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 COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 TH 2031.M36 1905 
 
 Details of building construction / 
 
 3 1924 015 332 913 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015332913 
 
DETAILS OF 
 
 BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 
 
 BY 
 CLARENCE A. MARTIN 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 BATES & GUILD COMPANY 
 
 19 14 
 

 Ninth Thousand 
 
 Ar. 773 
 
 Property o f^^S^^ 
 ^College of Architecture J 
 
 ■"-. ^o^ieJUJniversity^,^ 
 Copyright, 1899, 1905 
 
 BY 
 
 Bates & Guild Company 
 
 Printed by 
 
 The Everett Press Company 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE author would have preferred to present this book to the public without a prefatory 
 note, had not some explanations seemed necessary in order to prevent misunderstanding. 
 The work is not the result of a deliberate attempt at book-making, undertaken with 
 "malice prepense," but is the outcome of the efforts made by a teacher of architectural construc- 
 tion to present a part of his subject to his students. The drawings, consisting originally of rough 
 sketches on large sheets of wrapping-paper, were at first used for temporary illustration only; 
 but the results proved so satisfactory that it seemed best to study the work more carefully and to 
 put it into more permanent form for class-room use. 
 
 This was undertaken some three years ago, still without thought of publication; and it was 
 only after the first sixteen plates in blue-print form had been used for some time that their favor- 
 able reception by students, and by others who learned of them through students, suggested that 
 they might prove useful to workers outside the college class-room. The revision and completion 
 of the work were accordingly undertaken. Two or three of the original plates have been redrawn; 
 but to redraw them all for the sake of uniformity and possible minor improvements would have 
 involved an amount of labor not justified by the advantage gained, and would have necessitated 
 a longer delay in publication than seemed advisable. In method of presentation, therefore, the 
 work still shows to a considerable extent the various stages of its progress through a period of full 
 three years. In other respects the attempt has been made, by means of careful revision in the 
 light of the best criticism available, supplemented by continuous study and independent investi- 
 gation, to present the best methods employed or recommended in present-day practice. 
 
 In scope the work limits itself to presenting only such details, principally in wood, as are in 
 common use in domestic architecture and in smaller public buildings. The subject of framing 
 has been entirely omitted, partly because it has been aptly treated elsewhere, partly because it 
 does not lend itself readily to the method of treatment here chosen. In the matter of design the 
 author wishes to put in a disclaimer. Nothing is further from his intention than an attempt to 
 dictate in a question of design, but it has been necessary to use design in order to show construc- 
 tion. Therefore, while every effort has been made to show only the good in design, it should be 
 borne in mind that the book is a treatise not on that subject but on construction. 
 
 In the method of presentation, the inconsistency arising from the fact that the work was 
 so long in a process of becoming, and that its final evolution into book form remained so long 
 unforeseen, has already been mentioned. The exact character of this inconsistency may be seen 
 by comparing the plates treating of windows with those treating of doors. In treating of windows 
 one plate is devoted to a certain type of window, with the corresponding details, then another 
 plate takes up a different type, and so on. When, however, the subject of doors is taken up, 
 one plate is devoted to types of doors, another to details of frames, another to details of panels, 
 etc. For this there was no remedy except the radical one of redrawing the plates; and the case 
 did not seem to warrant recourse to measures so heroic, since it is, after all, an open question 
 as to which method is the better. 
 
 The device of lettering the potes on the plates, instead of presenting them separately in 
 the form of text, was of necessity a part of the original idea, which contemplated only separate 
 plates; and when the work of revision was undertaken, it seemed wise to retain the scheme. It 
 is hoped that the obvious advantage of having the notes on the plates in close juxtaposition to 
 the drawings to which they refer will more than compensate for the disadvantages of an enforced 
 brevity so severe as to be almost incompatible with good English, and of an appearance of dog- 
 matism which the writer would have preferred, if possible, to avoid. That the notes must be read 
 in conjunction with the study of the drawings, if the latter are to be fully comprehended, would 
 seem to be a fact so obvious as to require no emphasis, had not some of the criticisms received 
 during the progress of the work revealed the fact that the notes had been neglected, despite the 
 device used for securing their perusal. 
 
In the matter of nomenclature care has been taken to use only such terms as are sanctioned 
 by the authority of the best writers on architecture and building, and to use them accurately, 
 not in the hope of bringing order out of the chaos of architectural terminology, but only in the 
 hope of escaping the accusation of having worse confounded the present deplorable confusion. 
 
 The drawings have been carefully prepared after a long, practical experience and with the 
 aid of one of the best Hbraries in this country, supplemented by a large collection of working 
 drawings from the offices of leading architects. No pains have been spared to free them as far 
 as possible from the taints of local practice; and while not all that is shown is unreservedly recom- 
 mended, great care has been taken not to include anything that has not the authority of good 
 practice, and that may not fairly be called good construction when the element of cost is consid- 
 ered. Some cheap methods of construction have been shown and recommended as good of their 
 kind. Such, for instance, are the wood sills shown on Plate VI., which have already been sub- 
 jected to adverse criticism, but which it seemed best, after mature consideration, to retain. The 
 wood sill in other than frame buildings has the same excuse for being as has the shingle roof — it 
 is cheap. It can of course be justified only on the score of expense; but it has the sanction of good 
 practice in sections of the country where cut stone js not easily and cheaply obtainable; it is painted 
 and treiated frankly as wood, and has stood the test of time. 
 
 It has' several times been suggested that the dimensions of parts be figured on the various 
 details throughout the work, but to the author this has seemed entirely too dogmatic a procedure. 
 As the sturdy Pennsylvania farmer builds his house with 3 x 5-inch studs, — if he does not build 
 of stone, — and does not think of extravagance, while the toiling dweller in the cyclone regions of 
 the West builds with 2 x 4-inch studs and wonders if he cannot safely space them 24 inches on 
 the centers, so the 2^ or 3-inch window-sill that is accepted as a matter of course in one section 
 would strike terror to the heart of the builder in the thriftier region where the 2-inch sill is an 
 extravagance. In order to make the drawings, however, it was necessary to show material of 
 definite size and thickness, and the dimensions chosen for the various parts have been made to 
 represent as nearly as possible the average of good practice. As everything has been most carefully 
 drawn to scale, the sizes used can be ascertained to a nicety by simply measuring them on the 
 drawing's. The type window, Plate IV., has been pretty fully figured, but beyond this it was felt 
 that figured dimensions would seem to be an attempt at finality that would tend to restrict the 
 liberty of choice and the exercise of individual judgment on the part of designer and constructor, 
 without which there can be no true progress. If the work is to be used simply as a copy-book 
 it must inevitably fail of its purpose, which in the intent of the author has been much broader. 
 
 In conclusion the author wishes to express his sense of obligation toward all those who 
 have so generously assisted him both directly and indirectly with their criticisms and suggestions 
 during the progress of the work, and his hope that the book will be found sufficiently helpful to 
 elicit further criticism looking towards the imorovement of future works of this character, 
 whether by the author or by others. C. A. M. 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y., May, igoj. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 I.— DETAILS OF AN ORDINARY CELLAR WINDOW IN A STONE WALL. 
 
 II.— DETAILS OF CELLAR WINDOW WITH SCREEN AND IRON GRILLE. 
 
 III.— DETAILS OF CELLAR WINDOWS AND BASE COURSES FOR FRAME COT- 
 TAGES. 
 
 IV.— A TYPICAL DOUBLE-HUNG WINDOW. 
 
 v.— DETAILS OF DOUBLE-HUNG WINDOWS WITH INSIDE SHUTTERS. 
 
 VI.— WINDOWS WITH OUTSIDE SHUTTERS. 
 
 VII.— DETAILS OF COUNTER-BALANCED WINDOWS WITH MULLIONS AND 
 TRANSOMS. 
 
 VIII.— DETAILS OF WINDOWS IN FRAME WALLS. 
 
 IX.— DETAILS OF DOUBLE-HIJNG WINDOWS IN FRAME WALLS. 
 
 X.— MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS FOR DOUBLE-HUNG WINDOWS. 
 
 XL— DETAILS OF BAY WINDOWS WITH COUNTER-BALANCED SASHES. ' 
 
 XII.— DETAILS OF CASEMENT WINDOWS OPENING OUTWARD. 
 
 XIIL— DETAILS OF CASEMENT WINDOWS OPENING IN. 
 
 XIV.— DETAILS OF A CASEMENT WINDOW WITH MULLIONS AND TRANSOMS 
 AND WITH SASHES OPENING OUTWARD. 
 
 XV.— DETAILS OF A CASEMENT BAY WINDOW. 
 
 XVI.— DETAILS OF PIVOTED CASEMENTS AND EYEBROW DORMERS. 
 
 XVIL— STORM-RESISTING WINDOWS. 
 
 XVIII.— TYPES OF DOORS WITH GENERAL DIMENSIONS. 
 
 XIX.— EXAMPLES OF DOORS IN VARIOUS STYLES. 
 
 XX.— DETAILS OF OUTSIDE DOOR FRAMES, STONE SILL, AND TRANSOMS. 
 
 XXL— DETAILS OF INTERIOR DOOR FRAMES AND WOODEN SILLS. 
 
 XXII.— DETAILS OF DOORS. 
 
 XXIII.— DETAILS OF SLIDING DOORS. . 
 
 XXIV— DETAILS OF GUTTERS, FOR WOOD, STONE, AND TERRA-COTTA COR- 
 NICES. 
 
 XXV.— DETAILS OF BOX CORNICES. 
 
 XXVI.— DETAILS OF OPEN TIMBER CORNICES. 
 
 XXVIL— DETAILS OF OPEN TIMBER CORNICES. 
 
 XXVIII.— MISCELLANEOUS EXTERIOR DETAILS. ' 
 
 XXIX.— WAINSCOTING AND ARCHITRAVES. 
 
 XXX.— GENERAL INTERIOR FINISH. 
 
 XXXL— STAIR DETAILS. 
 
 XXXIL— KITCHEN AND PANTRY DRESSERS. 
 
 XXXIIL— FIREPLACE DETAILS. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 THE THICKNESS OF LUMBER FOR FINISHED WORK. 
 
 The boards and planks used for sheathing, flooring, and the finer work about buildings 
 measure in the rough i in., i^ in., i^ in., 2 ins., 2^ ins., and 3 ins. in thickness. White pine 
 and other lumber produced in the North is usually sawed to full thickness so that the planing on 
 both sides can ordinarily be done with a reduction of only | in. in thickness; but lumber 
 from the Southern markets, such as yellow pine, etc., is sawed so that it is necessary to count 
 upon a reduction of ^ in. in thickness for all lumber having a nominal thickness of 2 ins. or 
 more. This gives the ordinary stock dimensions for the thickness of finished lumber as follows: 
 I in., i^ in., if in., if in. or i| in., 2^ ins. or 2f ins., and 2| ins. or 2^ ins. 
 
 Finished lumber thinner than -| in. must be planed down or re-sawed from rough lumber 
 I in. or more in thickness. Stock ceiling boards that are made for the market in large quantities 
 are commonly | in., f in., f in., ^ in., and f in. in thickness, and the price is gradually 
 scaled down with the thickness so that the f in. rhaterial is listed at about 60 per cent of the 
 price of the f in. material. For ordinary finishing, however, where the stock must be gotten 
 out especially for the particular operation, there is little economy in using f in., | in. or ^ 
 in. material, as the quantity required for any one operation is usually so small that re-sawing 
 cannot be done economically. ' 
 
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