Where it is not desirable to make a large addition to the ordinary cost of plumbing, a good and durable effect can be obtained by covering lead, brass, or iron pipes with aluminum bronze, the faucets, and other parts which are readily accessible for cleaning, being nickel-plated. The silver lustre of the aluminum bronze is liable to little change, and the coating is easily renewed, while the combination of the dead-bronze finish with the shining nickel-plating is very agreeable.

All plated work can be replated when the coating is worn off, or attacked by acids, which quickly affect nickel, and the second plating is said to be closer and harder, and therefore more durable, than the first. Occasionally a copper pantry sink is retinned, but the new coating of tin cannot be planished like the old one, and the effect is not very satisfactory. Tinned-copper bath-tubs are too large for recoating, and the common mode of improving their appearance is to paint them inside with "bath-tub enamel," or some other white paint mixed with varnish. The result is, however, rarely very satisfactory, as, unless the copper is thoroughly cleaned of grease by rubbing it with a rag dipped in a strong solution of soda, the enamel paint will come off in patches.

The earthenware of plumbing appliances, if of good quality, is not very liable to deterioration. In towns where the public water-pipes are of wrought iron, or where the house-pipes, if of iron, have lost their coating of zinc or enamel, the porcelain, where most exposed to the flow of water, gradually acquires a brown stain; but, when this becomes unpleasantly conspicuous, it can generally be removed by washing with a solution of oxalic acid in water.

Replating.

Earthenware.

It is very often necessary to leave plumbing to itself for long periods, while the house in which it is situated is closed, and special precautions are necessary to protect the fixtures, either from destruction by frost in winter, or from losing by evaporation, in summer, the seal of water in the traps which forms the only barrier against the escape of sewer-air into the rooms.

When the house is to be left to itself in winter, it is absolutely necessary, in the climate of any part of America north of Florida, or east of the California ranges, to remove water entirely from the supply-pipes. This is done by shutting the main stop-and-waste cock, always placed just inside the cellar wall, usually in a little pit, with a sand bottom, where it will be safer from freezing, and where the water which escapes from the waste-tube will be absorbed by the soil. This water, which often spouts out in a copious stream, when the shut-off is closed, comes from the house-pipes, the stop-cock being so arranged that, after communication with the street main is closed, a passage is opened to drain off the water standing in the house-pipes, which could not otherwise be removed, and would freeze if it were left undisturbed. After closing the main shut-off, and draining away such water as will flow through its waste-tube, all the faucets in the house should be opened, not forgetting the sill-cock on the outside of the house, so as to allow the water in the short lengths of pipe leading to them to run out, as well as to admit air, and release the column of water which might otherwise be held in the main vertical pipes by atmospheric pressure; and the cistern-valves supplying the water-closets should be held open, by means of the chain or rod, until all the water in the cisterns has run out through the closet basin.

The protection of plumbing in empty houses.

The copper bath-boiler, and the water-front of the range, must next be emptied together, by opening the "sediment cock," which will be found either at the bottom of the boiler, or on the lower brass pipe connecting the boiler with the range, remembering first to set a pail underneath if the sediment cock discharges, as is often the case, on the kitchen floor. A glance should then be given at the tank in the attic, to make sure that all the water in it has run out through the boiler that it supplies; and wash-trays, wash-boilers, pantry sinks, bath-tubs, and basins may with advantage be examined, to make sure that no water is left in them. If the pipes are properly laid, with no sags or depressions in them which cannot be drained, these proceedings will effectually clear them of water. If there is a water-meter in the house, however, it must be removed by the proper authorities; and if the house is to be left for several months, it is safest to have the water shut off at the official stop-cock in the street, as there may be a possibility that the pipe, unless this is done, will freeze and burst between the cellar wall and the main shut-off, flooding the house as soon as it thaws again, and perhaps doing immense damage.

If any depressions are found, or are known to exist, in the supply-pipes, which cannot be drained, either through some faucet, or back through the waste-tube of the main shut-off, they should have holes bored in them at the lowest point; and, after the water in them has run out, the holes may be closed with a drop of solder, or a small brass "pet-cock" may be screwed in, which will serve at any time for draining the depression.

After the supply-pipes are thus cleared of water, the traps remain to be similarly treated. Sinks, pantry sinks, baths, and wash-trays usually have round traps, with a large brass cover screwed into the top, which can be unscrewed with a wrench, applied to the projection formed for the purpose on top. The water standing in the trap can then be dipped out, or removed with a sponge, and the trap-screw replaced. In some cases, round traps have the trap-screw in the side; and, as the removal or loosening of a trap-screw in this position allows the water to run out of the trap, a pail or tin pan should be put underneath, to catch the water, before the wrench is applied, or the ceiling below may be spoiled. With S traps, such as are commonly used under wash-basins, and sometimes under baths, the same precaution is necessary, and it is required also with most of the patent traps, which generally open by means of caps below the water line.