BUILDING AND HOMES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 180, 28 April 1931, Page 5

BUILDING AND HOMES

CBj’

“JACK PLANE.")

renting of homes New British Proposal HALF-CROWN A WEEK Mass Building of’Houses WORK FOR 150,000 MEN One of the most important speeches on housing delivered in the present Parliament was that of Sir John Tudor Walters tn the debate on the Unemployment Insurance Bill, remarks the “Illustrated Carpenter and Builder.”" But, as ill-luck would have it, Mr. Lloyd George and Mr. Winston Churchill chose the same occasion for their great gladiatorial display. This was, of course, much more amusing, and the reports of it and comments upon it occupied all—or nearly all—the space the newspapers could spare. Sir John’s speech was important "because he spoke with the authority of a great expert on a subject he has made his own. Housing, both in its architee-

tural and financial aspects, is Sir John’s subject, and no one need be surprised that he should speak on that subject in a debate on unemployment, for the two matters are closely intertwined. We can only very briefly Indicate here the main lines of, Sir John Tudor Walters’s argument, which was both bold and optimistic. He advocated the building of 100,000 houses for agricultural labourers at a cost of £30,000,000 —or £3OO a cottage. Allowing forty years 'for the repayment of interest and sinking fund, and taking the subsidy into account, the cottages could be let for 2s. Cd. a week. In building the cottages, 150,000 men would be employed, and thus, together with other building schemes he advocated, Sir John argued that half a million unemployed workers might receive employment and a sum of £30,000,000 be withdrawn from “the dole.” Such a scheme from such a source surely merited careful exataination and discussion. FLOOR DECORATION Varied Methods Available AVOIDANCE OF SQUEAKS Floors are always with us. Furniture may be replaced or dressed up in new upholsterings, and walls may be changed in covering and colour, but once a floor is down it is very apt to remain as long as the house is a home, says a writer in the “Christian Science Monitor.” , Though styles of rugs may come and go, leaving much or little of the wood surface of the floor visible, yet in the long run, so permanent a feature of the new house as are floors needs careful consideration. Floors contribute much to the atmosphere of a room and lend a happy background for the grouping of furniture and the general decorative motif. Whether narrow hardwood boards are used, random width planks pegged down, or fancy parquetry, will depend upon the style of architecture and the type of / rooms. In a colonial house effective floors, especially in the livingroom,'are made of random width planks with pegs covering the screws which really do the holding of the planks in place. Parquetry is used most often in ballrooms or in more elaborate .homes than the average home builder wishes to attempt. Classes of Woods. The kinds of woods for the average floor are legion. . . Any wood which resists indentation from heavy furniture resting on small legs or castors is unquestionably desirable. . . Less expensive and less attractive woods are usually chosen for such rooms as the kitchen to be covered with linoleum, the children’s playroom, storerooms, closets, sewing rooms, and attics. A cheaper grade of soft wood answers the purpose here. Squeaky, floors and warped bulges in floors can be avoided if the floors are carefully installed. Sub-floors are advised as a base for the finished top floor, the first bearing the tracks of the workmen as they go back and forth finishing the plastering, plumbing, etc., and the latter reserved until the last just as a fine piece of furniture is reserved to be brought in after there is no danger of marring it. I" Must Be Seasoned. Lumber manufacturers offer several precautions. The finished flooring should be well seasoned and not put in until the building is thoroughly dried out. ... i After the wood has been sanded, rubbed with steel wool, or scraped to insure a smooth, polished surface, and as soon as it has been wiped clean of all dust and dirt,. the stain should be applied immediately. There are many different kinds of stain, and the home builder will do well to malie a definite decision before any experimenting is. indulged in. One chief advantage of light floors, at least to the housewife, is that they do not show the dust very readily. One important feature of dark, floors is that they “stay down” and do not intrude in the colour scheme but remain as background for the rest of the room. While some prefer waxing directly on the top of the staining, others would rather have the preserving qualities of varnish or shellac spread over the stained floor, SUMMARY OF TENDERS CLOSING DURING THE PERIOD • ' APRIL 28 TO MAY 12. Palmerston North Hospital Board, Palmerston North. —Tenders for alterations to buildings close 12 Noon, . • May 1. . . N.Z. Railways.—Tenders for supply of telephone and telegraph line material close Noon, May 5. Gray, Young, Morton and Young, 217 Lambton Quay, Wellington.—Tenders for strengthening steelwork, pumping station, Petone, closes Noon, May 6. Seaton, Sladden and Pavitt, Brandon Street, Wellington.—Tenders for construction Mangatainoka Bridge close at Noon, May 6. Public Works Tenders Board. —Tenders for 1.8. poles and tallowwood crossarms close" 4 p.m., May 12. Public Works Tenders Board. —Tenders for 1.8. Piles and M.AJL timber doao 4 OJA. May 12.

The suggestion is being made in England that creosoted wood might advantageously be more generally adopted for use in foundation piles. But (asks a trade journal) though their first cost might be less than that of concrete, reinforced or otherwise (though the latter Is doubtful), and though timber In piling has a long and useful life, yet the element of uncertainty arises in making use of a perishable material, when there is concrete available to-day, which was not commercially available to our grandfathers. It is true that time and again timber piles are excavated which, to the admiration of the public, are pronounced to have belonged to Roman buildings; but where are the buildings? When Windows Jam.

After wet weather, and particularly in new buildings, sashes of the casement type at times develop a tendency to stick. Opening and closing by force Is apt to damage not only the butts but the frames themselves. Until the right “cure” can be applied, ascertain where the wood has swollen, and gently ease the frame In the opposite direction when opening and closing. The proper remedy Is to remove the frame, and, with a good sharpened plane, ease off the tight parts. If, however, the jamming is slight, a chisel used on the frame In position will often succeed. Attention In England is being directed to a new method of procedure for slated roofs, that is the use of cement, either as a bedding material or, alternatively, its use for repair purposes where some of the slates have become so bad as to need replacement Reinforcing with cement will secure a notable prolongation of the life of the roof.

HOME IN LIGHTHOUSE Viscount’s Novel Retreat OVER 300 YEARS OLD There is perhaps no cosier bachelor's residence in Norfolk and certainly none so romantic as Viscount Elmley’s. It is in Winterton lighthouse, and he must be the first member of Parliament to live In such-quarters, says the Norwich correspondent of the “Dally Mail.” Lord Elmley’s lighthouse home is old and weatherbeaten. For more than three centuries its light shone for the guidance of mariners. It was built in 1618, by Sir William Erskine, under a patent from James I. Quite a good thing did the shrewd knight make of it, for the tolls he levied on passing coal vessels are said to have brought him £2OOO a year, whereas the expense of maintaining the light did not exceed £lOO. Invasion of Rights. Trinity House petitioned against What it considered an invasion of its rights, but not until 1836 did it get the consent of the Treasury to purchase the light Candles were used in the lighthouse until 1791, when, according to a record, an oil light was installed. The light became unnecessary when floating seamarks in the locality were lighted. Lord Elmley is exceedingly happy in the solitude of his home; never more so perhaps than when he is rolling the lawn or tending the flowers in the garden. Lord Elmley, who is Liberal M.P. for East Norfolk, was anxious to redeem his promise to the electors to live in his constituency, and bought the lighthouse as soon as it came into the market Earl Beauchamp, his father—formerly Governor of New South Wales—was as charmed with it as was Lord Elmley himself.

The lighthouse was formerly occupied by a woman artist, who Installed a sanctuary with an altar for her private devotions. This is now used as a guest chamber. Bungalow Addition. The entrance to the lighthouse is through the hall of a bungalow built against it Guests may, if they choose, sleep in the bungalow, but most of them prefer the bedroom half-way up the lighthouse tower. Lord Elmley is almost as fond of the neighbouring fishing village of Winterton as he is of the lighthouse. He likes nothing better than to smoke a pipe and chat with the fishermen. Two old servants of the Beauchamp family, man and wife, keep house for Lord Elmley. His sisters have visited him at the lighthouse, where he spends most of his leisure, except for occasional visits to the family home at Madresfleld Court, Great Malvern.

INDOORS AND OUT Red Lead Replaced. Red lead has been known and used for generations as a priming paint for the prevention of - rusting of iron and steel structures. It suffers, however, from the disadvantage that, after mixing it stiffens rapidly, and if left for any considerable length of time becomes so thick as to be unusable. At a meeting of the German Chemical Society recently the replacement of red by “grey lead minimum Arcanol” and some other pigments was advocated. Arcanol is a lead pigment in which the lead is partly in the metallic state and partly in the form of oxides (as in red lead). The other pigments to which reference has been made are known as “Tropisco,” and these are oil-free protective paints, which when applied are completely resistant to water and water vapour, and are also impenetrable to water. Creosoted Piles.