The durability of concrete is particularly valuable for such buildings as hydraulic ram houses, which must always be located near streams, and ice houses, where there is always moisture. Wood quickly rots, but moisture has no effect on concrete.
For tool houses, coal houses, and buildings subjected to rough usage, nothing equals concrete.
Concrete, for small buildings, meets the three great demands of the farmer—cleanliness, freedom from fire, and durability.
Concrete Cellar Steps and Hatchway
Cellarways are particularly liable to leak and cause a damp cellar. This cannot happen if they are made of concrete. There are no cracks through which the water can come. Wooden steps last no time, particularly where heavy barrels and similar weighty loads are taken up and down. As wooden or brick areaways are always damp, the steps rot quickly, thus requiring constant renewal. Few things are more dangerous to limb, and even to life, than a step giving way under the weight of a heavy barrel which is being carried into the cellar.
Concrete steps are safe under any load.