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

Estimating Frame And Brick Houses

External Wood Finish

Under this head may be considered windows and outside doors and frames, gablings, cornices, verandas, railings, balconies, lattices, steps and balustrades. Commencing with the front, as exhibited in Fig. 1, we find the front or entrance steps to average 10 feet in length, the treads covering 1 foot in width and having a rise of 7 inches. There are three treads and four risers, and as the treads are 2 inches thick they will measure 60 feet of lumber, which, added to four risers and the stuff required to make coves under the nosings of treads, will make about 100 feet of clear lumber. Then we have the strings to provide, two for outside and two bearing strings. These will require 30 feet of stuff, making a total of 130 feet of good lumber, together w ith 3 pounds of nails, and one and a half days' work for one man to make, set in place and finish, the stuff, of course, being run through the mill for him. From these figures the total cost of entrance steps may be readily obtained.

The porch steps and platform entering the dining room from the rear consist of three steps 6 feet long and 12 inches wide by 2 inches thick. These will require 18 feet of lumber, and four risers 6 inches wide will make 12 feet more, and the platform, 3x6 = 18 feet; strings, bearers, moldings and side casings will add another 54 feet to the lot, making a total of 102 feet. It will require about 4 pounds of nails to build the steps, and will take a man two days to build and place them.
Front Veranda.

We now come to the front veranda, with balcony over the front door. There are 14 posts below and 4 above, making a total of 18 square posts 6x6 inches by 10 feet = 30 X 18 = 540 feet. The cornice measures around the veranda about 56 feet, and the upper cornice or balcony about 33 feet, making a total of 89 feet of cornice, which is fairly correct. To make this cornice, including plate, frieze, soffit and fascia moldings, will require 21/2 feet of stuff for every foot in length, which will make a total of stuff required for cornice of 243 feet. One hundred feet of stuff will be wanted for rails, and it will require no square balusters 11/2 inches by 2 feet. These will measure 50 feet in the plank. Besides this there will be required about 12 feet of stuff for caps of balcony posts, rosettes, etc. This, then, makes a total for front veranda:

Feet.
Posts 540
Cornice 243
Rails 100
Balusters 50
Caps, etc 12
Total 945

or in round numbers 1000 feet. This figure, of course, does not include roof boards, flooring or rafters, all these being estimated under rough lumber.