HEARTH AND HOME

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21120, 22 March 1934, Page 5

HEARTH AND HOME

"Builder'' invites contributions from readers on any matters of interest which they might like to propose. Correspondence on various subjects pertaining to building will also be accepted. Answer to Correspondent "Amateur.'' Timaru. asks how to consolidate a cinder path. The best method is to use hot tar. poured thinly over the surlace when it is perfectly dry. Then the top should be sprinkled with course sand ur granite This should berolled in firmly to bind the path together. NOTES An excel ies it polish reviver tor woodwork is camphorated oil. winch should be sparingly applied after the wood has been washed to remove grease and stains. To clean the upholstered part of the furniture, nothing is better—if the upholstery is wool -than a solution ol ammonia made by dissolving lump ammonia in hot water. Uub th'.s well in, frequently renewing the wad. It is surprising how it will revive the colour and give the material a new appearance. If the colour of floor tiles has laded, rtvive it by washing with a strong solution of soda, in which a packet of soap powder has been dissolved. Well scrub the tiles with this, and finish with clear, cold water. If stains or spots exist, a little sulphuric acid mixed with about its own bulk of water may be used. Pour it over the spots and leave it for a time; then wash of! with cold water. The stains will be eaten out by the acid. Use gloves when dealing with sulphuric acid. "When removing to a new house the problem of the stair carpet is often a vexed one. It is seldom t hat the car-j pet will accommodate itself to the new ilight of stairs. If the carpet is in good condition, here is an alterative use for it. Cut: three pieces—two long 'iiid one short—for the sides and foot of a bed. mitre the corners, and secure the ends with binding. '1 he carpet will then lorm three sides of a rectangle, and will be found excellent' for use on linoleum or a polished tloor. I 'A PERH AN( J IN( I GOOD QUALITY MATERIALS j SE(TKIN(« I.ONC 111 E Wallpaper has a life when luiu£ on well prepared walls. Heavy papers and lining papers require that walls be well prepared and the paper well brushed or rolled. Lining paper is j usually followed by a coat of kalso-j mine, and unless the walls have been j washed down and sized, and the paper' well pasted and hard-brushed m hangin':, tluri' is always danger of Ms jilting. We'll hung, U will remain fur years. With thin pulp paper, tile aim of the paperhanger is to get. the paper on the walls as quickly as po.-sible. as j the longer the lengths are allowed to I soak, the softer they become. Not j only do they become too soft to hang, j but the colours start to inn. and | lengths will not stand brushing. Clood ! quality papers require to be allowed I to soak before hanging. In that way; they soften sufficiently to brush down) well, without the colour rubbing or; marking. | A well-pasted length will gu on to; the wall and stay tin re as long as the hanging brush is passed over the surface. If there has been any miss in pasting, there will be a dry sound which in itself is sullicient to betray that miss. l'resenec of Silver-fish Silver-fish have a partiality for eer- ! tain colours in paper. They also have I a habit of eating the ndges of any | pap< r Ihe colours of which are not | objectionable to them The: e pes;.-, have a distinct dislike fur some, colours, and especial];.' lor ordinary ; printed newspaper. Any large surface, covered with a colour or colours in which white has < been toned with yellow, usually proves! satisfactory. Next to creams, a pleas-] ing colour on large areas is grey, The j popular grey of 25 or more years ago was based on white, blue and red. This could be made to incline either towards blue en lavender. Civys made on tin's formula may still serve a useful purpose, but. they are less pleasing or adaptable than a grey based on the same colours, but toned slightly with, a touch of yellow. In all these interior tints one wants to avoid too dark a tone. Mixing Tones In mixing tones it is a long established custom of the decorator to cut out bright colours as stainers, and confine himself largely to ochres, umbers and siennas. This plan may' be described as playing safe, because it was impossible to get crude tones when using these stainers. Nowadays the decorator need not bo so timid. He can safely use pure, strong colours for stainers because, however brilliant a colour may be, it can be broken . and subdued to any extent by adding a little of its opposite or complementary colour. A red. for instance, can be toned with a touch of green, a blue with a touch of orange, and so 011. The decorator is well served by the ; colour manufacturer to-day. * The brilliant colours put up in containers for use either by themselves or as stainers give a remarkably wide range.

The erection of # magnificent ehurcu house in Dean's Yard, Westminster, a.; the central oflicc of the Church of England and of the Anglican Communion throughout the world, is about to be begun. Thus is to be realised a dream of 47 years. It marks a triumph over many difficulties. One by one obstacles have been overcome. The last was surmounted when the Archbishop of Canterbury set the seal of the Corporation of Church House to an agreement with the various ;:uthorilies. whereby Busby Hall. Dean's Yard, is .surrendered by Westminster School in return for another accommodation. When Parliament lias confirmed the agreement, tii.' whole of the south side ot' Dean's Yard will be demolished, and step by step the seven-st orev Church House of the futuie will rise. Tin: main front v»ill be a facade of grey stone in Dean's Yard, with an imposing entrance. Wiihin, the basement and the ground tloor will be occupied by shops and offices, a large public restaurant, and a great public hall, equipped with the line organ of the existing Church Hall.

ADVENTURE . OF IHTLDING j VALUE OF EXPERT ADVICE WHERE THE ARCHITECT CAN GIIDE To build a house is a worthy enterprise for its expresses a spirit of adventure, stales Mr P. Graham in his book. The Adventure of Building. When a man arrives at the determination to build and has .seen to it that he knows how the tinancial side may be handled, only a lucy idea of how to proceed remain.-. It is only those who put themselves and (heir undertaking into the hands of an architect who can be assured that they will Ret through the adventure with joy, and 1 in<i that the money has been well spent and that costs have brought them the greatest experience they have vet encountered. The" architect is the qualified leader for such a venture. He is the one who knows the journey and whose business it is to guide, advise, and direct. Assuming that we have decided to build a house it is useful to consider carefully the reasons for obtaining, at the earliest possible moment, the services of an architect, and the advantages so gained. Sometimes it is thought that a cheaper building may be obtained by leaving the whole matter in the hands of a contractor, and there is possibly the idea that at leust the architect's fees may be saved. This, however, is likely to be a costly mistake, and it is entirely contrary to truth. No house can come into being without drawings and plans. Someone must be paid in some way or other for such work, either in the builder's price or in professional fees: for designs, plans, and details are as essential in house building as they are in engineering. Speculative Methods Every speculative builder's house is, as its name implies, a speculation on the part of its builder; he may or may not be able to sell it at the price he has put upon it. and he is naturally hound to look for a higher rate of profit to cover the risk which he runs of having the house left on his hands for a considerable period. Cost is probably the most important issue. When an architect is commissioned he puts builders in competition, ensuring that each estimates for exactly the

sune structure, by giving each a complete set of drawing. Thus all the contractors who are asked to tender are on tln* same basis. During the process of building the architect walchcs tlio structure for \vh:ch he is responsible with the jealous eye of one who means to make money go as far as possible. If unloreseen dilliculties arise he meets them, knowing how to overcome them in the least expensive way. if the owner desires alterations as the building proceeds, the architect is able to provide for them. It is also to the architect that one may look 1o Arrange for Die innumerable details of the fitting up and equipment of a house.

j A Vast Market j Kverv adventurer 111 building will I liiul that lie lms rou;jh ideas of Die type of house In l requires, but to put the details uii paper is .the work of a trained artist. 1! lias been said that architecture is the i.'reatest of all arts, and as very few men build more often than once or twice in a lifetime, 'it seems foolish not to obtain the best j i which rarely means the most expenisivei. and the market for supplying tin- building world is a vast and varied one. To be able to desien and specify i for i ven a small house requires an im- | mense amount of expert knowledge. |and it can only be a man who has j tin' widest cxpt rieiice and the most intimate acquaintance with all tlv I movements revcalin;.: what the market oilers who is qualified to j;ivo the most useful and suitable advice. The architect is the export with this wide knowledge, and he is willin.i: to put it to work for the prospective home owner, at a fee that seems extraordinarily moderate. PRINCIPLES OF i I SANITATION AI'I'LK'ATION TO TliK HOME >nmi: mam [. hints Following practical hints on the J ventilation ol homes, workshop;. and business premises, and the disposal of ;;ascs, Mr Thomas Percy, a wellj known Brisbane architect, in a recent I article in an Australian exchange, [dealt, with methods of scientific san- ! ilation. Mr Percy said that the scientific sanitation of to-day insisted on the formation of an airlock to sewerage conveniences installed within a house, and on the special venting of a bathroom where such a fitting was installed. The ' airlock was provided to prevent any Mases thrown off, even by this water cleansed receptacle, finding their way into tlu? other parts of the house. What a contrast that was to the conditions which actually existed in many cases! "These precautions, which bitter experience lias proved to be necessary, are. in many cases," Mr Percy declared, "almost always non-cxistcnt. when septic systems are in operation and, also, are omitted in many other cases. All bathrooms having a convenience installation should have a vent nine inches by three inches, near the floor, and a nine inches by six inches vent near the eeiliiiLi, in addition to any other vents. The lower vent should be near the pan and the upper one approximately vertical with it.

I l'roprrlv Formed Airlock "Every such convenience within a house should be separated from the rest of the premises by a properly formed airlock and both the convenience proper and the airlock should be separately ventilated directly from the open air. It follows from this that one of the walls of Ihe place should be an outer wall of the house. In no other way can direct access to the open air be secured." The observed practice, in places, of placing ordinary conveniences close to or even underneath homes was criticised by Mr Percy. "Even in cold climates," he said, "it is necessary and usual to place tlieni well away from dwellings, and in most cities of Australia. a definite maximum distance was fixed by law." Surely, then, in Queensland, it was necessary that they should be well separated from homes, but even in suburban Brisbane there were violations Hi that rule. All accepted ideas of sanitation and hygiene often were ignored. and these necessary adjuncts placed in proximity to the residence, frequently adjoining them, or even placed under them, this latter being made possible by the placing of the homes on high stumps or piles and the enclosure with lattice of the space provided below. Thus, we transgressed laws that were well known and observed long before the ase of scientific sanitation. It must not be overlooked that residence in a tainted atmosphere tended

to blunt the sense of smell, and that in time it failed to record the presence of obnoxious odours. Visitors to such homes, however, might not be so oblivious to them. The remedy was to place conveniences well away from the house—if possible, not less than 25ft distant. They could be screened bv hedges, by fences, by a bush fence, or by the use of some handy tree. In all cases, however, the house'holder should insist on the places being at. least 25ft away. ,