BRICK VENEER

Evening Star, Issue 23737, 19 November 1940, Page 3

BRICK VENEER

LOWER BUILDING COSTS Economy has been the major consideration in introducing brick veneer into the field of domestic building construction — economy in both the initial cost of building and in the cost of maintenance. The cost of brick veneer construction is generally about 12 per cent. less than an all-brick job. The most satisfactory method of construction for a brick veneer house is as follows; —

A ■wide, reinforced concrete foundation, 121 n deep, is first laid down on a solid bottom, and upon this is built a solid 9in brick footing in English bond. The bricklayers then leave the job, and the carpenters lay their plate on the inner half of this brick footing and run up the stud frame outer walls. At the same time the inner partition walls are erected either on brick piers or concrete piles, as the bearers are laid in an ordinary brick house. The roof is then framed up and pitched directly off the timber frame construction, as in an all-timber house. No part of' the weight of the roof is carried by the brick veneer, which is now built as a single brick, skin wall outside and 2in away from the external stud wall. This brick lifcin wall, or veneer, is tied by wire ties to the timber frame work, and simply forms, os does all veneer, an outside covering, taking the place of the weatherboard. Internally the timber-framed walls are sheeted with thick sheets of fibrous plaster. These sheets are now manufactured in long lengths, which allow a wall to be covered in one piece, with the only joins at the angle formed by the walls. These joints are stopped up with piaster so that they cannot be seen. Door and window open-

ings are cut out of the large sheets where necessary. Sometimes these long sheets are made only to the height of the picture rail, which is then used as a cover strip between them and the®narrower sheets fixed beneath the ceiling cornice. Any of the many other wall boards now on the market can also be used instead of fibrous plaster as a wall or ceiling finish. The remainder of the finish can be exactly the same as, for an all-brick house. Brick veneer construction has other decided advantages in addition to economy. The hollow internal walls and the wide 6in air cushion between the interior lining of the external wall and the brick veneer keep the building • degrees cooler in the summer than an all-timber house, yet allow it to cool down more rapidly than a brick building. Conversely, the brick veneer house retains its heat better ip the winter.