Excerpt from Lectures on Building Construction
Yet the design was such that the forces had always to be counterbalanced in a very indirect and costly way. Only the religious enthusiasm of the Middle Ages and a fine artistic sense, combined with the modern engineer's skill, without his sense of economy, could have produced such a type of building. The modern architect seems often to have inherited the artistic sense of his medieval predecessor-but not always his skill as a structural designer.
With buildings of the simpler and cheaper type, the engineer has not often much to do; yet. they present many interesting points in construction, though not requiring any great amount of mathematics in their design.
On the subject of frame buildings, little can be added to Part II of Kidder's Building Construction and Superintendence. Some points brought out by him, however, may well be emphasized. In the matter of the frame, the method shown in Figure 19, page 50, could hardly be improved; considering cost and efficiency together, it is probably the best that can be done. The importance of having at all points the same amount of timber capable of shrinking in a vertical direction can not be overestimated. The lengthwise shrinkage of timber, while by no means inappreciable, is not enough to cause cracks in plaster or to spoil the fit of doors and windows. But its crosswise shrinkage is a very different matter. If one end of a partition is supported on 6 inches more of shrink-able timber than the other, cracks will surely appear in time, and the fit of doors will be noticeably impaired. Where inequalities in the amount of shrinkable timber are inevitable, it would be well, in the case of those members whose shrinkage will cause trouble, to buy kiln-dried lumber, if obtainable in suitable sizes, and give it a priming coat of paint before exposing it to the weather in the unfinished building. Even this will not entirely cure the trouble, but it will greatly lessen it. Thoroughly aired seasoned lumber would be better, but it can not always be obtained. Kiln drying is of doubtful utility in large pieces; if thoroughly done, it is likely to cause serious checking; if not thoroughly done, the shrinkage is not taken out, and ordinary lumber might as well be used. The expense of kiln drying large pieces would also be prohibitive in most cases. A certain amount of shrinkage and a few cracks in a frame building are probably inevitable.
The method shown by Kidder for the support of an interior partition, in Figure 62, page 80, is one of the few mistakes in his Part II. Partitions weigh a good deal themselves, and often support floors above.
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