The third class of dwelling is quite rare, and very few small houses are built that could be classified under it. Some builders call them fireproof houses, although this is erroneous. These buildings have walls, roofs, floors, and partitions built of incombustible materials, but the finished floors, the trim, windows, and doors are of wood. The exterior walls are of masonry construction, and the construction of the floors and roofs consists of steel beams with terra-cotta arches or concrete floor slabs, spanning in between them, and the partitions are of terra-cotta, gypsum, metal lath and plaster, or other similar materials. They may also be built of reinforced concrete throughout, or any other combination of these materials. There have been very few examples of this kind of construction used in the small house. It is an unfortunate condition that it is more adaptable to the costly mansion than to the average house of the middle-class citizen, for the high cost of construction of this character, in most cases, permits it to be used only by the wealthy man. Examples where such houses have been built generally show an investment of $30,000 or more, or, if they were built to-day, $50,000 or more. Those attempts to use this form of construction in the small house have been made by large building corporations, and have been chiefly represented by concrete houses of very ugly design.
Type III. Walls, floors, partitions fireproof, but windows, doors and trim of wood.
TYPE IV
The fourth and last type of dwelling is the ideal fireproof house, but it is so costly that very few examples exist. This type can be termed fireproof with accuracy, for all structural parts, including doors, windows, and trim, are of incombustible materials. Metal trim is used or wood that has been treated to make it fire-resisting. This latter class of construction is so out of the reach of the average home-builder, on account of its cost, that its value cannot be thoroughly appreciated. Practically the only examples in existence are large mansions, built by wealthy clients.
Cost Does Not Indicate Fire-Resistance.—In this classification of buildings it would almost seem that the cost of a building indicated its fireproof qualities. This is not true, however. There are many expensive dwellings which are just as great fire-traps as the less expensive ones. In both cases the fire hazards are the same, if they are built of the same type of construction. In fact, we could build a $60,000 dwelling according to Type II, and also a $10,000 one according to Type II, and make the latter more fire-resisting than the former by using certain precautions of construction in which the spread of fire is retarded.
Except in unusual cases, the construction of the ordinary dwelling will be either according to the first or second type, and any fire precautions that are desirable must be applicable to them. Most comparisons of relative costs are made between the dwellings included under these two types, and the difference will be mostly a difference in the kind of exterior walls used in the construction. In fact, if any comparisons are made between different kinds of buildings, as to their relative costs, it is essential that only one feature be made variable and that all others be kept the same.
The Question of Costs
Ever since the closing of the war the problem of knowing the cost of the construction of the small house has been a very intricate one, and no sure estimates could be made, until the plans were completed and let out for bids. Previous to the war, when costs were somewhat stabilized, it was possible to predict with a reasonable amount of accuracy the cost of the dwelling when the plans were still only roughed in.
In order to show the fluctuation in prices, an example of a seven-room frame house of Type I can be mentioned. This house was practically 30 by 34 feet, and had a cubical contents of about 29,100 cubic feet and an area of 2,640 square feet. In 1914 this house cost $5,529.00, but at the peak of prices in 1920 this house cost $12,815.00, which was an increase of 131 per cent. In the spring of 1922 this same house cost $9,502.00 to build, which was about 71 per cent over that of pre-war prices.