The rapid increase in population, and especially in its density, the congestion in great cities, with the consequent building up of suburbs; and the equally rapid upward tendency in the scale of comfort, are factors of modern civilization which make the work of the builder and contractor increasingly complex. The good builder is probably much commoner than ever before, in spite of the popular impression that building materials are poorer and that construction work is more often “scamped” than they used to be. Increased transportation facilities make the builder much less dependent on local and often inadequate materials. And there has been a change in the theory and practice of government: the old easy-going policy has been abandoned, and new laws, strictly enforced, have resulted in such inspection and control of building operations as would have seemed tyranny to the builder of a generation ago and as make modern buildings, especially in cities, much safer than ever before. Insurance companies have done much to the same end.
There is a general prejudice against the modern builder on the part of the temperamental “praiser of the past.” Occasionally similar complaints are made even against the builders of the past. Kipling sings:
The mere duration of the pyramids, undamaged except by the hand of man, is an answer to such a charge; and in the Britannica article Pyramid the reader will find (Vol. 22, p. 683) that even where the hidden material was rubbly or of mud bricks, “the casings were not a mere veneer, but were of massive blocks, usually greater in thickness than in height”—in other words, that the construction was of the best character.
But the builder must be a far better-informed man under present conditions than ever before. To give him the necessary information there is a large and growing literature ranging from builders’ and contractors’ pocket manuals to special periodicals. This literature is expensive, and like all special literature puts the intending purchaser in a difficult position, for if he buys it all, he must pay much more than the returns from his purchase warrant, and he will then have to read it all and use his own judgment in deciding what is best. If he does not buy all, he must be an expert, not merely in every branch of his business but in the bibliography of his business, to make a wise selection,—and if he is sufficiently expert for this he will probably need no such library. But he will find, to a remarkable degree, the best of all that there is in such special literature in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, with the strongest assurance of its being authoritative, and with the certainty that for an outlay, small in comparison with what he would make for such special information elsewhere, he will get the guidance that he needs for his work and also information as excellent on any other subject that he or any member of his family may wish to pursue.
The key or foundation article for the builder or contractor is Building (Vol. 4, p. 762), by James Bartlett, lecturer on construction, etc., King’s College, London, who has contributed other articles on related topics. The article deals with:
The relation of building to architecture and with building laws and special types of plans according to local governmental requirements
The conditions necessary for a successful building, namely—ease of access, good light, good service, pleasing environment and approaches, minimum cost with true economy, and, for office buildings, ease of arrangement to suit tenants
Construction, its general principles
Materials of construction, especially stone and brick
Particular objects of construction
Foundation walls
Footings to walls
General procedure for an intended building
Builder’s sphere
American building acts
Fire-resisting construction.
This general article is supplemented by the following articles:
Foundation, containing 13 diagrams and paragraphs on: load on foundation; trial boring; construction; types—concrete piers, pile foundations, concrete piles, plank foundations, caissons, well foundations, coffer dams, dock foundations, cantilever foundations, building on sand (at Cape Henlopen, Delaware)
Masonry, with 18 diagrams, and with special treatment of tools, including hammers, mallets, saws, chisels, setting tools, hoisting appliances; of seasoning stone; of setting stones; of use of mortar; of bonding; slip joints; footings; walling; random; coursed rubble, ashlar, etc.; backing to stone work; pointing and stonewash. There is also a brief vocabulary of technical terms and a discussion of methods of facing; joints; cramps; dowels; joggles; stone arches; tracery and carving; and the articles Ashlar, Rag-stone, Random
Cement, with 3 figures; description and analysis of Pozzuolanic and Portland cement; mixing; loading of kilns; types of kilns; cement clinker; testing; hydraulic lime; Roman cement; natural cements; Passow cement; uses of hydraulic cement; calcium sulphate cements
Concrete, with 16 illustrations and paragraphs on constituents; proportions; mixing; moulds; depositing; strength; durability; convenience and appearance; resistance to fire; cost; artificial stones; steel concrete, including columns, piles, beams, floor slabs, etc.; concrete arches
Mortar, with sections on slaking; hardening; magnesia in mortar; strengths; adhesion, decay, effects of salt and frost; legal restrictions; limes and cements for mortar
Brick, with sections on brick-clays and brick-making
Brickwork, with 15 diagrams; sections on hollow walls; materials and labor; varieties of bricks; strength of brickwork; mortar; pointing; footing; binding; prevention of damp; arches and plates; chimneys and flues; brick paving
House, with 17 illustrations
Carpentry, with 36 diagrams showing joints, notching, cogging, dovetail, housing, halving, mortise, tenons, wedging, dowelling, turning-piece, lintel, floors, strutting, partition, half timber construction, braced frame; and descriptive text on these and other topics
Steel Construction, with 4 illustrations; sections on skeleton and steel-cage construction; local laws; protection from corrosion; columns; girders; floors; windbracing; materials; floor-filling; partitions; time and cost of construction
Stone, with sections on constitution, colour, testing, preservatives, natural bed, seasoning, varieties, artificial stone
Marble, a descriptive article, about 4000 words long
Granite, with descriptions and analyses of typical granites
Limestone, about 2500 words
Timber, with paragraphs on: felling timber, conversion of timber—with diagram of bastard and quarter sawing; seasoning; defects; decay; preservation of timber; varieties, with description of the principal coniferous and hard woods—and separate articles on Pine, Fir, Larch, Cedar, Birch, Beech, Chestnut, Walnut, Elm, Teak, Mahogany, Maple, etc.
Chimney-piece
Scaffold, with 4 figures; sections on bricklayers’ and masons’ scaffolds, material, erection, gantries, derrick towers, cradles, chimney scaffolds, accidents
Shoring, with 8 figures; sections on raking shores; braces, horizontal or flying shores; needle, vertical and dead, shoring; rules and sizes for all shores
Staircase, divided into architecture and construction, the latter having 4 diagrams, description of dog-legged or newel stair, open newel stair, geometrical stair, circular stair, spiral stairs; a defining vocabulary of technical terms; concrete and stone; moving inclines; local building laws
Elevator, with 3 illustrations; paragraphs on history; construction, essentials of design; safety devices; traveling staircases; freight elevators
Roofs, with 23 figures and two plates; with sections on forms of roof, trusses, open timber roofs, mansards; iron roofs, covering materials—felt corrugated iron, zinc, lead, copper, “tin,” slate, tiles, miscellaneous—weight of roofs, building laws; and separate articles on Slate, Tile, Tin, Tin Plate, etc.
Plaster Work, with paragraphs on lathing, metal lathing, limes, hair, substitutes for hair, sand, external work, rough stucco, roughcast or pebble-dash, sgraffito, internal work, three coats, moulding, cracks, slabs, fibrous plaster.
Joinery, with 13 illustrations, and treating such topics as: tools and materials; joints, mitre, dovetail, etc.; warping; moulding; flooring, including wood block and parquet; skirting, dados; picture rails; windows, bay windows; shutters; shop-fronts; doors; church work; ironmongery, including hinges, locks, etc.
Wall Coverings, with sections on marble wall-lining, mosaic, tiles, metal sheeting, tapestry, wall-papers—and see Mural Decoration.
Painter-Work, dealing with paint bases, vehicles, thinners, driers, pigments, enamel, paints, woodwork paints, varnish, gums, French polishes, putty, tools, workmanship, graining, marbling, painting on plaster and on iron, repainting on old work, blistering and cracking, distemper, gilding, etc.
Lighting, with sections on oil, gas and electric lighting
Heating, with sections on open fires, closed stoves, gas fires, electrical heating, oil stoves, low pressure hot water, high pressure hot water, steam heating, hot water supply, safety valves, geysers, incrustation, Lockport central steam supply
Ventilation, with sections on rate of air consumption, ventilation of buildings, with table; chimney draught; other outlets; inlets; window and door ventilation; arrangements in barracks, in public buildings, exhaust cowls; extraction of vitiated air; fans; water spray ventilation; extraction by hot-air shaft; measurement of air; systems in public buildings
Both the builder and contractor will find valuable information to govern their financial relations with their clients in the article Building Societies, of which the American part is by Carroll D. Wright, late United States Commissioner of Labor.
The contractor will find the following articles of importance to him, in addition to those of more particular interest for the builder:
- Surveying
- Geodesy
- Bridges
- Cantilever
- Caisson
- Cofferdam
- River Engineering
- Harbour
- Divers and Diving Apparatus
- Docks
- Dredges
- Breakwater
- Tunnel
- Canal
- Road
- Lighthouse
- Irrigation
- Reclamation of Land
and the article Railway, with the other articles on railway construction listed in the chapter For Railroad Men in this Guide.
For an alphabetical list of the principal articles and topics of interest to builders and contractors, see the end of the chapter For Architects in this Guide.