DO YOU WANT A HOUSE?

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 75, Issue 6444, 10 November 1947, Page 7

DO YOU WANT A HOUSE?

WHY NOT BUILD IT? ADVICE BY CITY DWELLER The following article was written for the Christchurch Press by A. Lush, B.E.:— It is a remarkable thing, by pres-ent-day standards, that New Zealand was ever settled at all. For in the days of the first settlers there were shipping difficulties, poor port facilities, no roads, no electricity, no houses at all. On the other hand, the settlers found no building controller, little or no taxation, and no motorcars. (Not everyone who begins by buying a car has enough money left to build a house afterwards). The first settlers expected to build their own houses, and many of them did so with their own hands. Life is more complex in these days, and the fact that we s have hands, and can still work for ourselves, seems often to be over-looked when it comes to house-building. The construction of the Steeds Memorial Hut at Arthur’s Pass, by the Students’ Association of Canterbury University College, provided an example of what can be done by co-operation. Plans were prepared by a Christchurch architect; the work was organised by an engineering student. Many other students volunteered to work on the construction, and in the course of a week the material was carried by hand from the railway station to the site and the hut so far completed as to be habitable. Other working parties, somewhat more specialised, finished the hut shortly afterwards, working as opportunity offered- One or two ■skilled men were included in each large party. The building is probably better designed than the average city or suburban bungalow of five rooms, and. is as well built. It has this outstanding advantage: it was designed and built to suit those who were going to use it. Not a few builders in towns, in these days, think they have enough troubles without going on to fit the design to the customer’s requirements. So they cheerfully say, “Take it or leave it. I can easily sell to somebody else!” Thus the purchaser takes the house, with its common faults and common merits, and sinks his own particular requirements. What a Group Can Do The construction of the Steeds Hut demopstrated a number of things: the importance of good designing and good organisation'of work; the fact that most members of a working party are sufficiently qualified if they are willing and energetic, though a few need special skills; and the fact that the girls could, and did, work as well as the men. The whole job provided a good example of what Rewi Alley calls “Gung Ho!” or “Work Together!”

To build a house single-handed is deterringly difficult, but it should be quite practicable for a number of people who need houses to co-operate in building them. Were I in need of a house myself, I should certainly try to form a group (or, if necessary, a company) of persons whose object was to build houses for themselves, not for speculation, and who were prepared to help themselves. Thus you would begin by having something in common with your future neighbours. Having decided upon membership of the group, or groups, find and buy an area of land big enough, when subdivided, to provide sections for all members, and possibly a few for others joining later. You then require the services of a good architect to prepare plans for houses to suit the owners and the sites. A few plans, with minor adjustments, might suit many different people. Any group would find it a considerable advantage to include in its membership a qualified engineer, preferably a civil engineer. In addition to unskilled work, there will be some specialised work for any member who happens to be a solicitor or an accountant, or who has a wiring license, or any special skill in working with metal or wood or concreteMuch can be learned, by those who wish to learn, at technical schools, and by working with others. Without being a licensed drainlayer, you can learn to dig a, pipe trench true to line and grade and so reduce the cost of drainlaying. You can save your plumber a lot of time if you can cut pipes to the exact lengths required and have them threaded! ready for him to assemble. Every skilled man, in fact, can do with one or more than one assistant less skilled than himself.

This, however, is looking ahead, because, having found and bought your land, you require to get it subdivided by an authorised surveyor, and roads and other facilities constructed or provided, to the requirements of the local authority. And, before your architect can draw plans, he must know what sort of material is to be used for the houses and particularly for the walls. Materials Your choice, so far as you have one, lies among timber, brick, concrete, and earth for the walls. The joinery, doors, and windows, with their frames, will be factory made, in any case, and can be much the same for any of these walls; so they are net a factor in the choice. Timber is so well known and its advantages and disadvantages are so familiar that one need say little about it, except that the supply is so short that you are recommended to use no more than you can help. A New Zealand timber house may use 10,000 super feet; a house of similar size in England, built with other materials, may use little more than 1000 super feet, according to a recent statement by Sir Reginald Stradling—a statement that may well make us consider the alternatives.

Bricklaying, after you have put in a good foundation, looks much easier than it is in reality. The fact that it is a skilled job does not prevent you from acquiring the skill, if you Vre keen enough. I have seen a brick garage, really well built by an Edinburgh artist, who made his living by teaching in a* School of Art- Working alone, it took him six months; but his spare time was very limited. Winston Churchill has been a bricklayer as well as an artist, and according to a recent cable message took up the trowel again a few weeks ago. Concrete ought to be our best material, in New Zealand, • where so many districts have excellent supplies of aggregate. Probably none are more fortunate than Canterbury in this

respect; but in Auckland and Wellington you can buy ready-mixed concrete of definite quality and strength, ready to place in the forms; probably you will soon be able to buy it in Christchurch. This is the best way, very often, to get your concrete. The only catch about it, at present, is that you must first get a permit for the cement, which is in short supply, and will be short until we have adequate supplies of coal for cement manufacture. Back to Earth Earth has been used for many centuries for house building, but many now distrust' it, probably because earth-walled buildings often look somewhat crude, or seem to be badly weathered, or in a poor state of repair. This has been Hue, as usual, to three causes—poor design, the wrong quality of material, and poor workmanship. The main thing in workmanship is to have the earth or clay sufficiently supported by timber shuttering while the material is rammed, and to have the correct moisture content and really adequate ramming, so that the earth packs into a fraction of its normal volume. Such well-made walls have sometimes lasted for hundreds of years, without cement. Yet, considering the way that earth roads get cut up by traffic, current doubts are not surprising. Recently a way has been found to meet the difficulty.

Plain rolled earth runways proved not always adequate for aerodromes and concrete runways required enormous amounts of concrete for their construction. It was found, however, that a mixture of 10% of cement with suitable earth or clay would make a good runway, using perhaps a quarter of the amount of cement required for the corresponding concrete runway., This system has now been applied to roads and to walls. While the method may be looked on by conservatives as still experimental for house-building, experience of cemented and well-packed earth for roads and for aerodrome runways leaves little doubt of its merits. The main thing is to be sure whether- any particular soil is suitable for this purpose, and that can be found by tests. A specimen elay-cement-gravel wall has recently been built at Canterbury College; but, without waiting 100 years to observe a wall, you can have specimens of your mix tested, just as you would test specimens of concrete. Builders generally have not the time or the labour available to make good cemented-earth walls. Conserving Heat The English house, that uses so little timber, has the ground floormade on the ground itself—a method that would seem naturally to suit the cemented-earth method of construction. It also saves some of the loss of heat which is such a wasteful feature of most New Zealand houses in winter. The use of earth walls would save still more. It may be questioned whether any houses should be built in New Zealand with such complete disregard to heat losses as is usual here, while both electricity and coal are in short supply. Moreover, if you set out to make all your walls (inside as well as outside) heat-resisting, you will have done much to make them soundproof. House building is neither- so simple that anyone can do it without a lot of care and thought nor so difficult that nobody can do it without years of training. It is not so strenuous that a woman cannot help, nor is it so easy that results can be expected without hard work. The more you can do yourself, or by co-operation the quicker and the more cheaply will you get your house finished, and the more satisfaction you will have in the result.

Remembering that the common factor of nearly all our- difficulties and our shortages is shortage of labour, what you have to do is to make the most of all daylight hours left over, outside your usual 40-hour week, together with all holidays. The request to “Leave off work and carry bricks!” dates back to pioneer days. If you are fortunate to have a willing brother or two, or some friends to give you a hand occasionally, they might help a great deal. I know one young man who, had he decided to build his own house, might have had the help of at least half a dozen fairly capable and admiring girls, though only one at a time, if their preference had been consulted. I may indeed have underestimated his popularity; but he bought a motor-car and rented a flat, and still has no house of his ownYou may find house-building the more interesting because it has got some complications, even such as he avoided.