The subject of the necessary underpinning for such simple structures as are here shown has been already treated in the preceding chapter. In most cases you will find posts set in the ground, as there described, an excellent way (except, of course, upon rocky ground), but brick or stone piers are almost always more desirable, if you can afford the cost of the materials (which can be obtained almost anywhere), and the work of laying piers for such a purpose is not very difficult; but whether to use posts or piers should, of course, depend upon the character and permanence of the building.
Having fixed upon the position of the building, proceed to stake it out (including the piazza if there is to be one), as shown in the chapter immediately preceding.
The foundation being ready, the frame is next to be considered. You have probably noticed in the old houses built by our forefathers their massive construction,—the great size of the timbers and the way in which they are heavily braced and mortised and pinned together. With the modern facilities for cutting wood into small pieces by machinery has sprung up a style of building of which you will see examples on every hand, and which when carried to its extreme in the cheapest houses makes a structure so flimsy that it is literally held together by nothing but nails. A scientific modification (adapted to modern conditions) of the old-fashioned "braced" structure, retaining its advantages and remedying its defects, is undoubtedly superior (expense being no object) to a "balloon" frame that will only hold together by having the outside boarding nailed on to it as fast as it is put up. If the more cheaply built "balloon" structures of to-day had been put up in the days of our Pilgrim or Puritan ancestors not a stick of them would now be standing. A lighter arrangement than the old-fashioned frame and one more easily built is, however, in our day probably better adapted for the construction of a large class of buildings of moderate size and moderate cost.
This is said about braced and framed structures that you may not be led to think that the light construction advocated here for you would be the best for all wooden structures. Your house will be so small, and the construction of a braced and mortised frame is so difficult for amateurs, that a lighter and easier arrangement will be best for you to use, however ill-suited it might be for a large mansion or ware-house. This system of construction will be perfectly satisfactory and sufficiently durable for a little summer cottage.
A little house well suited for summer use, or for a winter camp, is shown in Fig. 391.
Fig. 391.
Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, Plane, Nailing, Screws, Hinges, Painting, in [Part V]., and look up any other references.