COST OF LIVING IN RELATION TO COST OF BUILDING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1057, 15 June 1912, Page 3

COST OF LIVING IN RELATION TO COST OF BUILDING.

i (To the Editor.) f

Sir. — Now that the “Cost of Living Commission” is sitting, it would perhaps interest your readers to hear a little about one of the primary causes of the increase in the cost of living generally. Under this heading largely looms the rent question in the case ot the tenant and interest in the case of the landlord, and the object ot this letter is to show that the question of rent and interest is simply a matter of economy in building. The cause ot high rents is the natural result ot buildings of a temporary nature, and as such all wooden buildings must be classed. The life ot a woodeu building being very short, the time in which to provide for depreciation is short in proportion and the result, high rents and, incidentally, a high rate of fire insurance. How then effect economy ? By selecting for the construction of your building, materials which will stand the test of time, by making the building ot a permanent nature instead oi a temporary one, by avoiding as far as possible materials of an organic nature and substitute minerals. Such material must be reasonably cheap and must be capable of being shaped into the various forms required at a reasonable expense, it must be earthquake, fire and dampproof. The material which embodies all these good points without any drawbacks, is concrete. Concrete is undoubtedly the cheapest building material of the present time, permanency considered. The excuse offered on behalf of the woodeu structures, that they are better able to withstand earthquakes than any other form of building, no longer holds good. Reinforced concrete has proved itself to be superior to even the steelframed buildings, inasmuch that, apart from being earthquake proof, it is impervious to acids, damp or fire. Concrete again (price considered) is the only material of a mineral nature, which offers no obstacles to the ambition of the designer, in fact it may be said that it almost too readily lends itself to all sorts of uses, and whenever used intelligently it is giving absolute satisfaction. But concrete is a treacherous material when left to the care of the dishonest or careless. Too much stress cannot be laid upon this point, the success or otherwise of concrete whether used In building or for other purposes, depends entirely upon the intelligent and honest use of the material. Success may be divided into two parts, viz., success financially and (2) success structurally. Success structurally does not necessarily mean success financially and vice versa. The two combined is the ideal. To obtain the ideal it is necessary that the user should know what he is about, and this is what has up to the present proved to be Ihe stumbling block to the universal use of concrete. The point, unskilled laboui, has been dwelled upon to a quite unreasonable extent, and the word “unskilled” has been literally translated to mean unintelligent, and concrete work has been entrusted to unintelligent men with disastrous results, and invariably the material and not the man has-been blamed. The successful use of concrete for all classes of work depends on the scientific and economic application of concrete and reinforcements to suit the requirements. With all these points carefully considered, and the work carefully and honestly performed, there is no doubt as to the value of concrete as building material, and whereas other materials deteriorate with age, concrete improves. This, then, is the result, that where the value of the woodeu structure is constantly decreasing and has to be provided for, the value of the concrete structure remains, and the extra initial outlay is more than compensated for, as shown in the following example ; —The additional cost of concrete over wood, in the case of a cottage erected some time ago, was 10 per cent. We have then : Cost ot cottage erected in wood in the usual way, /)5 OCj ; yearly upkeep, including painting every four years at the rate of £$ in 20 years, ; depreciation in value at the end of 20 years, £2OO ; fire insurance on in 20 years, approximately at the end of twenty years, and the value of the cottage reduced to The actual cost of erecting this cottage, in concrete, was ; yearly upkeep, £2, in 20 years, ,£4O; depreciation, nil , fire insurance on ,£575 iu twenty years approximately £lB, a total of £6OB, represents the expenditure on the concrete cottage at the end of twenty years and value remains, there being no depreciation. These are indisputable facts as to the value and economical use of concrete for all purposes, and 1 will leave it to the reader to work out for himself, how far this would effect the rent and the cost of living.—l am, etc O. A. JORGENSON. Architect.