Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 180, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 July 1910 — The American Home WILLIAM A. RADFORD Editor [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The American Home WILLIAM A. RADFORD Editor

Mr. William A Radford win answer questions and give advice FREE OF COST on all subjects pertaining to the subject of building for the readers of this paper. On account of his wide experience as Editor, Author and Manufacturer, he Is, without doubt, the highest authority on all these subjects. Address all Inquiries to "William A. Radford, No. 194 Fifth Ave., Chicago, 111., and only enclose two-cent stamp for reply. To any one alive the developments in the building world there is nothing more striking than the steady growth of the quality idea during the past ten or fifteen years. Where formerly home builders were satisfied with makeshift construction and with the cheap though gaudy effects in building there has. come to be a general demand for the best grades of material and the most thorough workmanship united to form substantial, permanent structures.. Take the medium-sized dwelling house, for instance, such as the average family requires; a generation ago $2,000 would probably have been the top figure considered proper for its cost Today no one would think of spending less than twice that amount if he would build with an eye to permanent use or future sale. The increased cost of labor and materials has had something to do with this, it is true, but not so much as is sometimes thought No; It is the added comforts and the higher standard of quality all the way through that have brought this about. Modern plumbing and fixtures, modern heating systems, modern lighting, cemented basements, permanent fireproof roofing, hardwood floors; all these, which are the luxuries of yesterday but the necessities of today, mark the advancing standards of building; and the general building public now reallze- what the carpenters and bnlldlng contractors have known all along—-

that quality building is the only kind which pays. As a natural companion to this idea of quality building there has developed also an increasing demand for permanency and enduring qualities in building work. The demand for fireproof construction has become more and more insistent every year until now houses which may be considered fireproof, at least as far as the out side fire hazard is concerned, are very common. The building of a home almost always requires saving and sacrifice on the part of all in the family, and it is quite natural that they should

want to build as securely as possible so that all their labor and savings may not be wiped out in flame. The development of Portland cement during recent years has done more to help along this fireproofing campaign than any other single factor. At the prevailing prices of the material entering into concrete construction, via., Portland cement. Band and gravel, substantial fireproof houses are being put up at a cost only about ten or fifteen per cent greater than for ordinary frame buildings of tlil« same design and slask «... . 1

The accompanying design shows a very attractive, well-built hmise, planned on thoroughly modern lines and constructed in such a way as to be as nearly fire resisting as any house could well be. Concrete blocks are used for the foundation and first story, while the second story is of cement plaster on nmtal lath. The roof is of dark green slate. It can

be easily seen that a house of these materials would be In no danger from adjacent buildings if they should be on fire. It is Interesting to note in this connection that statistics show three-fourths of our enormous fire loss in this country to be due to fire spreading from one building to another. In the numerous tests made in the U. S. government testing laboratories concrete has been proved to be

absolutely fire resisting, and not only In a laboratory but also In actual work concrete has demonstrated its fireproofing qualities in the moßt convincing manner. This house is 24 feet 8 inches in width and 32 feet 8 inches in length. It contains three large rooms, alcove and pantry on the first floor and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The floor plan shows the arrangement of these rooms to be both comfortable and convenient The estimated cost of this house, using good quality oak flooring downstairs and edge grain yellow pine flooring upstairs and hardwood trim throughout is $3,000.

Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan