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Disposition of Materials. Before leaving the grounds it is well to instruct the builder where he can best deposit the material which will come from the excavations; and to place this to the best advantage, it is necessary to determine in a general way the position of the driveways or paths, and also to have a thought for future improvements and for the required drainage system. Unless this matter is taken up at this time it is very probable that the earth from the cellar will be left so near the excavation that it will have to be driven over or walked over during construction and then finally moved away to its destined use, as it should have been in the first place. The gravel will be needed for the driveways and paths, and space for this should be found not far away from the house; as the loam will be used where it is desired to have a good growth of grass and flower beds, this should be piled at the front of the lot, ample space being left for the convenient handling of timber and other materials. It will be necessary to consult the builder with regard to both this and the depositing of earth, that he may not later complain he has been hampered by lack of proper space.

CELLAR WORK AND FOUNDATIONS

DRAINS AND CESSPOOLS

Drains for Cellar Floor. The next visit finds the excavation of the cellar well under way. The earth has been removed, care being taken to make the outside walls conform to the dimensions of the foundation, and the cellar dug to the bottom for a great part of its extent. We proceed at once to examine the nature of the soil, and we find that while it is in the main a good coarse gravel, there is evidence toward the bottom of a clayey deposit which will hold water; and, indeed, in the trenches directly under the wall, which are to be 18 inches below the bottom of the cellar, water is standing in several places. Remembering that in the specifications it has been foreseen that the bottom of these trenches should slope to a corner of the cellar, we direct that the slope shall be made toward a hollow in the lot and that the trench shall be extended until it meets the surface of the ground in the hollow some 30 feet or more from the house. This trench, as well as the slope of the trench under the wall, we must make with a very slight pitch, lest the run of the water should wash away the soil under the wall and cause settle

ment; and for greater security we must see that the lower foot of the wall which, according to the specifications, is "to be laid dry in the trenches", is well laid and not dumped or thrown in, Fig. 8. These stones should be neither large enough to choke up the trench

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and prevent the flow of water through it, nor so small as to be crowded into the ground by the weight of the walls over them. In any case, it is advisable to anticipate possible settlement by ramming the first layer of stones well into the bed of the trench. Where the soil seems to be somewhat soft or the weight of the building is greater than usual, it may be desirable to start the walls on broad footing stones carefully bedded upon the bottom. In this case it will be necessary to make the drain entirely outside of the wall, where it may be built of tile or stones. Indeed, but for the added expense of excavation and the increased cost of large footing stones, this method would be always preferable, Fig. 9.

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Fig. 9.

Fig. 8. Dry Wall in Trench

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Use of Footing Stone

If on the completion of the excavating there should be found any wet spots in the cellar bottom, these must be connected, by trenches filled with stone chips, with the main drain under or outside the wall, and in extreme cases the whole cellar bottom under the concrete should be filled with loose stones to a depth of about one foot.

Cesspools. In connection with the excavation of the cellar, we should take up the matter of a cesspool, provided there is no sewer connection available. In locating cesspools we must see that they are placed low enough to allow the drain from the house to have a good pitch. This drain will be of vitrified earthen pipe and should be laid at least 3 feet 6 inches below the surface, with an even pitch and with the bottom of the trench hollowed out where the hubs of the pipes will come, so that the pipes will lie flat in the trench.

Great care must be taken in jointing the pipes to make sure that the cement is scraped off the inside, since a projection would catch a portion of any solid matter which might pass through and the pipes soon become filled.

In building the cesspool we have a choice of methods-the leaching cesspool and the tight cesspool. In a great many cases where all danger of contamination of wells is obviated by a city or town water service, the cheaper method of a leaching cesspool may be adopted.

Leaching Cesspool. This consists of a circular excavation 8 or 10 feet in diameter and deep enough to reach to good leaching or absorbent earth. It is lined with a dry wall of stones laid with open

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Fig. 10. Section of Leaching Cesspool

joints, and arched over on top with stone or brick forming a dome made water-tight, in the center of which should be set a stone or an iron manhole cover, Fig. 10. This may be finished at the level of the ground or kept low enough so that it can be sodded over. In good coarse sand or gravel a cesspool of this kind will dispose of the sewage of a house for a great many years, but eventually the pores of the earth will become filled with the deposits and leaching will no longer take place. An effective remedy in this case consists in making an outlet to which a series of pipes laid with open joints may be connected, to distribute the waste throughout a system of branches laid about 12 inches below the surface, where it will be absorbed and purified by the soil and growth.

Tight Cesspool. The other form of cesspool is what is known as a tight cesspool. It is constructed of hard brick and is usually made about 6 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep from inlet with walls and dome 8 inches thick and the bottom 4 inches thick, the whole cemented inside and outside and made perfectly tight, Fig. 11. This cesspool will retain the whole of the deposits and must be either frequently emptied, or an outlet made of open-jointed pipe as described in connection with the leaching cesspool. Such an outlet should be below the level of the inlet and should have a bend turned down below the surface so as to remain in the clear water which will be found under the scum of the surface. We find by the specifica

Fig. 11. Section of Tight Cesspool

tions that our architect has adopted a clever combination of these two methods by building two cesspools, one of which is a small, tight cesspool which will retain all the solid and putrefying matter and which is connected by an overflow pipe with a leaching cesspool built as described above. By this arrangement the tight cesspool will receive all of the solid matter which may be in the sewage and will hold it where it can be cleaned out at stated periods; the overflow, being of a wholly liquid nature, will pass into the leaching cesspool in a comparatively clear state and will be absorbed entirely by the surrounding earth with no perceptible contamination.

Dry Wells. As a part of the drainage system we must provide for the distribution of the rain water from the roofs. If our house

were connected with a sewer, we should simply connect the conductors properly with the main drainpipe in the cellar; but since we do not want this great amount of water to run into the cesspool, we will lead it away from the house by means of earthen pipes running from the bottom of the conductors to dry wells. These are excavations some 3 or 4 feet each way, filled with loose stones which are piled around the end of the drainpipes while the whole is covered with the grading, Fig. 12. The location of these wells will be determined by the position of the conductors, but they must be at least 8 or 10 feet from the cellar wall, and farther away if there is any danger of the water finding its way back to the cellar. The waste from the laundry trays,

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being of a comparatively clear nature, we will dispose of in the

same manner.

CELLAR WALLS

Fig. 12. Section of Dry Well

While it is necessary to consider the matter of drainage at this time, the actual work of building the cesspools and laying the drain pipes is usually taken up at a later period, and the whole of our energy at this time should be directed toward the building of the cellar walls. Already the timbers for the frame are being delivered, and the contractor for the carpenter work is filled with forebodings lest he have no wall to put his sill on when the first floor is framed. We direct the mason to build the cellar walls with all the speed that he can, "consistent with good workmanship", and set ourselves the task of following him up sharply to see that this is done.

Quality of Stones. The greater part of the stone for the cellar walls has been carted to the lot and we shall do well to look it over with the mason, pointing out to him that many of the boulder stones are too round and should be split before being used, while some of the more slaty stones, which appear to have been recently blasted, may have cracks in them which will allow the water to soak in. This may be detected by striking the stones with a hammer to judge of their soundness by the clearness of their ringing. The stones, upon

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