all intent and purposes, a lioUow wall, through
the many chinks and crevices of which cold air
penetrates and soil-damp is carried up by capillary
attraction.

Upon such a shaky foundation, %vheu it reaches
the cellar ceiling, the brick wall is started. As
far as the building inspector will permit, soft
bricks are used either for the entire wall or for
the lining, the outside facing being built of hard
brick for the sake of appearance. Perhaps the
front edges of the side walls, as they are presented
to the passerby on the street, have the appearance
of being a tw-elve or sixteen inch wall, when in
fact the actual wall may fall .short four inches of
these measurements. The mortar used in ."jucIi
construction is apt to he so innocent of lime as to
lie easily residvable into its original loam. It is in¬
conceivable how .some brick-work is made to hold
together when we consider the inferior tjuality of
mortar often enii)lo3-ed, and then so sparingly
i used that the interior bricks are piled up loosely
ill u wall wnthout any bedding or .slushing of
joints. Such open jointed walls readilj- convey
sound from one building to another, antl quite as
surely communicate the heat of fire flues to
adjoining woodwork. The timber of bad jobs is
generally scantj' in number and in measiu-ement,
depriving the walls of that steadying weight
which they require for their safe perpendicidarity.
Besides, gi-een and almost rotten timber may be
used, which contributes to the displacement and
uuleveling of flooi-s. The plastering is apt to be
done witli the same inferior qualitj- of mortar,
made up of loam with a slight sprinkling of sand
aud lime. When this is dried, it is possible to rub
it oft' with the hand as dust. The hard finish or
white plaster is quickly applied to cover up de¬
ficiencies, and the adhesiveness of the white plas¬
ter to the brown mortar may be often consid¬
ered a palpable miracle. The brown stone front
may be so insecurely anchored that the ashlar fre¬
quently is moved by the frost out of its place, and





the joints and crevices between the lintels, sills
and architraves are so inade(|uately puttied that
the cold blasts of  winter drive freeh- through
them into the interior of tho hou.se.   The rooling
of such houses is formeil of iininercbantable metal,
so poor as scarcely to outlast a single winter's use,
and the joints of the several plates are so inade¬
quately soldered together that the fii-st drenching
rain jiasses thi-ougli them as through the meshes
of a sieve.    So much for the skeleton of a jioorly
built   housi».      Tbe   quality   of   the   interior   is
quickly   told.    The   cariKMilor   work   is   formed
of green and  unseaspned material, which war^is
and splits   in   .«;eams   when   subjected   to   the
action of climatic changes or jif artificial heat.
The iloors ami   wiiulow- .'sa.'^hcs, after a year of
occupation, wholly refu.-ie to jierform their nat-
m-al  oflices.     The  plumbing  w-ork  is made   up
of .such poor material and  in such an  unskilful
manner that, instead of a convenience, it becomes
a source of great annoj-ance besides being a well-
spring of active disease.   The flooring of the house
becomes unsteady and out of levtd, and, through
the shrinkage and winding of the timbers, the
separate planks wobble uiuler the foot.    To com¬
plete, the catalogue,  the interior   and   exterior
drainage is so inefliciently done tliat the cellar
becomes a veritable slop sink and a nuisance,
filling   the    house   with   disgusting   odoi-s  and
threatening the health nnd life of occupants.  The
gas-fitting attached to beams that are coii.stiintly
shrinking and winding,  liecome.s broken at the
joints and contributes a tlisagreealjle and dan¬
gerous effluvia to the   prevailing orlor.-^   of   the
house.

A building thus careles.sly and i-e(-kle.-^.sly con¬
structed may admit of very general and expen
siv-e repair, but no outlay of money ran possibly
bring it to the standanl of a perlec-t >n' liabit:ible
house. The only t-otiipleti; vciiiedy is to throw it
down, and erect in  its place a prop.':- edifice.

The merits of good Iniildiiig iirc .simply the
anfeithe.se.'^ oC the cotidilions- which wc have jii.st
enumerated. A wise builder studies the nature
of the .'«jil upon which he proposes to build. If
it is a rocky botttiiii, the win do .surface must be
thoroughly drained with artificial stone drains
conducting all i>o.s.sible moisture and danijmess
to the sewer outlet. If a niarshj- soil, similar
provision must be made for leading olf surface
water, ami abundant precaution must be taken in
preparing for the found.-ition.s. Either piles must
be driven, or a bed of com-rcte laid, or lioth
devices use<l to form a firm footing for the ba.se
stones. Even if the soil is natural clay, trenches
of proper depth will be dug to receive the base
stones, and these will lie carefullj- imbedded in
their places and surrounded with .strong grout¬
ing, all interstices being w-ell filled with cement,
so as to afford a perfectly solid b.ase course on
which to commence the erection of the fomida-
tion. Tlie foundation wall, whether built of blue
stone or brick, will be of adequate thickness and
laid up solid. In case blue stone i.s useil. none but
.squaieand well-dressed blocks of granite will be
introduced, and these will be so thoroughly im¬
bedded and slushed with the best cement Us to
make a perfectly compact and reliable wall.
The brick work will be constructed of the Isest