Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/410

 332 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [Xov, much to have a stop put on each branch- pipe. The plumber thinks it very strange ; the work was done carefully. He cannot understand it. But it is not very hard to understand, that the water leaking from the coupling of the cock which supplies the same beautiful mar- bled wash-basin should follow the pipe, and drip from it on the plastering, where it runs horizontally under the floor. Shall I ask you, now, to look at this detail drawing of a house by one of our Philadelphia architects ? The bath-room is very conveniently located near the centre of the building, and can be reached from pH parts of the house, without using any apartment as an avenue of approach. The room itself is well designed for bath-tubs, water- closet, bidet, wash-basin, &c, with, per- haps, the slight difficulty of leaving 7 feet space for the tub and closet, which should have at least 8 feet, and of locating the water-closet over the centre of one of the lower rooms, thus requiring a large soil-pipe to be run nearly horizon- tally to — where ? We look in vain for a recess in the wall, or any partition, large enough to receive the pipe, which is.^fo carry off all the waste from the bath-room fixtures. What is to be done ? Well, alter the position of the bath-tub, closet, &c, and then cut halfway through a new 9-inch wall, along it, perpendicu- larly, down to the cellar, and thus weaken and disfigure the wall ; or else, let the pipe run in some angle, and have a box contrived to cover it, hoping that the box may not be noticed. A case has recently come under our notice, in which a brick wall, containing two vertical rows of windows, had been cut, from the cellar to the fourth story, in a line between the two tiers of win- dows, for the purpose of putting in a soil-pipe. The wall was so weakened and sprung by the operation — a fatal one, indeed! — that it had to be entirely rebuilt, to save the disastrous effects of its falling. Whose fault was this ? the plumber's, or the architect's ? Perhaps both; but the plumber has often to bear more than his share of the blame. A little care and information on the part of the architect, concerning the usual size of pipes and the proper way to locate them, would generally obviate these dif- ficulties in a building. Why should not a plumber find an opening or recess left to place the soil-pipe in, where a water- closet is designed, as well as a range or furnace builder find, that the architect had not forgotten, that a chimney is necessary, to carry off the smoke and gas from the fires. In running water-pipe the effect of frost should not be forgotten. In new houses there is comparatively little dan- ger, except in the country, as the parts of the house which contain the water- fixtures are mostly in the central portion of the building. If, however, the pipes have to run on the inside of an outside wall, the recess in which they are to be placed should be lined with boards one inch or more in thickness, and, sup- ported against these boards, the wood being a non-conductor, the pipe is pro- tected. The near position of a flue from a furnace ; or the boxing of a set of pipes, so arranged that enough warm air can pass from below, up through the box, into a bath-room, or out of the building entirely, will accomplish the same result ; but in old houses it is often very difficult to protect from the frost, without remodeling the whole water arrangement. The above plans may often be used with advantage. Build- ings that are not occupied in the cold weather, should have all the, pipes so placed that a waste-cock, where the water is stopped off from each part of the house, can be opened, and so clear the pipes With this end in view, they should all grade towards the supply. Small traps should be emptied by a trap-screw, placed in a suitable part of the trap ; and large traps should have a connection with the soil-pipe below the trap ; and there should be an auxil- iary trap, on the main drain or sewer-