For a quite small structure, or for a temporary one, it will answer to make this piazza-floor system of 2" × 6" stock simply sawed square and spiked together, on the principle shown in Fig. 378, but for a good house which you wish to be permanent, it is better to put a little more labour into the piazza.
Fig. 398.
Fig. 399.
Another way is to have the main sills extend under the piazza as well as under the house proper. This is a more thorough way as regards stiffness, but extra pains must be taken to prevent the water working down on the sills where the house and piazza join, as this will tend to rot this portion of the sills. With this arrangement of sills an extra sill, or cross-sill, should be added under the juncture of the body of the house and the piazza. The ends of this sill can rest in gains cut in the end-sills, and the middle can be supported by one or more posts.
For the stairs, which can be put wherever you wish, take two pieces of plank, 2" × 9" or 10", and of sufficient length. Having determined the points for the top and the bottom of the stairs (by laying off on the floor in the same way as for the rafters, page 268), lay one of the planks on the floor in the proper position and mark the notches for the steps and the bevels for the ends. After these "notch-boards" or string pieces have been cut and put in place, you can easily get out and nail on the "risers" and "treads." Examination of any common stairs will show you how to arrange these details without difficulty. You can mark on a stick the height from the top of the lower floor to the top of the upper. Divide this distance, on the stick, into as many parts as you wish to have steps, and you can use the stick as a gauge by which to determine the points for sawing the notches for the steps.[39] It is best to have the treads not less than 9" wide, and 10" is better, while 7½" or 8" will do for the risers. A "header," or cross-piece, must be securely fastened between the second-story floor-beams where they are cut off to make the opening at the head of the stairs.
The partitions inside require no directions, being simply made of studding to which sheathing is nailed.
The remaining details do not differ from those of the preceding cases, and the interior fittings you can arrange without further instructions. A regular brick chimney will, of course, be a desirable feature if you can afford it.