CONCRETE HOUSES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 110, 11 May 1909, Page 8

CONCRETE HOUSES.

ARE THEY AS CHEAP AS WOOD? Mr. W. H. P. Barber, ex-M.P. for Wellington South, is reported to have stated at the Timber Commission's sitting in Auckland that houses can be built in Wellington of concrete almost as cheaply as wooden ones, Mr. Barber added that the GoTernment Architect, who was his authority, had asserted that a four-roomed cottage built of concrete cost onljr £6 more for material than if it had been built of wood. •On this being referred to the Government Architect (Mr. John Campbell), that gentleman said he had never made such a statement to Mr. Barber or to anyone else. Mr Barber might have been referring to a Government architect and not to "the" Government Architect. The question of cost of erection in wood and concrete was an open one. Reinforced or ferro-concrete was still on trial, and while many patented propositions for building in that material had been brought under his no tice he was not yet iv a position to say that houses could be built as cheaply in ferro-concrete as in wood. Mr. Yurelle, a Wellington architect, who has given much attention to the matter, said the question of cost was I determined by local conditions. If sand and gravel were plentiful on the spot, then it was possible that a ferro-con-crete structure could be built as cheaply as one of wood if the wood had to be carted a long distance. If ferro-con-crete plates were manufactured, then they would cost no more for cartage to the job than timber. Other things being equal, and the best methods of treatment of material being observed, then concrete houses could be built as cheaply, or nearly as cheaply, as wood. They were cheaper, of course, in the long run, because of their durability and their greater resistance to fire, and consequently would attract more favour from the insurance companies.