HOW TO MAKE CONCRETE BUILDINGS.

Southland Times, Issue 1672, 6 December 1872, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOW TO MAKE CONCRETE BUILDINGS.

A very substantial and cheap building may be put up with concrete, which is a mixture of hydraulic lime, sand, and coarse gravel or broken stones. Common lime may be used for common farm buildings, or even for dwellings, but it is not nearly so durable when exposed to the weather ; hydraulic lime should be used for a good building. It has also been found that broken limestone is better than any stone to use in concretes, a more perfect adhesion being formed between the particles. The proper proportions to be mixed are — 20 parts of hydraulic lime mixed to a paste with water, 30 parts of washed sand, and 50 parts of broken stone or gravel. The chips from limestone quarries make the very best material for concrete. No more should be mixed at once than can be used in a day, as it hardens very rapidly. To proceed to build, the foundation must be made, and the courses laid on it in a box or mould. This mould is laid in place ; the cement already mixed is shovelled in and beaten down with a rammer even with the top of the mould, which is then moved into place laying the next block. The mould, being open at one end, laps a few inches over the end of the first block, which holds it in place and permits a close joint to be made. When the first round is laid, two small sticks are laid across the blocks, and the mould rests upon them till filled. These sticks, when the building is completed, are sawn off close to the wall, and if it is desired to nail anything to the wall, they will furnish ahold for the nails. As the walls are carried up, the door and window-frames are laid in their places. This process is so simple that any intelligent mason is competent to carry it out. The important point is to get the materials of the right sort and mix them properly. The size of the blocks may be as desired, and as the material is very strong and sets very quickly, eight to twelve inches is sufficient thickness for a wall of any ordinary dwelling-house. When common lime ia used instead of hydraulic lime, more time must be given for the concrete to set. — American Agriculturist.