The buildings are all set on posts, three feet in the ground and five feet above. The floor joists are ten inches in width and two inches thick, and, instead of the usual sill, two by ten planks are spiked at both ends of these floor joists resting on the posts which support the building. This construction is much simpler than the ordinary sills, and is also less expensive.
The posts are eight feet apart and well braced. They are cross tied at the corners, and about every fifty feet throughout the building; they are also braced at the ends.
The floor joists are placed three feet apart, and the uprights are made of two by four joists, placed three feet apart. At the corners of the House the upright supports are doubled, making the corner posts equivalent to four by four.
The construction of these buildings without any projections over the top of the roof has two advantages. First, there is a saving in the quantity of lumber used and in labor expended; second, all the joints of the roof and walls are made tighter, and the lapping of the roofing over the edges of the building and cementing it make all joints absolutely air and water tight.
LAYING HOUSE PREPARED TO RECEIVE 1500 PULLETS FROM RANGE
Double Floors
The floors are all built double. The under floor may be of any kind of rough boards, and carefully covered over with one ply roofing of any good quality, the laps, as elsewhere in the building, being carefully cemented and nailed down with large, flat headed, galvanized nails made for the purpose. The upper floor should be of a cheap quality of tongued and grooved boards, well driven up and securely nailed. Preferably this upper flooring is laid crosswise of the building.
The outside of these buildings is covered with any cheap, rough boards obtainable. These should be securely nailed over the studding of the building, and then covered with a good grade of two ply roofing paper. On the sides and ends of the building the roofing should be put on upright, but on the roof it is better to lay it lengthwise of the building and lapped, on the plan of laying shingles, the joints all being securely cemented and nailed down, and then the joints and nails painted over with cement, to make sure against any possible leaks.
The inside walls of the building are lined with one ply roofing, with the joints carefully nailed and cemented, and then both walls and ceiling are covered with matched flooring. This gives four inches of dead air space to all the walls of the building, making them cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter than any other known construction. Owing to the roof rafters being ten inches in width, the dead air space under the roof is of course ten inches.