A NOVELTY IN HOUSES.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1920, Page 6

A NOVELTY IN HOUSES.

, NEW BUILDTNG METHODS AT DEVONPORT. A novelty in building construction is to be seen at Dovonporl, where the erection is in progress of a house consisting of one-piece concrete walls, each weighing i tons loewf. (says the Auckland Star). The process is comparatively simple, t,he time and cost involved are said to be considerably less than under ordinary methods.

Briefly, the operation ifi follows: — Adjacent to the site of the proposed building the flooring of one of the rooms is laid out on beams, and forms a platform over which paper is spread. Reinforced concrete is then laid on to the required thickness, and its top surface smoothed over, provision having been made for the necessary window and door spaces by the insertion of the frames, a special device being introduced to prevent moisture getting fetTrough at the heads and sides of these-apertures. The slab takes about a wtiek or ten days to set, after which the newly prepared wall is covered with a wooden frame that is joined to the beams under the flooring. The '"cradle and all" is then dragged by an endless chain on a mast into the required upright position and fastened to concrete pileß standing on concrete foundation stones. The cradle and flooring are then taken down. Each wall has a ledge nec.r the base on which the floor joists are to rest. Certain reinforcing projects from each slab to strengthen the grouting which connects one wall with another l . All the wood used in the preparation and erection of the bare walls is utilised in the house. The material necessary for the making of twelve concrete walls enclosing the four lower rooms in this particular house will cost less than ,-ClOOj and it is anticipated that the job, which included three wooden attic rooms, will he finished at a cost under £I2OO. In consequence of improvements in methods initiated during this venture, which is lielievetl to he the first of its kind in New Zealand, it is stated that the cost per room of future concrete homes, which may be of any desired design, will be considerably less than in this case. With an ample supply of cement assured and proper facilities, it is declared that orders either for singled-walled or double-walled concrete houses—the latter for damp localities—could be executed at a fortnight's notice. ! The originator of the concrete house lis Lieutenant A. W, Thomas, M.C., j architect. Auckland, who conceived the iden on the battlefields of France after erecting a gigantic pill-box in record I time.