Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/932

 756 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [June, RAT-PROOF BUILDING. THERE are cities in our Union which, far more than others, have to endure the fearful plague of rats, and which on that account demand the espe- cial care of both architect and builder to provide against the encroachment of these rapidly increasing nuisances. This matter has now assumed a very serious shape ; for the destruction of property is unlimited so long as the vermin can find a shelter and an unop- posed entrance into every story of a building. Chicago is a serious sufferer in this way — and not alone Chicago, but Detroit, Toledo, and in fact every city where adjacent water and low swampy ground offer inducements to this destructive fraternity to colonize. Chicago, on account of her grain ele- vators and store-houses, is particularly favored by these settlers ; and to that extent that the losses sustained by ship- pers is not alone very palpable but re- markably progressive. Property owners have a great interest in the total exclusion of rats from their premises, and look to builders for secur- ity in the future. Rat-proof building is therefore a requirement that must be met, and cannot be any longer deferred. The fact is, the whole system of con- struction in this regard is exceedingly defective, and it is strange that century after century have we been, and are yet, erecting store-houses, market-houses, and dwelling-houses, without taking the slightest precaution against the evil we know to exist. On the contrary we actually give the l'at the very means of entrance he desires, and if we were his most anxious friends we could do no more. The active little marauder can- not alone find ingress through the cel- lar floor, but the roughness of the rubble stone wall inside, affords an easy step- ping for him to reach the first tier of joists, and when once there, he is "all right;" for, does he not find that there is a broad wall for him to walk upon between the joists, and does he not see how easy it is to climb these rough joists and at his leisure cut a passage through at the ends of the floor- ing, which seldom go close to the wall — at least so close as to make his work at all troublesome. Thus has the rat se- cured admittance for himself and fol- lowers, and the work of plunder goes on in earnest. In our dwellings, the skirt- ing or base-board of the first story has alwaj's a very convenient space behind it left open, as if purposely, for the ac- commodation of rats and mice. Now it is time, certainty, that all this negligence in building should be per- emptorily stopped. There is not the slightest reason why it should not be. In the first place, the footings of foun- dations should have at least three ample projections. And this is not alone a precaution against the burrowing down next to the wall, of the rat, but it is a security to the building itself, and en- sures its stability. The floor of the cel- lar should be cemented or concreted, at least four inches thick, inclining up- ward against the walls all around, thus giving additional thickness where the intruders are most apt to emerge. A great deal depends on the thorough- ness of this cement floor to render the building rat-proof. It will also have the desirable effect of making it dry. The usual offset on the inside, for the flooring joists to rest upon, should be made on the upper line of the joists, and the cellar wall be continued flush up; the joists should be built in, and it would be a safeguard against rot to char the ends of the joists thus bedded so that any possible damp or ill effects arising from the exclusion of air, might not have a chance to arise. On the first story, and indeed on all