CONCRETE BUILDINGS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 390, 12 September 1874, Page 3

CONCRETE BUILDINGS.

The subject of the great advantages of concrete over stone or brick for building purposes, has been brought immediately under the attention of the people of Lawrence lately in the appliances to which, concrete has been put in the buildings being erected by Mr. " Alexander Humphrey, viz., Hayes and Kofoed's malting house, and the Courthouse. In arecent issue of the "North Otago Times" we observed the following letter from the pen of Edward S. Lees, of Matupuna, on the Bubject of concrete buildings, and thinking it of considerable importance, we give it a place in our columns :—: — " Sir, — In a recent issue of your paper there appeared a letter signed 'Beton,' asking for information as to the value of concrete as a building material, its adaptability for fa™ buildings, and its coat. I have waited to see if any better acquainted with the subject than myself would supply the desired information, but as no one has come forward I will endeavour to answer ' Beton's ' queries. In reply to the first and second questions, I would answer most unhesitatingly Yes — with this proviso : that if once erected, there the building remains, as it cannot be moved like a wooden one, though I don't consider this much of a drawback. As to cost, I believe in places where the price of timber is high, and the cartage would be a considerable item in the expense of building in wood, that concrete would be nearly as cheap a material, supposing the materials for its construction were at hand. Where stone and shingle and gravel are equally accessible, 1 am of • opinion that concrete would bo one-third cheaper,and infinitely superior to Oamaru stone. It would be difficult to give an estimate as to the cost of erecting a concrete building, which could be generally applied, as the distance which the materials --stone, gravel or Bhingle, and sand — would have to be carted, would make the cost of building vary considerable. Perhaps the best way would be to give the quantity of materials used and amount of labor expended in a building I have lately erected on my farm. The said building is 24ft. by 14ft., with Bin. walls, 7ft. 6in. high. In its construction we used about six Ihree-horse loads of gravel, three or four loads of bluestone, and five and a-half barrels of cement, and as much sand for plastering. It took one man six half-days to fill in the frames after the foundation was put in ; two men were occupied about one and a-half hour each day in taking down the frames filled the previous day, and raising them to their next position ; and one man was employed about two days in plastering the walls. To this must be added the expense of door and window frames and the necessary labor for putting them in position ; and the use of th 6 frames must be charged against the building, but as these will last for some time,, or may. be used in flooring or roofing, this item would not be very Wvy. lam favorably situated as re-

gards materials for concrete building, but taking carting and labor at fair prices, I consider the cost of the walla described was not much over £20. The great advantage of concrete buildings, in my opinion, are its great strength — an 8-inch wall being fully equal, 1 believe, to a 12inch one of brick or stone. To give some idea of its strength I may state that I have used it extensively in erecting pigsties, and have made the troughs of it. These have been formed by building on the floor, also of concrete, a narrow partition across one end ,of each stye parallel with the front wall, and attached to the division walls at each end, and to the front wall by a cross partition, dividing the trough in half. This partition is 6 feet long, 6 inches high, 3 inches wide at the bottom and two inches at the top, and it has withstood the attacks of heavy pigs for some months, and is now apparently of the consistency and hardness of granite. Such a trough made of Oamaru stone would have disappeared long ago, as pigs appear to relish it as a condiment with their other food. Another advantage of concrete is its dryness, being far more impervious to moisture than either brick or Oamaru stone ; ana lastly it requires little skilled labor in its construction. With a little mechanical skill in laying the foundation, putting in door and window frames, and keeping the walls perpendicular, any intelligent laborer can mix the materials and till the frames ; as to the making and setting the frames, method of filling, &c, to describe, this in detail would occupy more space in your paper than you might be willing to spare, but if ' Beton ' or anyone else, wishes for fuller information I shall be happy to supply it to the best of my ability, though I freely admit that I may not have the best plan, as when I commenced 1 had never seen any concrete work erected and, like most beginners, in several instances have made mistakes and had to pay for my experienc."