Concrete Construction for the Home and the Farm

by Atlas Portland Cement Company

Milk Houses

Milk splashed on wooden walls soaks in, causing a very disagreeable odor likely to taint milk stored in the vat. Concrete does not absorb milk splashed on it. Such walls can be kept free from tainting odors by simply washing them down. In concrete dairy houses, with concrete vats, the milk will keep sweet longer than in houses built of any other material. Dairy experts all admit that no other material can take the place of concrete for such purposes.

The illustration shows a simple form of milk house with walls, floor and vat, all of concrete. This house is 16 feet long, 10 feet wide and 8 feet high with a rise to the roof peak of 5 feet.

Location

The milk house should be located near the barn and convenient to a clean water supply. Care must be taken to provide for the outflow of the water from the vat. This can be done by leading a line of pipe from the vat to a discharge point at a lower level or to the drinking troughs for the stock.

Often the water from a flowing spring can be piped several hundred feet to the house, providing an excellent means of keeping the milk cool and sweet.

Foundation

To build such a milk house as shown, dig a trench for the foundation 3 feet deep and 12 inches wide. Fill the trench to the ground level with 1: 2½: 5 concrete. The foundation should be laid out in such a way as to extend 3 inches beyond the inside and 3 inches beyond the outside of the walls of the house.

Walls

As soon as the concrete foundation has become hard enough to support them, erect the wall forms. These forms consist of 1-inch siding nailed to 2 by 4-inch studding. The studs should be spaced 2 feet apart and the 1-inch sheathing is nailed to the sides of the studding toward the concrete. For small buildings it is often easier to build an entire wall form flat on the ground and then raise it into position. The bottoms of the studs rest on the concrete foundation and are held in position by strips nailed to them and extending to stakes driven firmly into the ground. The distance the inside and outside forms are spaced apart depends upon the thickness of wall desired. Sloping braces leading from the studs to the ground keep the side forms from bulging and cross-cleats nailed at the top keep the inside and outside forms the correct distance apart. Bulging of forms can also be prevented by wiring them together as shown on [page 23]. On [page 22] is a description of the general method of building forms. Especial care must be taken to hold the forms in position while placing the concrete. The studs in the side wall forms for this house should be cut off at the height of the walls. With the wall forms secured in position fill them with concrete.

Doors and Windows

A space must be left in the walls for the doors and windows. This is done by placing between the wall forms, frames or boxes without top or bottom made of 1-inch boards. When the wall form has been filled to the level of the bottom of the opening a frame, the size and shape of the opening desired is secured firmly in place and the concrete poured around it. After the wall reaches a level 2 inches above the frame lay in the fresh concrete two ½-inch iron bars. These pieces should be long enough to extend 8 inches beyond each side of the frame. A piece of old wagon tire can be used instead.

The sill shown in the sketch can be molded by building a small box extending out from the side form. The concrete should be placed for the sill at the same time that the wall is being built. For buildings such as we have mentioned a sill is unnecessary.

Finishing Top of Wall

When the side walls have been built to the top and before the concrete has set, shove ½-inch bolts 18 inches long down into it. Space these bolts 24 inches apart, 9 inches of the length being in the concrete. The end wall forms extend above the plates to the peak of the roof, and are filled to the top. While placing the concrete in the walls it should be continually spaded as described on [page 25].

DETAILS OF DOORS AND WINDOWS

Building the Roof

The roof is built by nailing 2 by 4 rafters to the inside studs of the side wall forms, on a line 1 inch lower than the bottom of the roof. The rafters are given the pitch desired for the roof, and are securely fastened where they meet at the ridge. To stiffen the roof form until the concrete has become hard tie the opposite rafters together at the bottom (with a 1-inch strip) in the form of a capital “A.” One-inch boards are nailed on the rafters. The cornice shown in the sketch extending beyond the wall can be easily built by nailing a board the width of the cornice to the tops of the outside studs of both side and end walls. To hold the concrete in place as the roof is being built nail a 5-inch upright strip along the outside edge of this board. Bend the bolts projecting above the walls down to within 1 inch of the roof boards. Spread a layer of heavy woven wire fencing over the entire roof, allowing it to extend to the outside of the cornice. Wire the fencing securely to the bent bolts. Place two ½-inch steel rods near the outside of the cornice all the way around the roof, and fasten these securely to the woven wire fencing. The roof should be made 3 inches thick and the stone used for the concrete should not be larger than ½ inch.

Mix the concrete fairly stiff and start placing it at the cornice, working toward the ridge. Spread the concrete out in a thin layer and then lift the woven wire fencing and the two rods in the cornice so that the concrete is 1 inch thick below the wire. Cover the rods and wire with more concrete to a depth of 2 inches. When finished the roof will then be 3 inches thick, 1 inch below the wire and 2 inches over it. Always work from the low edge of the roof and finish to the complete depth of 3 inches at once. Imbed a width of woven wire fencing lengthwise over the ridge of the roof 1 inch beneath the surface. The work must be carried on without interruption. The concrete must not be allowed to dry along an unfinished edge, as there is danger of a leak where fresh concrete is joined to that already hard. Tamp the concrete until moisture comes to the surface and smooth off the top of the roof with a wooden float and steel trowel.

The forms must be left in place for at least a week and the concrete in the roof must be protected from the sun and wind while it is hardening. A method for doing this is described on [page 26] under [Sidewalks].

Floor

When the forms have been removed from the walls and roof the floor can be laid. Excavate the ground to a depth of 4 inches below the finished floor level. Mix and lay the concrete as described on [page 31].

The concrete milk vat should be built at the same time and as a part of the floor. [See description on page 82].

Engine Base

Engines, cream separators, pumps and other pieces of machinery require solid bases. These bases must be permanent, and free from any vibration. A base constructed of concrete possesses these advantages.

To form a base for the support of a small engine, first excavate a pit 2 feet 4 inches deep, and 1 foot larger both in length and width than the dimensions of the engine base. Fill the pit with a mixture of concrete, (1: 2½: 5), and then construct a form which will carry the concrete to a height 4 inches above the floor level or to the height desired.

Bolts should be set in the concrete before it dries, these being sufficiently long to bend 4 inches at right angles, and to extend 1 foot deep into the concrete, with bent end down. They should be placed with the upright part surrounded by gas pipe of twice the diameter of the bolt, and of a length sufficient to come flush with the surface of the concrete. The open space formed around the bolt by the pipe will allow for slight errors in locating bolts, so as to meet the holes in the engine base.

Keep the concrete wet for 24 hours after placing, by sprinkling. After six days, set the engine, adjust the bolts, and fill the spaces around the bolts with cement mortar, mixed 1 part cement, 1 part sand. Do not use the engine until the concrete base is at least two weeks old.

Concrete Ice House

A concrete base adds years of service to the life of a [gasoline engine] or cream separator.

Grain Elevator Approach and Engine House

Method Applies to All Buildings

The method just described for building a milk house applies equally well to any of the small houses mentioned above. It is not always necessary to build a peaked roof; sometimes a flat roof will answer the purpose; but the general method in all cases is the same. The drawings show in detail the way a door can be built and framed and also how the windows can be made to slide up and down.

Hydraulic Ram House