BUILDING and HOMES

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 46, 18 November 1925, Page 14

BUILDING and HOMES

(BY

JACK PLANS)

THE OPEN FIRE A FLOURISHING INSTITUTION i LIKELY TO REMAIN Whatever may be said fairly or unfairly against the open fire, it is doubtful whether we as a nation shall ever lose our affection for it. From medieval times tlie English have been commonly accustomed to .the sight of burning V?^? s or coal on the open hearth, ano tms 'Household tradition is so firmly rootea that it would be a dilncult thing to get rid of. even if that were desired. It is doubtful, however, whether even the most ardent advocate of modern, hignly scientific, “closed in ” apparatus for warming our buildings would willingly aeree to the complete extinction of the open fire —he, probably, has more than sneaking regard for it himself! It is ~ti institution pleasantly reminiscent ot the past, stimulating thoughts of predecessors who also sat before files, watching the flames leap and. the smoke curl. To the' historically minded. it probably provokes intriguing mental pictures of medieval halls with burning logs piled against andirons m she middle of the floor that is, of course, 'Until the smoke and smother .orced our castle-inhabiting ancestors (about the twelfth centurv) to find a better place for the fire, which was naturally the wall, where a direct outlet could be contrived for the smoke. And vhen this simple change took place the principle of the fire-grate as' we know •t now was definitely established, making possible all the interesting developments that have since occurred, utili-

tarian and decorative. From that time onwards the fireplace became the chief point of interest of the domestic interior, and succeeding generations of designers and craftsmen vie with each other in lavishing their skill upon its design and decoration. Up to Tudor and Elizabethan times

the fireplace in this country was customarily little more than a wide and leen recess in the wall, containing iron .logs or a movable dog-grate for burning logs of wood; but with the introduction of coal fuel, during the reign of Charles I. the opening naturally be'■■’me very much smaller, incidentally affording the architect more scope for the tisplav ot his ability in decorative' design, which found expression in magnificent stttrounds and overmantels. The movable dog-grate remained the accepted fuel-container until the eighteenth century, when, however, it was largely superseded bv the hob-grate, some extremely fine examples of which were designed by the brothe'rs Adam. About this time the questions of scientific design and economic fuel consumption began to engage attention, and towards the end of the eighteenth centurv, after much research, it jvas discovered that a fire-grate, to fulfil its

.function efficiently, should be small in size, Me built of brick or fireclay, and have splayed sides and sloping back. Not until the nineteenth century, however, were these principles generally adopted in fire-grate design. Generally sneaking, they prevail to-day,‘though in recent- years much progress has been made in such aspects of the problem as economy in fuel consumption, clecfflliness of apparatus in use, smoke abatement, and so forth. An important development is the principle of the ventilating air channel, bv means of which air is brought up to the temperature of the fire itself, the super-heated air uniting with the smoke and causing it to burst into flame, the fire thus consuming its own smoke. Fite-grates are obtainable to-day to conform with almost every style or manner of architectural design, and anv variety of sizes and finishes. In,, a

STRAY NOTES CONCRETE ON THE FARM At the last Royal Show in England space was given to an interesting exhibit illustrating the varied uses to which concrete is now applied on the farm. The exhibit included a block of concrete buildings, containing stable, cow sheds, calf pen, cart shed (with concrete ceiling to form a loft, pig stves, mixing room, and a manure pit, while among the miscellaneous exhibits were a concrete block silo 30ft. high, a section of concrete road, a rick stand, and a septic tank. To prevent the standings for the cows striking cold the floor was made of a concrete containing sawdust. The buildings were erected in exceptionally quick time, thanks to the use of ferrocrctc —the new rapid hardening cement. In manv cases blocks of this material were actually built into the walls within eighteen hours after having been put into their moulds. The roof beams, cast at 5 p.m., were removed from their moulds at 10 o’clock on the following morning.

Besides showing the utilitarian purposes to which, concrete, may be put by agriculturists, the association promoting the show paid special attention to its aesthetic possibilities. The gate peirs of the main entrance and the fence surrounding the enclosure were constructed of concrete representing Portland stone, and inside the entrance there ;lvere a balustrade of synthetic Ham stone and a pergola of cast Devon grit. Pleasing colour schemes were introduced bv means of concrete blocks of various textures and colours and by roofing with different kinds of tiling.

picturesque setting, a wood fire is always appropriate, but to look really well the logs should burn upon dogs on the health. For wood block fires, basket grates (best suited to large interiors) lare the correct form of container. These grates look well not only In picturesque interiors, but in settings of a more formal kind. For small rooms, the ordinary fire-grate, with its tiled, glazed briquette, or wood surround, cannot be improved upon if the fire is to be av open pne. Here, again, a wide variety of styles and finishes is available. . . . The‘barless type of fire-graite is firmly establishing itself in popular favour by reason of its all-round efficiency and cleanliness in use. Several excellent types are obtainable, each having some special point of interest, one such being a formation of the bottom which"is "swept up” to the front to facilitate the removal of Sslies.

In stringent times such as the present, it is only natural that the designers of heating apparatus should devote a good deal of attention to the allimportant question of economy, not only in fuel consumption, but in fuel employment. Hence, during the last few years we have seen the production of many "plural-purpose” fire-grates. One such warms a room bv means of its open fire, and by means of a boiler at the back supplies hot water to radiators in different parts of the house. Another, in conjunction with a suitable hot-water radiator installation, will heat the entire house with a continuously burning anthracite open fire. Yet another type of double duty apparatus acts as an open fire and also cooks food and heats water, while another, interposed between adjoining rooms, acts as a living room grate on one side and a scnllerv coqker on the other. To describe all the tvpe of fire-grates available to the modern architect and builder would occupy more space than we can afford, but enough has been said to show that the bncn fire is a flourishing Institution and is likelv to remain so for many years .to come.—“ The Builder.”

PAINTING NEW PLASTER In a useful article in the “Decorator,” Mi. John M. Fife deals with the art of painting on new plaster. Generally (he says) three parts of raw linseed oil and one part of turpentine should constitute the thinners <jf white lead or other pigment for the first or priming coat. But if on applying this the plaster is found very absorbent, so that in passing the brush over it in spreading out the priming, the oil is so quicklv absorbed as to leave the white lead ’rough and dry upon the surface, more oil must be added in •irder that the plaster may be thoroughly saturated. To prevent this absorption, boiled oil is sometimes used, but this does not do the job justice, for when raw oil is boiled, it is more viscid, and does not penetrate so far into the plaster, but runs smoothly over the surface Raw oil, being limpid, penetrates the plaster less or more according to the facility with which it is absorbed, and, when dry, thus far narden- the surface. But boiled oil being more unctuous, and viscid, forms onlv a thin film or, if it penetrates at all," it does not go deep enough. It is sometimes found necessary when a pla-ter has a very close skin upon it, to be more liberal with the use of tuipentine so as to assist the absorpa great proportion of the first coat bears out, that is, dries with a gloss, the second coat should contain a good body of white lead. ' At other times, no part of the priming coat bears out well, and even some portions of it have had the oil so completely absorbed as to leave nothing on the surface but a drypowder. When ,this is the case, it is clear that the plaster is of such a nature as to receive the full benefit of the oil- and that it mav be properlysaturated, the paint for the second coat is prepared on the thinner side. Generally one part each oil and turpentine are the thinners. .Should this coar bear out, the third will form the ground for the finishing process, but if it has not borne out uniformly, the tob will require five coats -to finish, therefore another coat is imperative. The ground for finishing flat should contain more oil than turpentine, and for ( a gloss finish liiorc of the latter than the former. Tint this ground near to the shade intended for finishing somewhat', deeper, or darker, by wh'ch means; the solidity and durability of the work will lie increased. The’ rounder this coat is, and the better it is spread with the brush and feathered off, the more durable will be the job and the finer the surface.

TOWN PLANNING IN PALESTINE- /

An interesting example of the application of the principles ot town-plan, ning to agricultural settlement is the village of Nahalal, in Palestine. The village and its surjrounding agricultural areas have been -laid out In accordance with a plan prepared by 7 Mr.' Richard Kaufmann. Nahalal, a co-operative farm colonv in the valley of Jezreel, is situated on an oval hill, the summit of which has been used for the cominunall buildings which dominate the settlement. The hill is encircled bv a road, from which the approach roads lead off. In the centre space of the circle are placed the houses and gardens of the non-farming members, of the colonv, the schoolmaster, tailor, shoemaker, etc. In the outer circle are the homesteads and holdings of the farming families, all equidistant from the communal and utility buildings. The cereal lands radiate out on the flatter areas at the foot of the hill. Tn this country local topography.often makes it difficult to lav out a series of , farm holdings all in equally convenient

touch with a common centre. Every effort should be made to lav out holdings as nearly as possible on this plan, however, where new settlements are being opened up.

UTILITY AND DECORATION In Victorian drawing-rooms, says an oversea writer, ornaments - were ornaments, out. and out, and no one dreamed of regarding them as of any- use but to look at (and even that must in some cases have been more of a discipline than a pleasure to the person who looked), Colossal jars stood about in corners of the room, smaller jars adorned the mantlepiecc (sometimes supported by massive “bronzes”), and china figures, littered most of the remaining spaces, while a miscellaneous collection of china filled, corner cupboards and cabinets. In tlie limited accommodation of to-day this 1 state of things is impossible—even if it were desirable, which it is ’ not—and draw-ing-room treasures have been “ gone through” in drastic fashion. Jars of the right size and shape to hold flowers or leaves have been allowed a wise reprieve; others, unless really beautiful or valuable, have been ruthlessly- banished. Teapots and jugs and bowls are no longer allowed to rest in slothful ease on the plush-carpeted shelves of a cabinet, but come out and take a share in the battle of life on the tea-table—incidentally lending with their quaint shapes or artistic colouring an air of distinction or charm to the table which it may- have lacked before. “Get on or get out,” seems to be the modern motto, and no lenience is shown to the objects that are able to do nothing but contemplate existence from a shelf, nor even do that beautifully.

Wallpaper (says an American exchange) has quite a lengthy history as far as Europe is concerned,'for we find Henry IV. of France granting a charter to a guild of paperhangers as early as 1599, and going by the precedents established in the case of other guilds, such as the great Cabinet Makers’ Company, the ihdustrv must have been in existence for some time before it was, so to speak, incorporated by the enlightened French monacch. The original example is iti'lhe Cabinet de Sully at the Arsenal in Paris, and dates’ from the decade of the seventeenth centurv. - In the seventeenth centurv Chinese paper imported by- the East India Company had an extensive vogue, but paper made at Frankfort and Worms in Germany' ran it a close race for popularity. Wallpaper was a logical development from tapestrv and embossed leather wall hangings, through the intermediary stage of painted and handprinted canvas cloths made in imitation of the richer materials.

SUMMARY OF TENDERS - CinsTVG nrRTNG Trip period NOVEMBER 19-DECEMBER 2. Oamarti Borough Council.—Tenders contract No. 11/1925, supply and erection of pumping unit ' for watcrworks. Close 5 p.m. November 19. Vickerinan and Lancaster. Wellington.— Tenders sub-station switchgear, etc., for Marlborough Electric Power Board. Close 7 p.m. November 19. Central Electric Power Board, Hamilton.—Tejiders 12 tons copper wire. Close 5 p.m., November 19. Rangitaiki Dairy Co., Edgcumbe, Bay of' Plenty.—Tenders transformers, polos, motors, etc. Close 4 p.m. No- ‘ voniber 20. Gray, Young. Morton and Young.—Tenders erection block. 6 shops at Petone. Close noon, November 20 Eketahuna County Council.—Tenders bridges. Close noon, November 21 Akitio County Council.—Tenders contract 227, forming and culverting 56 chains Toad. Close 5 p.m.. November 21. Martin and Dyett, Wellington.—Tenders house-wiring contract. Close November 21. Wairere Power Board.—Tenders housewiring contract. Close November 21. P. W, Armstrong. Christchurch.—Tenders electric passenger, goods elevator. Close noon, November 23. Stanley E. Lambert. Wellington.—Tenders laving 400,000 bricks. Close 10 a.m„ November 23. Public Works Department.—Tenders Neutral reactors. Close 4 pirn., November 24. Wellington City Council.—Tenders conversion of passenger elevator to automatic. dual control. Close November 24. New Plymouth Harbour Board.—Tenders contract 18 to 24. Close noon November 26. Wellington City Council.—Tenders supply and delivery (2) two light delivery van chassis. Close 3.30 p.m., November 27. Crichton, McKay, and Houghton Wellington—Tenders installation heating new hospital. Hawera Close 5 p.m., November 30.

Travelling dentists’ offices are common in the rural districts of America They are fitted up on a truck, and in many instances are sent out bv the .public health authorities so that people in the outlying parts of the country can have their teeth taken care of properly without having a, travel manv miles to a resident dentist.