Practical hints to builders and those contemplating building / Facts worth considering relating to foundation, cellar, kitchen, chimney, cistern, brick-work, mortar, heating, ventilation, the roof, and many items of interest to builders.

by National Sheet Metal Roofing Co.

Old flooring can seldom be utilized, though I have seen it used for temporary purposes, such as fencing, covering of veranda floors while finishing work on plastering, etc. As a rule, however, it does not pay to take it up carefully and preserve it. Conductor pipes, metallic cornices, and sheet metal work generally, can seldom be made available a second time though all is worth caring for, as some parties may use it for repairs.

Sinks, wash-basins, bath-tubs, traps, heating appliances, grates, mantels and hearth-stones should be moved with care. They are always worth money and may be used in many places as substitutes for more inferior fixings.

Marble mantels require the most careful handling.

Perhaps the most difficult fixings about a house to adapt a second time are the stairs. Yet I have known where a man has so managed to put up new buildings that the old stairs taken from another building just suited. This may have been a “favorable accident,” but the initiated reader will understand him. Seldom such accidents can occur.

Rails, balusters and newels may be utilized much readier than stairs, as the rail may be lengthened or shortened to suit variable conditions.

Gas fixtures should be cared for and stowed away in some dry place. They can often be made available, and are not easily renovated if soiled or tarnished.

It is not wise to employ men who have nothing but their strength to recommend them. As a rule they are like bears—have more strength than knowledge, and lack of the latter is often an expensive desideratum. Employ for taking down the work good careful mechanics, and do not have the work “rushed through.” Rushers of this sort are expensive.

Never send old material to a mill to be sawed or planed, no matter how carefully nails, pebbles and sand have been hunted for, the saw or planer knives will most assuredly find some you have overlooked, then there will be trouble at the mill.

Have some mercy for the workman’s tools. If it can be avoided do not work up old stuff into fine work. If not avoidable pay the workman something extra because of injury to tools.

Don’t grumble if you do not get as good results from the use of old material as from new. The workman has much to contend with while working up old nail-speckled, sand-covered material.