Evening Star Newspaper, April 21, 1923, Page 17

’ LS REAL ESTATE, THE EVENING STAR, WABHINGTON, D. 0, SATURDAY, 'APRIL 21, 1923 REAL ESTATE. b\ ‘Washington’s Growth Reflected in Real Estate and Building News URGE EXPERTS COMMITTEE DRAFT NEW BUILDING CODE Engineers Society Recommends Architects, Contrac- tors and Own Specialsts Aid District Commis- sioners in Amending Present Code. Formation of an advisory com-| mittes of architects, engineers and vontractors to assist the District commissioners in investigation of ad- | ditional building materals, methods or types of construction preparatory to amending building regulations is one of the important suggestions put before the Engineer Commissioner this | week by a committee of the Wash- | ington Society of Engineers, collabo- | rating with the local section of the American Society of Clvil Engineers. The proposals of the engineering | committee were made in response to i request of the Engineer Commission- or that local engineers, architects, contractors and others interested in construction work examine and com- ment upon a tentative draft of the new codé draws un ugder the super- vision of the Commissioners, Changes Outlined. The communication from the s0- clety outlined a number of changes which it fleemed advisable in the code and included a proposed synopsis of | what it believes would be an ideal code for Washington, differing sub- =tantially from the tentative draft of the municipal authorities. In sub- mitting this synopsis it is explained that the committee of engineers felt that it was “highly desirable that the code be arranged in_a logical and vstematic order, to the end that all matte pertaining to each general subject be grcuped in a separate £ection. Referring to possible future changes which might be necessary in the per- manent code, the committee recom- mended that the authorization for the adoption of such changes should be made by amendment to the build- ing ode through the District Com- | missloners “after investigation and | after hearings, if deemed advisable.” | [t was with a view to facilitating | these investigations that the advisory committee was suggested. The committee makes detailed rec- | ommendations, in technical terms, re- | garding safe structural methods to ¥ustain floor and roof loads. Attention to Filled Land. Particular attention was paid to the mooted question of erecting buildings on newly-filled ground. It Is said by the committee that ‘“tests of bearing capacity on filied ground, as commonly made, are of no particular value. Bear- ing capacity on filled ground should be passed upon b} the inspector of build- ings or by a representative competent in this matter, after exploration or in- | vestigation to determine location of | original ground and character of fill.” The committee recommended a bear- | ing value on fllled ground not to exceed one-half ton per square foot, except that for fllls of exceptional character and compactness a slightly higher value may be used. In this connection the committee quoted the following from the build- | ing code committes of the Department of Commerce: Settlement Likely g { “It ® * ¢ the material the bot-] tom of the wall is an artificial fill or | is underlaid with mud, peat or similar | organic matter, it is lable to settle- | ment no matter how much the wall footing may be spread to distribute the | load. It is Inadvisable to attempt to| support any building which is intended | sections where ‘frame construction to be permanent on other than a stratum of natural ground, free from organic material. If such a stratum cannot be reached by carrying the ex- cavations for. the entire wall down to | its level, other means, such as piles, either wood or concrete, may be em- ployed. It was further recommended ‘that complete and definite regulations for reinforced concrete be adopted, and land that these regulations or any other regulations, be not subject to automatic: modifications by future re- ports or changes by various agencies, such as the joint committee, American Concrete Institute, American Society | for Testing Materials, etc.” | Demand Inspection. | Regarding full-time_inspection of re- inforced concrete work by the owner or architect, the committee feels, it was asserted, “that this is a desirable aim to attain; provided these dnspectors re- ceive compensation from others than those installing this work.” “It is questionable,” the report states, “wacther a sufficient number of com- | petent Inspectors are now avaiizble, | and In order to facllitate the adoption, of full-time inspection we recommend'| that an increase of stresses be allowed | where approved inspection is main- tained.” More _explicit regulations regarding time limits for removal of concrete | forms in_extreme weather conditions | of either winter or summer were urged. Fire Protection. It was advocated that various ma- materials used for Inclosing steel columns have a fire-resistance capacity of 2% hours. For fire protection of | structural steel roofs in theaters and | assembly halls special thicknesses of | cement plaster were specified as ad- visable, The committee favors the writing of ® digest by the corporation counsel covering the legal status of party walls and party lines, including court decls- fons, ete. The synopsis arranged by the engi- neers, ip collaboration with the Wash- | ington Chapter of the American Insti- | tute of Architects, calls for a division of the building code into twelve sec- | tions, as follows: Laws and regula- tions, administration, precautions and | safeguards during construction, oceu- | pancy of public property, occupancy of | Drivate property, ventilation require- | ments, fire prevention and protection | regulations, structural _engineering, regulations, heating apparatus, clevator | machinery. plumbing regulations and electricl” regulations. Ask Zone Law Inclusion. ] Substitution of the so-called - A" | area of the city, comprising outlying | is | permisssible, for the present firc limits, | because of the near-coincidence of these lines of demarcation, is provided for in the synopsis. " Inclusion in the building code of the | zoning law and of parts of the earlier law of 1910 relating to heights of build- | ings s favored. Another recommendation was that| eight-inch walls be allowed for “skele- | | | ton” type buildings in order to allow | | both the walls and the “skeleton” frame to_be more economically designed. The statement to the engineer com- | missioner was signed_by Thomas W. Marshall, chairman; Harry Blake, F.| . Gillen, M. 8 . G. B. Strickler | and Charles’ H. Tompkins, composing the society’s committee. R. H. Dal- | gleish is president of the organization Ward Brotwn Architeos This beautiful home is now. under construction by the ‘Armstrong Development Corporation. by one of the city’s best architects and constructed by day labor it stands as a proof of the corporation’s purpose to . provide beautiful homes for a reasonable sum. Half-Acre Plots No crowding here! Plenty of ground for honse and garage; lawn, trees, and flowers; Gentlemen: Please send me.piat: price list, etc. N yard. If you are really interested, phone. and have our chauffeur call for you. Lolder, e AdAress—~ v vrrvvrvmaniosee e Ld Specially designed Law Would Test Intelligence of Real Estate Man An . Intelligence test for appli- cants for a real estate ‘brokers license, in 'addition to Integrity tests i a new devélopment in real estate license legislation, which real estate men all over the country are watching with constderable interest and which is provided for in a bill just passed by the California senatd. The bill is a part of the legislative program for raising real estate standards being urged -by. the California Real Estate Associa- tion. Reasonable knowledge of the re- lation of broker to.client, as well as reasonable knowledge of deeds, mortgages, leases and the. pro- visions of the state real estate act are matters which the state real estate commissioner by the pro- visions of the bill may inquire into before granting an applicant a license as a real estate broker. The commissioner may also impose tests to determine falr knowledge of, reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. RENODELING 0D HOUSES N VORUE During recent years there has come into vogue a method remodeling cld frame houses. This ‘overcoat- ing” a@s it is called, s used ex- tensively in all sections of the coun- try, and the following practice is tecommended- Every house has fts own defects and characteristics and each must Le treated according to its physical condition. A tight foof is essential. Where furring is ‘used so deep that the space back of the lath s not entirely filled with plaster, somo rrovision must be made for extend- ing the old window and door frames to correspond with the increased thickness of the wall. A mold may Le fastened on the outer edge of the frame. In some cases the plaster is brought over the old frames in such a manner that a recessed window or door opening is made. In case the furring strips are fastened to the studding, it is not necessary to provide for extending the window end door frames, as the new stucco fnish will have the same relations us_the old weatherboarding. If the weatherboarding is in poor | condition it should be removed and | furring strips and metal lath apphed over the sheathing, to which water- rroof paper has been previously fastened. It may be advisable also to remove the sheathing, in which case the furring strips can be fastened directly to the studding after bracing between the studs. Another method would be to fasten | the furring strips to the weather- boards over which metal lath is ap- plied, after applying weather-proof paper over the weatherboarding. In preparation for any of these methods the house should be gone over carefully to determine If the framework is weil enough preserved to_justify’ the improvement. The doors should be.looked after and studding inspected and parti- tiops and gutside walls lined up and brought info plumb. 5 Street, mear Massacl OR COL. JENKS. D. C. Architects are Interested In Babbitt’s Perfect House Local architects have displayed pro- fessional interest in the true-to-life descriptions of “Mr. Babbitt's” resi- dence, the aristocrat of homes in “Floral Heights,” as pictured with words by Sinclair Lewis in his novel, ‘Babbitt. The Babbitt house, as described in detail by the author, was so complete and so formal and so ultra modern that it had but one fault—"it was not a home.” Here are some typical extracts from Mr. Lewis' book: “The room displayed a modest and pleasant color scheme, after one of the best standard deslgns of the decorator who ‘did the interiors’ for most of the speculative builders’ houses in Zenith. The walls were gray, the woodwork white, the rug a serene blue. And very much like mahogany was the furniture—the bu- reau, with its great clear mirror; Mrs. Babbitt's dressing table, with toilet articles of almost solid silver; the plain twin beds, between them a small table holding a standard elec- trict bedside lamp, a glass for water and a standard bedside book with colored illustrations—what particular book it was cannot be ascertained, since no one had ever opened it. The mattresses were firm, but not hard— | triumphant modern mattresses, which had cost a great deal of money. The hot-water radiator was of exactly the proper sclentific surface for the cubic contents of the room. “The windows were large and easlly opened, with the best catches and cords, and Holland roller shades guaranteed not to crack. It was a masterpiece among bedrooms, right out of “Cheerful Modern Houses for Medium Incomes.’ Only it had noth- ing to do with the Babbitts nor with any one else. If people had ever lived and loved here, read thrillers at mid- night and lain in beautiful indolence on a Sunday morning, there were no signs of it.” It had the air of being a very good room in a very good hotel.” One expected the chamber- maid to come in and make it ready for people who would stay but one night, -go without looking back and never think of it again. “Every second house Helghts had a bedroom precisely like this. - “The Babbitts’ house was five years old. It was all as competent and glossy as this bedroom. It has the best of taste, the best of inexpensive rugs, a simple and laudable archi- tecture and the latest conveniences. Throughout electricity took the place of candles and slatternly hearth fires. Along the bedroom baseboard were three plugs for electric lamps, con- cealed by little brass doors. In the halls were plugs for the vacuum cleaner, and in the living room plugs | for the plano lamp, for the electric | fan./ The trim dining room (with its admirable oak buffet, its leaded glass cupboard, its creamy plaster walls, its modest scene of a salmon expiring upon & pile of oysters) had plugs which supplied the electric percolator and the electric toaster. Was Not a Home. “In fact, there was but one thing wrong with the Babblitt house—it was not a home. * ¢ ® joyed his sleeping porch because of the fresh alr or because it was the porch. “Just as he was an Elk, a Booster and a member of the Chamber of Commerce; just as the priests of the Presbyterian Church determined his every religious bellef and the sena- tors who controlled the . republican party decided in little smoky rooms in Washington what he should think about disarmament, tariff and Ger- many, 8o did the large national ad- vertisers fix the surface of his life, fix what he believed to be his indi- viduality. wares—toothpastes, socks, cameras, instantaneous heaters—were his symbols and proofs | of excellence; at first the signs, then|2nd t , the substitutes, for joy, passion and | the Eréanting of magna charta. wisdom. | tires, | hot-water | These standard advertised | Porch Significant. | “But none of these porch with a sun parlor below. * “The entrance lobby of the Athletic Club was Gothic, the washroom advertised | the wainscoat studded with hand- | tokens of financial and social success | made wooden pegs, and at,one end of was more significant than a sleeping | the room was a heraldio and hooded | stone fireplace, which the club’s ad- 1100 per cent employment of labor | and the bonus system still generally lers in the Chicago district. “It is not known whether he en-' | Carpenters not working under standard thing to have a sleeping | BULDING LABOR PAY 10 BE RASED Survey of Nation Shows 100 Per Cent Employment, With Adjustments Met. Tendency generally throughout the country toward adjustment of dif- ferences in the building industry 80 as not to disturb the progress of construction work was evidenced in a building labor survey just com- pleted by the 8. W. Straus Company of New York. According to this survey, the ap- proach of May 1 finds the following outstanding features in the building trades situation: New wage scales being signed up on the basis of substantial increases; practically a existent and likely to continue. “The necessity of practical reciproc- ity and co-operation between em- ployers and employes is now so ap- parent to all concerned that & radical stand on the part of either side does rot at this time seem likely," the | survey continues. “An analysis of the new wage adjustments which recently have been made in various | cities shows that labor is inclined | fully to compensate itself in keeping with the great demand for it and the increased cost of living, and that builders are endeavoring to hold the unions within bounds, which will not make future constructién prohibitive on_the score of cost. “In Chicago negotiations have been completed which may insure peace for some time between workmen and employers, the Chicago Building Trades Council ving signed a three-year agreement with the Build- ing Construction Imployers' Asso- ciatlon, with the Landis award as the basis for all disputes. Brick- | layers have signed an agreemeft of $1.25 per hour, which practically sets | the new scale for other skilled work- | Landls | award carpenters now receiving $1 an | hour will recelve $L15 atter May 31 the Landis award have served notice that they want $1.25 an hour, and it is reported that contractors generally will pay that scale. Similar increases asked by structural iron workers, plumbers, plasterers and steamfitters | will probably be granted. The paint. | ers, who want an increase from 98 | cents an hour to $1.25, have already signed an agreement with employers | making Saturday a holiday. The Tile | masterplece of Ferdinand Reltman, Zenith's buslest architect. It was lofty and half-timbered, with Tudor leaded casements, an orlel, a some- | what musiclanless musiclans' gallery, | apestries believed to illustrate | The open beams had been hand-adzed at Jake Offutt's car-body works, the hinges were of hand-wrought iron, | vertising pamphlet asserted to be not | only larger than any of the fire-| Roman imperial, the lounge Spanish | places in European castles, but of a | mission, Chinese chippendale. and the reading room But the gem in- Florallof the club was the dining room, the in | draft { \ incomparably more sclentific. | It was also much cleaner, as no fire | Bad ever been bullt In ft. | Convenient in Location--- Exclusive in Character--- Moderate in Price. 'HALF ACRES Nature has been bountiful in providing ideal home sites in the Announcing the Opening of Washington’s Most Beautiful Villa Home Sites gently rolling Maryland country, just without the District Line. Developed by broad and winding roads, SEVEN OAKS provides choice of open land, or forest, hillside or a site beside the famous Sligo Creek. This stream divides the estate, Wwinding its picturesque ~way through tulip poplars. Great oak trees stand on a central knoll , overlooking the tennis courts and gardens dedicated to the use of our purchasers. Between Woodside Park and 1 ndian Spring Golf Club. Come early and get the choice of a hundred plots. Inquire on the property as to the advantages placed at the disposal of the home site purchaser from his use of the Service Bureau: Financial Expert, and Landscape Gardener, ‘Modest Prices vegetable garden . Armstrong Developmenf Phone Main 5792 Reasonable Terms 5234 Bond Bldg. Corporation | Increase Builder, Architeot, , Restrictions Layers’ unions (fireproofers) have signed a new agreement with the Fireproofers' Assoclation, granting them 16 cents an| hour increase, or $1.27% per hour rate. Western Cities Fall I “In Minneapolis a new scale ef- fective June 1 grants a 10 per cent increase to all skilled labor, which applies to thirteen other Minnesota citles. In Loulsville carpenters have signed for an increase; in Duluth contractors have decided to grant an to most trades, effective June 1, ranging from 10 to 123 per cent. In Atlanta, Ga., and Columbus, Ohio, increases have been granted, and 'in Buffalo bricklayers are re- celving $1.25 an hour, which includes a bonus of 123 cents. In St. Louis bricklayers are demanding $1.50 an hour and painters have signed up for $1.05 until May 1, when the scale will go to $1.12%. In Detroit some trades have been fncreased 20 per cent; in Kansas City common labor is paid as high as 75 cents an hour. “In many fmportant southern cities a shortage of labor is reported and any new wage scales arg based upon this situation. In OkTahoma City steamfitters threaten to strike unless they are granted $10 a day; in Boston | increases have been allowed for 1923 with further increases in 1924; in Atlantic City all trades not still under contract have been granted increases in the Pittsburgh district increase: have been granted from 10 to 25 cents an hour for skilled mechanics, and laborers are receiving 60 cents with an increase of 10 cents after July 1. “In San Francisco there is a short- age of labor, and contractors are nearly all paying more than the le; in Nashville, Tenn., the labor situation is reported easier, with five cuts in wages and two increases effective May 1. trades have signed agreements, and the bullding craft's strike is believed to be nearing a settlement; the car- penters have returned to work at $1.10 an hour, an increase of 10 cents. Other crafts have also recelved in- creases. “Reports indicate that the common labor rate for the nation, as applied to pick and shovel men in construc- tion operations, is placed at 50 cents an hour, as against 49 cents for the preceding month.” In Omaha, Neb, five | CONERSONREALTY COURSEINCOLLEGE John A. Petty Attends Meet- ing at University at Wisconsin. John A. Petty, executive secretary of the Washington Real Estate Board, | s in Madison, Wis,, attending a spe- gial conference on real estate educa- tion between professors of the Uni- | versity of Wisconsin, members of the | educational committee of the National | Association of Real Estate Board and | Y. M. C. A. educators. | Mr. Petty was made a member of ho natlonal realtors’ committes on | education following his presentation | at last year’s convention of the a- |tional Assoclation of Real Fstate | Boards of a comprehensive treatise on real estate as a topic for study in | college curricula. He incorporated in | this report a number of recommenda- | tions regarding the incluston of real | estate as a regular elective course in | institutions of learning, based on his | experience as director of the local . | M. C. A. course in that subject. Immedia after the reading of Mr. Petty's report at the convention it was announced that he had been appointed a member of the national educational committee, in order that he might personally assist the na- | tional association in carrying out its | educational plan | (The conference at the University of Wisconsin began yesterday, and will be concluded today. Mr. Petty is ex- pected k in thi; Massachusetts Park Washington’s most beautiful residential section of detach- ed homes. Containing seven million feet of forest-covered land, with six miles of improved streets. Includes what remains of “The Triangle of Increasing Values” between Connecticut, Massachusetts and Cathedral avenues (Woodley Rd.). Over four million feet of land sold. Over ninety homes from $15,000 to $200,000 built and under con- struction. Wooded villa sites, lots and central and side hall brick homes, with lots from 50 to 115 feet front—Park Office, 32d and Cathedral Ave. (Woodley Rd.). Woodley Park Finished and brick garages. Lots 24 and 29 $2,000 Cash, $150 Monthly. Middaugh & under construction. located, attached and semi-detached homes. Connecticut Ave., adjacent to the bridge. Washington’s best Exhibit, 2820 Three baths, 2-car feet by 120. Terms if desired: Shannon, Inc. Woodward Building, 15th and H Sts. Established 1509 RQCK CREERK PARK TROLLE Y (FOUATEENTNI LINE ovam e e ‘Drive out 16th St. to ‘out Georgia Avenue NDIAN PRING Alaska Avenue, jout Alaska Avenue to Georgia Avenue, through Silver ‘Spring to Sligo, turn to right at Sligo - yards from Sligo on i ‘on to the Colesville Pike and about 500 your right you ‘will come to the entrance gates of - Seven Oaks. 14th Street \anc'l New York Ave. 1]