Church-Building and Things to Be Considered, Done, or Avoided in Connection Therewith (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1886. Excerpt: ... OF THE WALLS. WOOD. F the various materials used for the construction of the outer walls, wood is almost everywhere in America the cheapest; that is to say, a building of moderate capacity can be constructed of timber for less money than of any other material. But it is the most expensive to maintain, and it is the least durable. Where wood is used, it should be used openly as wood, without shamming more expensive material. One can occasionally see chapels, built of wood, painted and sanded in imitation of stone, with hollow buttresses made of one-inch boards in the same shape and size as might have been used if the building had been stone. What could be the mental condition of any one who designed or erected such parodies, I could never imagine; for they deceive no one, and if they did the deception itself would be discreditable. In parts of our country where timber is exceedingly plentiful, very pleasing chapels have been con structed with walls of logs overlapping each other at the corners; and where saw-mills are at hand to cut the logs into square timbers, the same general mode will produce a building admirable in construction, --not so effective in appearance, but one which will endure longer. Either of these walls can be covered and finished externally and internally so as to conceal the rudeness of their structure; but this rudeness of itself constitutes an element of beauty, which can be aided by covering the roof with bark, tiles, clumsy shingles, or coarse thatch. Even in such primitive buildings the church should be placed so that the ground beneath can be thoroughly drained and kept constantly dry, or, in warm climates, so that the air may circulate freely beneath the floor. It will be quite satisfactory and much cheaper to put the windows of ..