In the measurement of brickwork no allowance is to be made in quantity for small or difficult works.

Flues to be measured solid.

Timbers inserted in walls not to be deducted.

Two inches to be allowed for bedding plates, where no brickwork is over them.

All cuttings to be measured superficially, excepting to bird's mouths and squint quoins, which are to be run.

The net quantity of brickwork being found, it is to be reduced to the standard thickness of a brick and a half, and brought into statute rods of 5 yards square, or 272 superficial.

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Ovens, coppers, and solid walls, of irregular thickness, to be cubed and brought into the standard thickness, by multiplying by 8 (the number of 1 inches in a foot), and dividing by 9 (the number of 11 inches in a brick and a half, or 13 inches, the standard thickness).

Facings of all descriptions to be measured and charged extra, per foot superficial.

272 feet superficial is a rod of brickwork, 14 brick, or 134 inches thick, the standard thickness, to which all brickwork, of whatever thickness, is reduced.

306 cubic feet, or 11 cubic yards, equal to 1 rod of reduced brickwork.

4352 stock bricks to 1 rod reduced, 4 courses 1 foot high. 4533 ditto, if the 4 courses measure 114 inches high.

These calculations are without allowing any waste, which is more than amply compensated in dwelling-houses, by not deducting flues and bond timber; in such work, 4300 stocks, or 4500 place, are sufficient.

5371 bricks laid dry to 1 rod.

4900 ditto in wells and circular cesspools.

A rod of brickwork contains 235 feet cube of bricks, and 71 feet of mortar (4 courses to a foot); which will weigh, upon an average calculation, 15 tons.

A rod of brickwork requires 14 cubic yard of chalk lime, and 3 single loads or yards of drift; or 1 cubic yard of stone lime, and 34 single loads or yards of sand; or 36 bushels of cement, and 36 of sharp sand.

16 bricks to a foot of reduced brickwork.

7 ditto to a foot super of facing.

10 ditto to a foot super of gauged arches.

30 bricks on edge, and 45 bricks flat, to 1 yard of bricknogging.

36 stocks laid flat, and 52 ditto on edge, to 1 yard of paving. 36 paving bricks laid flat, and 82 ditto on edge, ditto.

A load of mortar, 27 feet cube, requires 9 bushels of lime and 1 yard of sand. A hod contains 20 bricks.

Lime and sand loses one third of its bulk when made into mortar -likewise cement and sand.

The proportion of mortar, or cement, when made up, to the lime, or cement and sand before made up, is as 2 to 3.

Lime, or cement and sand, to make mortar, require as much water as is equal to one third of their bulk, or about 5 barrels for a rod of brickwork built with mortar.

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21

(inch is the usual thickness.)

1 cwt. of mastic and 1 gallon of oil

1 cubic yard of chalk lime, 2 yards of road drift or sand, and 3 bushels of hair, will cover 75 yards of render and set on brick, and 70 yards on lath, or 65 yards plaster and render 2 coats and set on brick, and 60 yards on lath; floated work will require about the

same as 2 coats and set.

1 bundle of laths and 500 nails will cover about 4 yards.

Mortar.

1 hundred of lime contains 25 striked bushels, or 100 pecks. It is a measure 3 feet square, and 3 feet 1 inch deep. 1 chaldron of lime is equivalent to 57.765 cubic feet, or rather more than 2 hundred.

18 heaped bushels, 22 striked bushels, or 1 yard cube, a single load of sand, mortar, &c.

1 double load is equal to 36 heaped bushels.

1 hod of mortar is equal to 1134 cubic inches, or 8 duodecimal inches, or 9 x 9, and 14 inches long.

2 hods of mortar make a bushel nearly.

Cement.

1 barrel of cement is 5 bushels, and weighs 3 cwt. 1 rod of brickwork, in cement, requires 36 bushels of cement and 36 bushels

of sand.

1 yard, or 9 feet superficial of 14 inches, or 11 brickwork, in cement, requires about 24 bushels.

1 yard superficial of pointing to brickwork, in cement, requires about one eighth of a bushel.

1 yard square of plastering, in cement, requires three fourths of a bushel.

Carpentry and Plastering are measured by the square foot or yard; or, in moulded and ornamental work, by the linear foot. In extensive work the square of 100 feet is also used. Paving is measured by the square yard.

Digging, &c.

234 cubic feet of sand, 17 ditto clay, 18 ditto earth, 13 ditto chalk, equal to a ton.

A cubic yard of earth, before digging, will occupy about 11 cubic yard when dug.

27 cubic feet, or 1 cubic yard, contains 21 striked bushels, which is considered a single load, and double these quantities a double load.

18 cubic feet of night soil, 1 ton.

21 tons of ditto is the quantity a cart contains; 6 feet long, 3 feet 3 inches wide, by 2 feet 4 inches deep, or 45 feet cube.

Coarse. Stuff.

Coarse stuff, or lime and hair, as it is sometimes called, is prepared in the same way as common mortar, with the addition of hair procured from the tanner, which must be well mixed with the mortar by means of a three-pronged rake, until the hair is equally distributed throughout the composition. The mortar should be first formed, and when the lime and sand have been thoroughly mixed, the hair should be added by degrees, and the whole so thoroughly united that the hair shall appear to be equally distributed throughout.

cream.

Fine Stuff.

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This is made by slaking lime with a small portion of water, after which so much water is added as to give it the consistence of It is then allowed to settle for some time, and the superfluous water is poured off, and the sediment is suffered to remain till evaporation reduces it to a proper thickness for use. kinds of work it is necessary to add a small portion of hair.

Stucco for Inside of Walls.

For some

This stucco consists of fine stuff already described, and a portion of fine washed sand, in the proportion of one of sand to three of fine stuff. Those parts of interior walls are finished with this stucco which are intended to be painted. In using this material, great care must be taken that the surface be perfectly level, and to secure this it must be well worked with a floating tool or wooden trowel. This is done by sprinkling a little water occasionally on the stucco, and rubbing it in a circular direction with the float, till the surface has attained a high gloss. The durability of the work very much depends upon the care with which this process is done, for if it be not thoroughly worked it is apt to crack.

1

Gauge Stuff

This is chiefly used for mouldings and cornices which are run or formed with a wooden mould. It consists of about one fifth of plaster of Paris, mixed gradually with four fifths of fine stuff. When the work is required to set very expeditiously, the proportion of plaster of Paris is increased. It is often necessary that the plaster to be used should have the property of setting immediately it is laid on, and in all such cases gauge stuff is used, and consequently it is extensively employed for cementing ornaments to walls or ceilings, as well as for casting the ornaments themselves.

Higgins' Stucco.

To fifteen pounds of the best stone lime add fourteen pounds of bone ashes, finely powdered, and about ninety-five pounds of clean, washed sand, quite dry, either coarse or fine, according to the nature of the work in hand. These ingredients must be intimately mixed, and kept from the air till wanted. When required for use, it must be mixed up into a proper consistence for working with lime water, and used as speedily as possible.

Parker's Cement.

This cement, which is perhaps the best of all others for stucco, as it is not subject to crack or flake off, is now very commonly used, and is formed by burning argillaceous clay in the same manner that lime is made; it is then reduced to powder, by the process described in a previous part of this work. The cement, as used by the plasterer, is sometimes employed alone, and sometimes it is mixed with sharp sand; and it has then the appearance, and almost the strength, of stone. As it is impervious to water, it is very proper for lining tanks and cisterns.

Hamelein's Cement.

This cement consists of earthy and other substances insoluble in water, or nearly so; and these may be either those which are in their natural state, or have been manufactured, such as earthenware and china; those being always preferred which are least soluble in water, and have the least color. When these are pulverized, some oxide of lead is added, such as litharge, gray oxide, or minium, reduced to a fine powder; and to the compound is added a quantity of pulverized glass or flint stones, the whole being thoroughly mixed and made into a proper consistence with some vegetable oil, as that of linseed. This makes a durable stucco or plaster, that is impervious to wet, and has the appearance of stone. The proportion of the several ingredients is as follows:-to every five hundred and sixty pounds of earth, or earths, such as pit sand, river sand, rock sand, pulverized earthenware or porcelain, add forty pounds of litharge, two pounds of pulverized glass or flint, one pound of minium, and two pounds of gray oxide of lead. Mix

the whole together, and sift it through sieves of different degrees of fineness, according to the purposes to which the cement is to be applied.

The following is the method of using it:-To every thirty pounds' weight of the cement in powder add about one quart of oil, either) linseed, walnut, or some other vegetable oil, and mix it in the same manner as any other mortar, pressing it gently together, either by treading on it, or with the trowel; it has then the appearance of moistened sand. Care must also be taken that no more is mixed at one time than is required for use, as it soon hardens into a solid mass. Before the cement is applied, the face of the wall to be plastered should be brushed over with oil, particularly if it be applied to brick, or any other substance that quickly imbibes the oil; if to wood, lead, or any substance of a similar nature, less oil may be used.

Maltha, or Greek Mastic.

This is made by mixing lime and sand in the manner of mortar, and making it into a proper consistency with milk or size, instead of water.

Plaster in imitation of Marble.

This species of work is exquisitely beautiful when done with taste and judgment, and is so like marble to the touch, as well as appearance, that it is scarcely possible to distinguish the one from the other. We shall endeavor to explain its composition, and the manner in which it is applied; but so much depends upon the workman's execution, that it is impossible for any one to succeed in an attempt to work with it without some practical experience.

Procure some of the purest gypsum, and calcine it until the large masses have lost the brilliant sparkling appearance by which they are characterized, and the whole mass appears uniformly opaque. This calcined gypsum is reduced to powder, and passed through a very fine sieve, and mixed up, as it is wanted for use, with Flanders glue, isinglass, or some other material of the same kind. This solution is colored with the tint required for the scagliola, but when a marble of various colors is to be imitated, the several colored compositions required by the artist must be placed in separate vessels, and they are then mingled together in nearly the same manner that the painter mixes his color on the pallet. Having the wall or column prepared with rough plaster, it is covered with the composition, and the colors intended to imitate the marble, of whatever kind it may be, are applied when the floating is going on.

It now only remains to polish the work, which, as soon as the composition is hard enough, is done by rubbing it with pumicestone, the work being kept wet with water applied by a sponge. It is then polished with Tripoli and charcoal, with a piece of fine linen, and finished with a piece of felt, dipped in a mixture of oil and Tripoli, and afterwards with pure oil.