Any person who expects to make alterations in a house should begin to ponder improvements a long time in advance. The first step should be an accurately measured record of the present floor plans, drawn at a scale of one-quarter inch to the foot. The exact size and position of walls, openings, closets, chimneys, or other existing features should be located on these drawings, which may then be studied by comparing them with other good plans found in books and magazines. Tissue paper or tracing paper may then be placed over the drawings and alteration sketches freely made. A dozen arrangements may thus be tried on paper, hung on the wall, and considered at leisure. These plans should be supplemented by a building-book in which one may keep measurements, written data, and new ideas as they occur. In this book, clippings may be pasted and sketches may be freely made. These plans and this book correspond in a rude way to the architect's drawings and specifications, and will serve to crystallize the alterations into definite form.

Generations of building experience have shown that successful results must be based on definite instructions. No man's memory should be trusted for measurements or other information, and verbal directions should not be given to workmen. Building operations are exceedingly definite; walls and openings when in place cannot be moved one inch in order to suit a piece of furniture or to make way for an altered notion. All these experimental ideas should be worked out on paper.

As the owner studies over alteration problems, the best arrangement will at length take shape in his own mind. An intelligible home-made drawing and an explicit written list of his requirements may then be put in shape, so that the carpenter or contractor can make a fairly accurate estimate of the cost before work is begun. In order to obtain the best results, the owner should read up, in reliable books, such subjects as waterworks and heating systems and should freely investigate catalogues of equipment.

When the contemplated alterations are extensive and therefore costly, or when a new house must be built, the work should by all means be turned over to a good architect. Forceful arrangement and good design require trained experience; an attempt to get along without such professional help is false economy. It is the architect's daily business to put building requirements into buildable shape. Practical construction is the basis of his design. Moreover, he is acquainted with all the short cuts whereby efficient results may be obtained quickly and permanently.

References

King, F. H. Ventilation for Dwellings, Rural Schools, and Stables.

Lynde, Carleton. Home Waterworks.

Putnam, X. W. The Gasoline Engine on the Farm.

Roberts, Isaac Phillips. The Farmstead.

Schneider, N. H. Electric Light for the Farm.

Stickley, Gustav. Craftsman Homes.

White, Charles E., Jr. Successful Houses and How to Build Them.