Rustic Carpentry Part 9

The cross-pieces which rest on the collar-posts, and which serve as wall-plates, are a trifle smaller stuff than the posts--say 3 in. Fig.

175 shows how they are cut to fit the tops of the posts, and nailed there. In this building there are no mortise and tenon joints. On these ends above the posts rest the lower ends of the eight main rafters, D, the upper ends of which rest against and are nailed to the central pillar. The eight intermediate rafters, E, rest at the bottom on the middles of the side plates, and at top are cut to fit upon and between the tops of the main rafters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 175.--Collar Posts and Ends of Wall Plates.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 176.--Timbers over Entrance of Octagonal Summer-house.]

The laths used are in this case in no way particular--any sticks will do; they will not be seen, and under thatch there is no necessity that a level surface should be formed by them, as for slates or tiles. They are nailed 6 in. or 8 in. apart.

The gable over the entrance is arranged as in Fig. 176. The laths, when nailed on, will have to run over the little ridge formed by F, instead of keeping the level, as on the other sides. This will cause no special difficulties in the thatching.

The walls are of larch poles sawn in half. To split a number of heavy poles with the handsaw is tedious work, and it is better to get them run through by the nearest steam saw. The quant.i.ty of half-stuff required may be easily calculated; one of these sides will take about five and a half 6-ft. lengths of 4-in. stuff. The tops of these wall-pieces are sawn obliquely to fit against the round wall-plates to which they are nailed. In their lower parts they are nailed to the lower cross-pieces, G, G, G, Fig. 174.

These latter will best be made of rather large stuff quartered, since their upper sides on which the seat-boards rest should be level, as well as their backs, which go against the wall-pieces. The middle cross-pieces are of smaller half-stuff, and should be nailed to the wall-pieces rather than that the wall-pieces should be nailed to them; for they are in a conspicuous place, and nails driven through them and clenched would be unsightly.

The front supports of the seats are let into the ground some 6 in., and rise 14-1/2 in. above the ground line. The seats should be cut from 1-in. board, and should be about 16-1/2 in. wide.

In the two window sides of the octagon (see Figs. 177 and 172), the s.p.a.ce below the windows is filled with whole poles, their bottoms resting on a sill let in level with the ground, and their tops nailed into through a cross-piece of half-stuff (K, Fig. 177). The mullions and transoms of the windows--mere sticks--are of small straight larch stuff, but the ornamental filling in above is of crooked branches--oak bangles by preference, though apple-wood would do very well. It often happens that an old apple-tree is cut down, and at once condemned as firewood; yet its stem may have grotesque knots, and its branches picturesque contortions which would make it valuable for rustic work. Whenever rustic building is contemplated, it is well that such wood should be laid by; a single tree would supply all the small quant.i.ty of crooked stuff that is required in the present instance. Even the interlaced stems of ivy, when an old growth has covered a wall, have sometimes been utilised to excellent effect.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 177.--Window Side of Octagonal Summer-house.]

It may be observed that any c.h.i.n.ks between the pieces beneath the windows, as well as in the walls generally, are most readily and appropriately rendered wind-proof by neatly stuffing with moss. Fig. 177 gives a full front elevation of one of the window sides (they being only seen obliquely in Fig. 172), and it is on the 1/2-in. scale.

Four stout crooked pieces are used as struts to support the table (drawn to 1 in. scale in Figs. 178 and 179); 3/4-in. board will suffice for the top of this table, and it will probably be cut from two widths. To give proper strength to the ornamental border (seen in Fig. 179), a second thickness of the board is attached below each corner, extending 3 or 4 in. to each side, so as to allow each of the longer bits of split rod to be fixed, as shown, with two brads.

A really satisfactory material in which to finish the top of a rustic table is not easily found; it must give a level surface, and at the same time be in harmony with its surroundings. Board, planed or painted, oilcloth, or any manufactured material, is felt to be out of place; marble or slate looks cold and hard. Nothing that is absolutely level satisfies the requirements; the best alternative is rustic mosaic. By this is meant split rods of wood so bradded down as to form patterns.

For the present purpose, however, the mosaic must be kept more neat and smooth than usual. Fig. 178 shows the top of the table thus treated.

The rods most in favour for rustic mosaic are those of the hazel. They are to be bought cheaply and abundantly when the undergrowth of woods is cut. They have a smooth and pretty bark, and the useful size is from 3/4 in. to 1-1/2 in. Sticks of other kinds of the same size can also be used: birch and wild cherry may be named among those with smooth bark, and wych elm and maple among those with rough; willow or withy, again, is of most common growth, and exceedingly useful. In river-side neighbourhoods it is often the cheapest and most plentiful of all woods.

For mosaic work, it is always peeled, for its bark is unattractive, and its light colour when stripped makes it tell well in contrast to the dark bark of other woods. If used, as it often is, for outdoor purposes in garden carpentry, it should always be peeled. Country carpenters have a saying that withy lasts twice as long without its bark as with it; and in this there is much truth, for the loose bark holds the wet to the wood and causes it to rot. To make it peel freely, it should be cut just as the young leaves make their appearance. The like holds good with other woods; but if it is desired that the bark should hold firmly, the wood should be cut down in dead of winter, when all the sap is down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figs. 178 and 179.--Plan and Elevation of Table for Octagonal Summer-house.]

The top of the table is supposed to be mainly composed of peeled withy.

The pattern contains only the double dark line bounding the star and the single strip round the edge in hazel. So much white will not look amiss in this place, and withy is easily worked. Hazel and most woods twist so much in the grain that it is rarely safe to split them except with the saw, but withy--in short lengths like these, at least--can be split with a hatchet.

In rough carpentry there is no more pretty or interesting work than these mosaics. The backs of the seats (Fig. 180), and the seats themselves (Fig. 181), are decorated in this way. On the seats themselves, as on the table top, hazel and withy are contrasted, and form a design in alternate triangles; the separating bands, it may be noticed, have a light strip against the dark, and a dark strip against the light, triangle. Along the edge of the seats one or two strips merely are nailed lengthwise. In such a situation an ornamental edging like that round the table would be too liable to be broken. It is recommended that the back of the seats should be in dark bark-covered woods only, for the mosaic in that position will look better without any mixture of the light-coloured withy.

The upper compartments of the sides with which the backs of those sitting down will not come in contact may be more quickly and yet pleasingly covered with sheets of bark. Elm bark is good for the purpose. It may be peeled in large sheets from the trunks of trees felled in spring, when the sap is rising; and whilst it is drying should have bricks or stones laid on it to press it flat. When dried, it is nailed to the walls, and any cracks which appear can be neatly filled with moss. The s.p.a.ce beneath the seats is also shown as roughly covered with bark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 180.--Seat Side of Octagonal Summer-house.]

The almost conical roof is thatched. No other covering is so pleasing as thatch for a rustic building. Its colour and rough texture harmonise well with the natural wood, and all its a.s.sociations are of a rustic character; no other covering so effectually excludes the summer heat, and nowhere can one find a retreat so suggestive of coolness, quiet, and repose, as under the low eaves of a thatched building. Thatch has, it must be admitted, certain practical disadvantages--birds and winds are apt to scatter fragments from it, and it needs renewing at comparatively short intervals. The common saying is that a thatched roof needs re-coating every ten years. Often, no doubt, this is near the truth, yet really good work will frequently stand for almost twenty years. The materials in use in this country are reeds, straw, and stubble. Reeds make a strong thatch, but are not easily to be procured, except in fenny districts. Stubble, which is the lower and stronger part of the wheat stem, stands better than straw, which is its upper and weaker portion; to last properly, however, stubble should be cut immediately after harvest, and should not be left standing, as it frequently is, till the spring, for then the winter rains, collecting in its hollow stems, cause it to rot before it is cut. On small buildings like summer-houses especially, stubble makes a much more compact and sightly roof than straw.

Thatching is not costly or difficult work. In agricultural districts a load of stubble--sufficient to thatch three such buildings as the one ill.u.s.trated--costs 30s., and a thatcher expects the wages of a first-cla.s.s labourer only, not those of a mechanic. He needs an a.s.sistant, whose business it is to straighten the material into convenient bundles (called "yelvens"), and to supply him as he requires them. If he is re-thatching an old building, he merely thrusts the ends of his new material into the old thatch with a wooden spud; but if he is covering a new roof he sews down his "yelvens" to the laths and rafters with a huge needle and stout tarred string. He begins at the eaves, laying as wide a breadth as he can conveniently reach on one side of his ladder, this breadth being called a "stelch." He works upwards, each new layer covering the tar-cord which secures that beneath it; and thus he goes on till he has reached the ridge.

In his second "stelch" he is careful to blend together its edge and the edge of that already laid, so that no rain may find its way between them; and in doing this completely lies much of the superiority of good over bad thatching. When laid, the thatch is smoothed down and straightened with a gigantic comb, like the head of a large rake, one end being without teeth, and serving as a handle. In the present instance, the tops of all the stelches meeting in a point are finished and capped by the little bundle of thatching material forming the pinnacle, which is tightly bound round the rod of wood or iron in its centre.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 181.--Mosaic Seats for Octagonal Summer-house.]

It is usual to bind thatching down with at least two belts of buckles and runners. In the summer-house (Fig. 172) two double belts are shown.

The buckles have some resemblance to ladies' hair-pins on a colossal scale. They are made of slips of withy, twisted and doubled in their middles and pointed at their ends; the runners are long straight slips of the same. These latter are laid across the thatch, and the buckles, being placed over them, are pushed tightly into it--their points being driven upwards, that wet may not be let into the roof by them. The short diagonal runners seen in the ill.u.s.tration crossing each other between the horizontal lines are used in ornamental thatching only, and are rather for appearance than for use. Lastly, the eaves are cut to shape, and trimmed with paring-knife and shears.

The roof looks most pretty and cosy within if lined with ling. The ling is fixed in a way somewhat akin to thatching. A layer is placed along the bottom opposite to the eaves, and secured by a strip of wood nailed from rafter to rafter; the layer next above hides this strip, and so the work is carried on to the apex, where a knot cut from an apple-tree trunk, a bunch of fir-cones fastened together, or some such matter, finishes the whole. In districts where ling is not to be had, gorse or furze in short pieces may serve instead, but stout gloves are required to handle it; or the ends of fir branches may do, if nothing better offers.

It is not always easy to decide on the best way of forming a floor.

Boards may look out of place. A pitching of pebbles is more in character: it is dry and cleanly, and especially if some variety of colour is obtainable, and the stones are arranged in some geometrical design, it may add to the ornamental effect. Pebbles are not, however, pleasing to the feet of those who wear thin shoes. Gravel, where it is always dry, is apt to become dusty, and to disagree with ladies'

dresses. If, however, gravel should be used, perhaps the best plan to prevent the rising of damp, and to obviate dust as far as possible, is to asphalt it: on the foundation of broken stones and a layer of coa.r.s.e gravel to put a course of asphalt or of ordinary gas tar, and on this to sift enough fine _washed_ gravel to hide it. Yet a wood pavement of small larch poles, cut into 5-or 6-in. billets, and pitched with some attention to geometrical arrangement, will make the most dry and comfortable of floors, and one which will not harmonise badly with any of the decorative work of our summer-house.

The octagonal house ill.u.s.trated by Fig. 182 is made up of varnished rustic work. The saplings and twigs should be as straight and as regular as possible, and divested of their bark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 182.--Octagonal Summer-house with Three Gables.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 184.--Vertical Section of Octagonal Summer-house through Lower Part of Door and Sill.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 183.--Vertical Section of Octagonal Summer-house through Side Cas.e.m.e.nt.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figs. 185 and 186.--Elevation and Plan of Roof for Octagonal Summer-house.]

The eight posts are 4 in. in diameter by 6 ft. 8 in. long. The short sill pieces are also 4 in. in diameter, while the middle rails are 3-1/2 in. in diameter, and the plate is 3 in. by 4-1/2 in. The floor and roof are constructed from ordinary scantlings.

The posts form a circle 6 ft. 6 in. in diameter. They are s.p.a.ced about 2 ft. 3 in. apart, except the door-posts, which are 2 ft. 7 in. centres.

Flats may be worked on the posts for the better fitting of the door, panels, and cas.e.m.e.nts, and the top edge of the sill is also planed flat to receive the floorboards, and a rebate is formed for the 5/8-in.

matchboard (see Fig. 183).

The sill and middle rails are scribed and stub-tenoned to the posts. The plate is halved, dowelled, and nailed to the posts. The joists are 2 in.

by 4 in., and are notched to the sills (Fig. 184) and covered with 1-in.

floorboards.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 187.--Securing Gla.s.s to Rustic Cas.e.m.e.nt.]

The roof is formed with three gables, four being deemed unnecessary, as a summer-house is generally fixed with its back to a shrubbery. Eight hip rafters are required, and by fixing the heels of each pair of rafters on the sides of the plate marked 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see Fig. 185) more s.p.a.ce is acquired for the gables. The ridges and valley-pieces of the gables are attached to a wide batten screwed to the under side of the hip rafters (see Figs. 185 and 186). Some of the small battens are omitted from Fig. 185 to give a better view of the gables, etc.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 188.--Half Front and Half Back View of Door for Octagonal Summer-house.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 189.--Section of Door for Octagonal Summer-house.]

The roof-covering is generally wheat straw, with a top dressing of either broom or heather. The dark colour of the two latter materials harmonises much better with a varnished house than does a covering wholly of straw. The four lower panels are filled in with matchboarding, which is carried right up to the plate in the three back divisions. The rustic work, excepting the back panels, is then fitted and nailed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 190.--Part Plan of Octagonal Summer-house.]

There are four cas.e.m.e.nt windows, which open outward. A section of cas.e.m.e.nt and frame enlarged is shown in Fig. 187. A shallow rebate is formed to receive the leaded lights, which are retained in position with split bamboo fixed with round-headed bra.s.s screws.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 191.--Horizontal Section through Door Posts.]

The door (Figs. 188 and 189) is 6 ft. 1 in. by 2 ft. 3 in. The rustic work is overlaid on the frame of the door. The centre of the diamond-shaped panel is filled with cork. The top panel is glazed with stained gla.s.s. Three b.u.t.ts and a rim lock are fitted on the inside of the door, and the lower panel is filled with matchboarding.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 192.--Part Section of Side Panel.]