A manual of home-making

Much has l)een said and written about the present high cost of tiuilding. It is true that a house of a given size to-day often costs twice as much as one of the same size would have cost twenty-five years ago; but this advance is due not alone to the increas<*d cost of lalxjr and material, but also to similar t^'pes of dwellings not Imnn comparetL A house equipped with heat, running water» hardwood floors, many closets, and fre- quently with electric light and built-in furniture Is com* pared with a mere weather-proof structure built with single I I THE aMODERN house 27 floors, no closets, and few or no niOLlern improvements. Many. more trades and much more equit>fnenl than formerly now go into the building: of a comfortable house. It is the amomifc and the kind of equipment that increases the cost; a house 30 by 40 feet may be made to cost S3,(KK) or 510,000, according to the beauty and finish of interior woodwork, floors, and walls, the amount of plumljing, the number and kind of fixtures selected, or the kind of heating plant installed, SUGGESTIONS POK MAKING ALTERATIONS Any person who expects to make alterations in a liouse should begin to ponder improvements a !ong time in advance- The first step should l>e an accurately measured reconl of the present floor plans, drawn at a scale of one-c]uarter inch to the foot. The exact size and position of walls, openings, closets, chinxne>*H, or other existing features should be located on these drawings, which may then be studied by comparing them with other good plans found in books antl magasiines. Tissue paper or tracing paper may then be placed over the drawings and alteration sketches freely made. A tlozen arrangements may thus be tried on paper, hung on the wall, and considered at leisure. These plans sliould be supplemented by a building- book in which one may keep measurements, written data, and new ideas as they occur. In this book, clippings may be [tasted and sketches may be freely made. These plans and this book correspond in a rude way to the architect's drawings and specifications, and will serve to crystallize the alterations into definite form. Generations of l>uilding experience have shown that suc- cessful results must be based on definite instructions. No man's memory should Ije trusted for measurements or other information, and verbal directions should not be given to workmen. Building operations are exceedingly definite; walls and opc*nings when in place cannot be moved one inch in order to suit a piece of furniture or to make way for an altered notion* All these experimental ideas should be worked out on paper. As the owner studies over alteration problems, the best 28 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKING /»■ arrangeiiient will at lenpt^i tako sfmpe in his own minti. intelligible home-made drawitijj; and an explieit written list of ht8 requirements may then l>e put in shape, so that tlie ear- penter or eontmeror can make a fairfy accurate estimate of I the cost before work Ls l>eg;un. In order to obtain the Ixist ■ results, the owner should read up, in reliable books^ such sub- jeets as waterworks and heating systems and should freely M investigate eafitlogues of equipment, |