The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Estimating Frame And Brick Houses

Basis of Calculation.

It must be understood that all the calculations made with regard to the floors are made on the basis of 1-inch stuff and for face measure. If heavier stuff is employed some extra allowance must be made for laying the floor, as it takes more cutting and is heavier to handle. The increase in price for every quarter inch in thickness is about 254 per cent. That is, instead of laying down 4 squares per day, as with i-inch stuff, the workman will only be able to lay down 3 9-10 squares if he uses 11/4-inch stuff, and so on for each quarter of an inch. For hard woods the percentage is very much greater, amounting fully to from 71/2 to 10 per cent, difference. The estimator will note this fact. Certainly it is not much, but it is these small differences multiplied that measure the distance between profit and loss on a job of work of any magnitude.

Having the roof on, the floors all laid, the partitions up and the grounds in place, with all the necessary door and window frames set, it will be in order to lath and plaster the building throughout. As we have boarded up the gables, though not finished them, there is but little danger of either floors or the plastering being injured by the weather.

Plastering for Brick House

We will next proceed to " figure up " the plastering and find out how many yards the building contains, including basement and attic.

In order to get the exact number of square yards of plastering there are in this house it will be necessary to commence in the basement and take each room by itself, measuring the walls and ceilings separately. By this method w e w ill be able to arrive very closely to the exact figures. It is understood that all the brick and stone walls throughout the whole building are to be " rendered " or plastered one coat on their inner faces before the strapping and grounds are fastened in place. It will not be necessary, however, for us to make a special measurement of this " rendering," as the plasterer when tendering for the work by the yard makes his charge per yard enough to cover any extra expei se the rendering will entail.

Commencing with the basement, we find the front or cellar part to be 8 feet 6 inches in the clear in hight, and taking the front wall as a starter we have 25 feet X 8 feet 6 inches = 2121/2 feet. 1 his being divided by 9 feet will give the number of yards in the front wall, thus: 212 : 9 = 23 5-9 yards. It will be noticed we have left out the fraction of a foot, as plasterers seldom count the smaller fraction either way. The left hand wall measures 22 feet X 8 feet 6 inches = 187 feet : 9 = 20 7-9 yards.