Chap. V.

SANITARY ASrECT OF HOUSE

CONSTRUCTION.
1091
tending from the ground-line to within a few feet of the eaves of the roof. It is separated
from the corridor by two arches, whose centre pier contains a dust shaft, traversing tlie
entire height of the building, and communicating with the ceHar above named in the base-
ment. It is li inches wide within, open above the roof for ventilation, and is furnished
with a hopper, which receives the dust, and closing flush with the wall at each floor level.
3025. The lavatories adjoin the staircase, those for the men on one side, for the women
on the other. The fourth or topmost floor contains a laundry, about 22 feet long by 12
feet wide, covered with an open timber roof, the tie-beams having standards helping to
support it, and serving as clothes posts. It is lighted by a range of small casements, ad-
mitting air sufficient to remove any unpleasantness that might arise from the laundry, and
to thoroughly dry the clothes. It is furnished with eight sets of wash tubs, some being
separated by slate partitions, for privacy
;
eight 10-gallon coppers
;
eight wringing ma-
chines, or a patent hydrometer ; trellis framed standing boards; s-ools (as being better
than tables) for clothes baskets; soap boxes and ladles. This floor also contains a bath-
room for each sex, placed over the lavatories; it is furnished with one of Ruffbrd and
Finch's stoneware baths, and has a service of cold water. Hot water is supplied from the
laundry when required. A cistern lined with lead adjoins each bath-room, and also
supplies the lavatories below it ; this position secures a direct fall to the several services,
and avoids the necessity for frequent bends and joints.
3026. The main drains are 12 or 9 inches in diameter ; the smaller drains, kept as short
as. possible, are 6 and 4 inches, according to their requirements. The ventilation is secured
by the side corridor having a window at each end of it, and by the open staircase in the
middle of its length, all which forbid stagnation and remove impurities. These very prac-
tical observations are mainly due to the paper by H, A. Darbishire, who has designed several
blocks of dwellings in ihe metropolis, as given, with illustrations of those in Commercial
Street, Whitechapel Road, in the Civil Engineer, &c. for 1864.
Sect. X.
SANITARY ASPECT OF HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
3027. This subject may usefully be referred to. Granting that a house is well drained
and that the plumber's work is properly carried out, there are yet other matters to be con-
sidered, so that a house may be a heahhy residence. It should have plenty of light,
plenty of air at all times, pure and dry, or at least as much so as possible. During the
period when the number of windows and the glass in them were each taxed, large win-
dows were advocated
;
but as soon as both were taken off, a change of fashion occurred,
and small windows and small panes were again introduced. As regards street architecture,
it is important that the houses should be erected of a height bearing a direct relation to
the breadth of the street in which they are situated. Perhaps the height of the house
should not exceed two-thirds of the width. As regards the direction of a street, the best
is one nearly north and south, as the sun shines on a house on the west side from morn-
ing till mid-day in the front, and from mid-day till the evening on t he back of it. In the
other case, the houses on the south side get scarcely any direct sunlight, in winter none
at all in front ; while those on the nortii side get none to the back rooms. Hence, large
windows are necessary to compensate, by giving as much light as possible, for the direct
sunlight which is necessary to make an apartment wholesome.
3028. Purity of air cannot be maintained in a house unless it be thoroughly dry. Set-
ting aside the not inconsiderable qunntity of water in the atmosphere produced by those
living in it, and by the combustion of gas, oil, and candles, the air in a house is liable to
be rendered moist, 1, by absorption from the soil below ii ; and
2,
from the porous material
of which it may be built.
3029. The porosity of most building stones and bricks is remarkable. A cubic foot of
stone will absorb from 5 to 9 lbs. of water, or from half a gallon to nearly one gallon.
The absorption by certain kinds of stone is so rapid that in slight f-howers the water is
all imbibed; and if the surfice be kept wet by constant rains, a largo portion must find
its way inwards, Freestone also allows of the passage of air or other gas by transpira-
tion and diff'usion
;
also bricks, unless these have been exposed to a temperature high
enough to flux the material. The quantity of air diffused into and out of a house by the
walls is very considerable. If the stone be coated with oil, paint, or any silicate solution,
and the absorption be prevented, the valuable property of diffusing air into the house is
prevented. Hollow vrills may secure these advantages. These may be of brick, or of
concrete, or of stone outside and brick inside. In some parts of the country the material
is laid with beds slightly sloping upwarJs somewhat to counteract the effects of the raio,
especially when blown from the south-west
;
perhaps the two incheis of the bed of the
stnne on the oiits'de miplit he bevelled, and the renijunder be worked level.