How Different Soils Affect Health and Building

How Different Soils Affect Health and Building.

The expense of building, besides depending on the accessibility of
the site and its exposure to the weather, will vary a good deal with
the nature of the foundations required. Moreover, a favourable soil
as regards the cultivation of the garden is of great moment to the future
cottage owner. Carting in vegetable earth is a costly matter, and fertilising
the ground still more so.

Picture 10. From this plan it will be seen that the
hall, which contains an ingle-nook, can really be counted as a sitting-room
: there is an alternate way to the front door from the kitchen. The
stairs are so placed to render a back staircase unnecessary, and a pantry
isolates the kitchen, and acts as a servery to the dining-room. Upstairs
are five bedrooms, and all the usual offices and aspects are considered.
Being in an exposed position, the external walls are made waterproof
by a coat of smooth cement, the white colour of which contrasts well
with the dark red roofing tiles.

Gravel, free from loam and covered with a strong top soil, is pre-eminently
the best for building sites, as it is porous and allows surface water
to disappear quickly. Sometimes it can be built on direct without requiring
foundations, but if insufficiently stiff to allow this, excellent concrete
may be made out of the material itself. Where gravel is on the spot,
and unless bricks can be obtained very cheaply, it is a saving to build
concrete cottages. Lowland situations are likely to furnish the advantage
of gravel.

Sand has the same characteristics as gravel, though to a less degree.
It is a sure cause of cracked walls and ceilings if there is a possibility
of its movement, either by the action of water springs or other causes.
Sand is also an important building material.

Chalk is considered to be healthy, being generally permeable. Like
sand and gravel sites, the loam on a chalky substratum is liable to
be shallow, and will produce nothing in the garden without a great deal
of attention. Where cropping up close to the surface, chalk become slippery
in wet weather, besides being subject to fissures. It is usually found
in hilly and elevated positions, which are dry enough but too exposed
for those who wish for shelter in the environment of trees.

Solid rock is of course, safe and strong ; but care will have to be
taken in choosing the position of the cottage in order to reduce the
expenses of levelling the site, and of excavation for walls and drainage.
A trickle of water is sometimes found in rocky strata, and it must be
seen that the foundation walls are not the means of forming a small
pond.

The commonest soil in this country is clay, and it is found in many
varieties, mostly in undulating and well-timbered land. Being impervious
to moisture, though always damp itself, clay when underlining a site
often causes the land to become more or less water-logged above ; careful
drainage will make the site fit to build upon, though it may be an expensive
business. A stiff clay makes a good foundation, especially if there
is a porous subsoil not far underneath. When building on clay, deep
excavations are necessary so that the footings will be out of reach
of atmospherical changes, which cause shrinkages in the soil and settlements
in the wall above.

"Made" ground should always be avoided. Consisting as it often does
of animal and vegetable refuse, it is liable to ferment and putrefy
for years with grave consequences to the health of the occupants of
the house thereon, as well as to the stability of the building itself.
This kind of ground is more common in suburban localities than in open
country.

A Healthy Site

The influence of the soil on health is marked, and is more apparent
in the country than in towns, where paving and drainage tend to obliterate
the difference due to its greater or less permeability. No one associates
rheumatism and catarrhs with the now fashionable London quarter of Belgravia,
yet at one time the marshes of Ebury were scarcely habitable. Bronchitis,
pneumonia, and kindred ailments are also fostered by dampness. The most
pervious subsoils are the healthiest. Gravel, sand and porous chalk
are best; and clay and peaty land, which holds water, about the worst.



Pictures 8 and 9. This pair of small cottages was designed
to special requirements for a rural district in Sussex. A working kitchen
and a good living-room, with ample storage space were required, and
there had to be three bedrooms upstairs.

It is possible to effect great changes in the condition of the soil
by a system of ground drainage, and by the addition or removal of trees
and other vegetation. What is to be aimed at is to prevent the land,
at least at the top few feet, from becoming water-logged, as in this
state it makes the adjacent air cold and damp, and sometimes misty.
Subsoil drainage is usually carried out by means of rough, unjointed
agricultural pipes laid at about 3ft. below the surface of the ground.
The lines of pipes are from 4 ft. to 10 ft. apart, the distance varying
with the porousness of the soil.

The best possible site has the ground sloping away in all directions,
and while enjoying a free circulation of air in the immediate locality,
there should be shelter from prevailing winds. High positions are preferable
to low ones (which may receive drainage from higher levels), except
where the place is on (but not at the top of) a steep slope, in which
case the air is sometimes liable to be stagnant In an exposed situation,
tree screens are often useful on the north and east sides. They are
apt to cause dampness and stagnation of air if too close to the house,
and, as a rule, no tree should be nearer to buildings than at least
its own height.

Freehold versus Leasehold

There can be little difference of opinion as to the advantages of building
on freehold land, both for possible future realisation and for present
purposes. At first sight, however, the comparatively small sum to be
paid yearly for a leasehold property seems preferable to the higher
price for its purchase. But when it is considered that the ground landlord
is apt, and naturally from his point of view, to insist on the erection
of substantial buildings of a certain value, one sees that the benefit
of a building lease is not as good as at first appeared.

For those who think of buying one or two old cottages to adapt into
one picturesque home, much expert advice as regards the construction,
as well as the validity of the title and deeds will be necessary. The
final cost usually comes to as much and often more than the price of
a new dwelling ; and if the old buildings are taken on an agreement,
it must always be remembered that, as the inevitable bill of dilapidations
has to be paid when the property goes back to the landowner, the place
is worth very little during the last twenty years or so of the lease.

Again, when one wants to make an addition to a house or garden which
have been taken on an agreement or lease, it is generally found that
spending money on other people's property is somewhat disappointing
work.

Choosing a Site for a Cottage

The Actual Site

The locality fixed upon, we have next to find a suitable site. In doing
this, we are at once faced with a whole range of difficulties, on which
will depend in a large degree the comfort and happiness of the cottage
inmates. First of all, we shall make ourselves acquainted with the place,
and visit all the highways and by-ways, asking estate agents, friends,
and the lady at the village shop questions innumerable.

Each site proffered should be critically investigated before anything
is definitely settled. What about present and future neighbours? Are
the village schools, the picturesque church with its ivy clad tower
(containing a bell), or the local public-house a little too close? We
may rather like the look of that farm-yard closeby ; but when we find
that the plumpness of the chicken is due to adjoining gardens, and that
the chorus of the ducks rarely concludes by sunset, our love grows cold.
Possibly the pretty little brook that bubbles by so merrily is more
harmful than it looks : there may be some primitive forms of drainage
higher up stream ; and also a heavy rainfall is capable of surprising
effects.

Although we shall naturally avoid the high road on account of the annoyance
of passing traffic, which includes tramps, barrel-organs, and motors,
we should like to take advantage of the public drainage system, and
water and gas supplies ; and also to be near the post office and railway
station. An uphill climb from the station is to be preferred, as it
can at least be taken leisurely.

One cannot be too careful in making enquiries, or in having too legal
a guarantee as to the class and value of buildings permitted to be erected
on adjacent land although it is possible to secure and maintain privacy
to almost any extent by the judicious planting of trees and shrubs,
it is a good deal more difficult to protect ourselves from the nuisance
of some adjoining factory which has been attracted to the neighbourhood
by the low rates. Sewage farms and slaughter-houses are unpleasant things
to have in the proximity; and cement works and cemeteries are unhealthy
as they give off carbonic acid.

It should be observed whether the road is made up and taken over by
the local authority, for otherwise the cost may fall on the frontagers.
Often the fine views obtainable from a particular site are the chief
reason for its choice, so it is well to ascertain whether there is any
likelihood of future building in the immediate neighbourhood.



Picture 7. This pair of semi-detached houses was built
in 1909. The accommodation includes four bedrooms, bathroom, etc., on
the first floor ; and two sitting-rooms, a hall with a fire-place, and
the usual offices below. This type of house is economical, as the roof
continues down over the porches, thus saving brickwork. Red brick was
used for the chimneys, Fletton brick and roughcast for the main walls
and dark red tiles for roofing.

Good Neighbourhood for Cottages

Almost as important as the design of the cottage itself is the selection of the site it shall occupy. More often than not, a certain position is available and none other ; but if the best result possible is to be obtained, this preliminary question should receive mature and skilled consideration.

Where To Live
Usually the locality has been settled on the first thought of building,
as perhaps we know the chosen neighbourhood slightly. But it is worth
while making sure that it really does suit our health and temperament.
For what could be more annoying than to find afterwards that the cottage
is in a district that disagrees with the owner? An occasional week-end
in the place when we are told that it is "very bracing" or "relaxing"
is hardly enough especially for those persons whose health is susceptible
to changes of air and soil.

To individuals who are content with their own or each other's society,
or who have a desire to be near friends, to be near the sea or river,
or perhaps a golf-course, the natural beauties and advantages of the
spot itself will not be so important. Nearly always, however, they must
give thought to such considerations as the proximity of the railway
station, shops, a doctor, and a good day school for the children. Again,
the strictness of the local building by-laws has been known to influence
choice ; while even in some sleepy little village the matter of rates
and taxes may give an unpleasant surprise.

The Neighbourhood

The City worker in London intending to travel daily to and from his
business will not care to live more than about five-and-twenty miles
out, on account of both the cost and the time spent in travelling. But
if the cottage is only for use from Saturdays to Mondays, and other
holidays, the distance may often be doubled. The man with offices near
Charing Cross will not choose a neighbourhood on the Midland line, unless
there is some very good reason ; for even with all the tubes and 'buses,
it is still a troublesome matter to get across London. Most decisions
are also affected by the frequency of trains, and the time of the last
one home at night.

Society men with no business claims may prefer a bungalow in the flat
fen country or near the pines in the south, or possibly a cottage on
the sunny slopes of Dartmoor. And if a proud possessor of a motor car,
he can be quite independent of railway services.