Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 82, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 January 1919 — MAKE OLD HOUSE MODE UP-TO-DATE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MAKE OLD HOUSE MODE UP-TO-DATE

Modem Exterior Will Double Real Estate Value. * IMPROVEMENTS EASILY MADE Many Different Waye In Which the Exterior of a House Can Be Changed to Add to Ita Attractiveness. Mr. William A. Radford will answer questions and give advice FBEB 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. 1827 Prairie avenue, Chicago, 111., and only enclose three-cent stamp for reply. There are several different reason? for making an alteration to a house. It may be that more room Is required the outside may look shabby and bt out of style and additional porch room may be desired, or some part of th«

house may be damaged and need te placing, etc. The exterior appearance of tht house may be changed in many differ ent ways. If more room is desired ar extension of some sort may he added This may be on afiy side of the houst desired that space permits. An additional story may be added or rooms placed in the attic by getting extra rooir 4Jmre by means of adding a dormer; or n*\it is a low roof it may be raised and wV nrifUHufliii sandwiched in between. __ The appearance of the entire building is sometimes altered by a slight change in roof design—a. little more overhang or a hipped end changed to a gable end, etc. A new porch can be added, and this will largely change the exterior appearance of the house; or a portion of the old porch can be glassed in for a sun parlor. A sleeping porch can be added or part of the walls removed and additional windows put in to make the sleeping porch, etc. The body of the house itself can be altered in appearance and at the same time preserved by recovering the outside. The old shingle?,, clapboards, etc., may be in bad condition, and these may be removed and a new covering put on of wide or narrow clapboards, shingles, stucco, brick veneer, etc. These materials may be used eith-

er singly or In combination so as t< produce an artistic effect as well a; being of practical use in covering th« bidding. Perhaps an open fireplace is desirec in some room. It can be built partlj inside and partly outside of the wall, where it can be made a very pictur esque part of the qxterior design. To preserve the house from the weather a good roof is essential. The existing roof may be in a bad state, and the best thing to do is to put on a new roof, and this also can be made an artistic feature, adding greatly to the appearance of the house. Even a very plain building can be rather attractive by the simple adding to it of 4 a little ornament —a few well-made pieces of lattice work, a little cornice, etc:, will give it an artistic look that it lacked before. A very neat, cheap and satisfactory way of overcoating a building is by us* ing the chipped-slate asphalt roofing that can be bought in strips by the roll, usually 32 inches wide and 48 feet long. Red and a grayish green seem to'be the most common colors.

It is useful In producing half-timbered effects In gables, at but slight expense, and even at a close view it is taken for stucco work. A very interesting example where this material has been used for siding is shown In the illustrations of a little cottage which was first built as economically as possible without sheathing, but leaving building paper under the drop siding and against the studs. • This little cottage looked very neat, as the owner kept it well painted, but it was not what one would call artistic, and It was rather cold in winter. It was changed as shown in the second picture and one .would hardly know It was the same house. Nothing on the Inside was changed, as that exactly suited the needs of the occupants. The changes to the outside weremade as follows: First, a piece of tar paper was tacked over the drop siding to a height just a little above the window sills, then a piece of 2-by-2-inch finishing lumber was nailed as a belt course on the drop 6lding at the same height as the window sills, and in reality forming a continuation of them,, aldo continuing as the porch rail. Above this belt-course strip the ready roofing was applied directly nailed on the drop siding, and as the ronterial is thick and weatherproof, It certainly keeps out the wind. Care must be taken to break the points s» that they would all be covered with the wood strips. The window casing

and corner boards were pried off so that the roofing would be covered when they were nailed back in place again. The wood strips are of l-by-4-lnch dressed finishing lumber. At the bottom between the panel strips and window casings pieces of %-inch quarter round are inserted to finish it off neatly and cover the tacks at the bottom edge of the roofing. Below the belt course 6-inch bevel siding, lapped 2 inches, has to be used, and it will be noticed that the bevel siding goes down near to the ground and it was lapped over the foundation wall. Nailing l-by-2-inch furring strips securely to the drop siding, with here and there a spike through the strips into the foundation walls, made a secure nailing surface for the bevel siding. * The old porch rail and columns were removed and the siding continued out. being nailed to a framework of studs. The top rail is a piece of finished 2 by 6 inch and the columns plain 4 by 4 inch, with a little mitered molding at the top and %-inch quarter round at the bottom. This was more in keeping with the design than the round columns if they were cut off. To give the inside of the porch a finished appearance, the siding was continued around the inside as well. The little gable window, divided di>

agonally, is just a little touch that adds to the attractiveness of this de* sign, as it is in hahnony with the timbered-work effect. The window alsc serves a very practical purpose, as when it is opened in the summertime it allows the air to circulate and keeps the house cooler. In this particular house the siding was placed rough side out and stained a light brown, as were also the roof shingles. Green chipped slate roofing was used, and all the strips and other trim were painted white, and it certainly made a very wonderful change in the appearance of the little home, and, best of gll, it was so much warmer in the winter, as besides being covered with another thickness of material, a number of closed air spaces were made. While the expense of the improvement was nominal, it added several hundred dollars to the value, of the house. ' The same sort of an improvement can be applied to a number of little homes, adding greatly to one’s comfort and pride. .Of course, different materials may be made use of and th* design carried, out differently.

Before Remodeling.

After Remodeling.