BUILDING IN PLASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19748, 22 September 1927, Page 13

BUILDING IN PLASTER.

"FAILURE" AT WELLINGTON. OPINION OF CONTRACTOR. [BY TELEGBAPH.— OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. That lath and plaster building in Wellington had been a failure, was affirmed by a witness in a building construction case heard in the Supreme Court to-day. The witness, Christopher Pinnock, contractor, said he had had 25 years' experience in and about the city. "If you could see one house which was so built, and which was sound, would it shake your belief?" asked Mr. A. D. Brodie. Witness: I wish I could. "It is curious," said Mr. Justice Reed. "I built a house in Auckland some time ago. It was of lath and plaster, and it was on leasehold property. That house changed hands a little while back, and it was as sound as the day on which it was built. I know there had been other failures, but I was told that was due to faults in the construction." Witness: That may be so in Auckland, or in Christchurch, but it is not so in Wellington. Here, the lime is not suitable and the mixing is not done well. Also it is dangerous. I have done quit© a lot of work for the Public Works Department, and I know the department does not like it. You have to put the plaster on an inch or an inch and a-quarter thick, and on ceilings it may fall. To say that plaster of Paris was suitable for outside works was ridiculous, added witness later. The City Council had paid him £ISOO to renovate the Town Hall. This had been done with cement. The original work in plaster of Paris resulted in pieces weighing half a-hundredweight falling in the tower.