Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/283

 EXTERIOR FINISHING OF COTTAGES. 2o9 some with cushions. Every apartment, therefore, on being entered, ought to display a marked character of use ; as well as a particular character of style, with reference to its finishing and furnishing. Whenever any doubt is left in the mind of the spectator, as to the use of an apartment into which he is conducted, something in that apartment must as certainly be wrong, as when the exterior of a building conveys a false idea of its use, and a human dwelling is mistaken for a stable or a chapel. This principle must also be extended to the exterior of a dwelling, and the windows and walling of a drawing-room, or library, or other superior living-room, ought never to be liable to be mistaken for those of a bed-room or closet. At the same time that the nobler parts of a dwelling are to be rendered prominent features in its general aspect, the meaner parts are not to be rendered more mean, but should rather be raised in character, so as to harmonise with the rest, and to support the general expression of the whole. These principles are as applicable to the humblest cottage as to the most elegant villa ; and we shall proceed to exemplify their application in the order of exterior finishing, interior finishing, fittings- up, fixtures, and furniture. We should premise, however, that some parts of the present chapter must necessarily seem to belong as much to ornamental as to plain cottages ; be- cause the two subjects are so intimately connected, that it is almost impossible to separate them ; nor, indeed, with a view to the improvement of the cottager, is it desirable that this should be done. 524. Previously to finishing either exteriors or interiors, a sufficient time ought to be al- lowed for what is called the carcass, or general framework, of a building to be thoroughly dried and settled in every part. The time requisite for this purpose will depend on various circumstances ; but chiefly on the thickness of the walls, and on the doors and windows being left unclosed. The maintenance of this ventilation, when the house is finished, will depend upon the judicious introduction of openings in the side walls under all the floors, and under the eaves of the roof, for the admission of a Iree current of ah-. As a general principle, it may be laid down, that provision ought to be made for a constant circulation of air in all the voids of a building ; or, in other words, wherever air is admitted, it ought to maintain a circulation with the external air. A circulation between the roof of a house and the ceiling of the uppermost room is maintained by small openings directly under the eaves ; or by very small windows, loopholes, or slits, in the gable ends. A circulation is promoted mider the floors of the different stories of a house by the introduction of small iron gratings in the walls, communicating with the vacuities between the floors and the ceilings. When precautions of this kind are neglected, premature decay is too frequently the consequence. What is called the diy rot in timber, every builder knows, is brought on by the use of timber imperfectly seasoned in parts of buildings excluded by position, or by neglect of the means, from proper ventilation. Even in cottages of the humblest class, therefore, the walls ought to stand some months before being roughcast, or coloured outside, or plastered inside; and the timbers of the floors should remain still longer before they are covered with the flooring-boards above, and closed up by the ceilings below : when all fhe timber-work is put up, it ought to remain another period before it is painted ; and in some parts of Britain, and in most parts of the Continent, this period extends to a year and upwards, even in cottages. Common plaster, on brick or stone walls, ought not to be whitewashed or coloured in less than a year ; or, if on lath and plaster, six spring or summer months. Where oil colours are used, the stuccoed plaster requires, in ordinary cases, to dry for one or two years. When this is neglected, the water enclosed in the walls cannot escape by evaporation ; and is therefore, by the swelling of the mortar, forced through the paint ; entirely discolouring it in some places, and oc- casioning it to peel off in others. 525. Provisions for all the exterior and interior finishing and all the fittings-up and fixtures of a dwelling, however humble, ought to be made in building it. Among these provisions, the principal ones are, proper openings for pipes for bringing in or can-ying off water ; tubes for conducting bell wire ; recesses, flues, and other openings, for such of the new modes of heating" or ventilating as it may be proposed to adopt ; and places for cupboard-closets, water-closets, cisterns, &c. &c. There is not much to be provided for in this way in cottages of the class now under consideration, but stiU enough to wai'rant our noticing the subject in this place. Sect. I. Designs and Directions for the Exterior Finishing of Cottage Dwellings. 526. Outside Plastering includes stuccoing with the different kinds of cement ; rough- casting, Scotch and English ; and common lime and hair plastering, ornamental or other- wise. The principal puqsose for which any of these processes is adopted on the outside walls of a cottage is, to keep them dry ; and a secondary purpose is, to render them ornamental, either by imitating stone, or by producing a surface more curious or agreeable to the eye, than the rude materials concealed by it. 527. The Cements for Stuccoing are chiefly the Roman cement, of which there arc two