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New Construction Principles for Homes M. D. Grow Appointed Sales Promotion
Described in Bookfet
Washington, August 25.-"Plank-and-Beam and Roof System for Residential Construction," a lGpage booklet describing the advantages of this system and its adaptation to residential construction, has just been published by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association.
This method of design, long,used in factory structures but relatively new in residential building, has been a subject of study by the Technical Department of the N.L.M.A. since 1937. During this period several homes incorporating the system, including one at the New York World's Fair, were built as tests.
One demonstration house at Fairway Hills, Maryland, showed that the plank floor in comparison with a joisted floor was 24.8% more efficient from the standpoint of insulation, and required 26.3% less labor tinle; 13.67o less labor time per thousand board feet of lumber1, 14.7% less lumber per square foot of floor area, and 22.6% less expenditure per square foot of floor area.
A more complete study, including data from all the "test" houses, revealed that the use of plank-and-beam floor and roof construction: (1) reduces the number of pieces the carpenter must ha.ndle, saw, align and nail; (2) reduces the number of points at which the floor must be nailed to the supporting beams; (3) reduces the lumber requirement for the beams; (4) eliminates all bridging; (5) permits increased use of lower grades of lumber; (6) provides more insulation without additional cost; (7) reduces waste of material by permitting use of multiples of standard lumber lengths; (8) reduces the handling of varying lengths and sizes of lumber; (9) simplifies construction details; (10) requires shorter exterior wall studs; (11) reduces the exterior wall height and over-all height for the same ceiling heights, giving more usable cubage in a house of the same size, or the same usable cubage in a house of smaller size; (I2) eliminates the layer of finish ceiling material such as lath and plaster by letting the underside of the plank serve as a finished ceiling; (13) provides a solid backing in place of spaced, narrow-faced nailing members for the application of any ceiling materials, if they are desired, by leaving the beams exposed; (14) provides a thicker nailing base for the finish floor, and (15) permits speedy, dry-built construction.
In addition to a technical discussion of the entire plankand-beam floor and roof system the new booklet contains numerous isometric architectural detail drawings and delineations illustrative of its application to one- and twostory houses, plus four pages of tables of spans for planking and beams.
Jack Drescher Los Angeles Vtsitor
Jack Drescher, commission and wholesale lumberman of Houston, Texas, spent a fer,v days in Los Angeles on business the latter part of August. He was enroute to Houston, following a visit to the Northwest, where he visited his shingle and sawmill connections.
Manager lor Celotex
The appointment of M. D. Grow as sales promotion manager of The Celotex Corporation of Chicago, has just been announced by Henry W. Collins, vice president in charge of merchandising. He succeeds G. D. Andrews, recently resigned.
Mr. Grow will be in ch,arge of the extensive promotional program which the company carries on in behalf of its dealer organizations. This includes assistance in sales presentations and equipment, displays, contests and consumer meetings.
Mr. Grow has had extensive experience in promotional work in the building and home appliance field. He served as sales training director, Specialty Appliance Sales Department, General Electric Company, Cleveland; later as sales promotion ma,nager, Rex Cole, Inc., New York; more recently as assistant advertising manager, United States Gypsum Company, Chicago.
Story-and-a-Half Home Opened
Washington, August S.-The first National Small Homes Demonstration 1940 low-cost home to be erected near Washington, D. C., has just been opened for public inspection by the Eisinger Mill & Lumber Company of Bethesda, Maryland, builders. This house is one of more than l2OA NSHD homes built throughout the country this yeaf.
The house, reflecting economies in construction and presenting a compact, though not crowded appearance, is the story-and-a-half. 4o2 design. The home contains two bedrooms, living room, kitchen-dinette, and bath and has been paneled throughout in knotty pine. Exposed beam ceilings and the plank floor system of construction are also featured. The attic, extending the entire length of the house, has been left unfinished and may be used either for storage or additional bedroom area. Air conditioned oil heat, insulated side walls and roof, and electric kitchen complete the home.
The selling price of this National Small Homes Demonstration design, including the lot of more than one-half acre, is $4,350.
