These may be of any lasting wood, and hence the kind most readily obtained will be used; spruce, pine, whitewood, poplar, or oak, is suitable. In many localities it is customary to use sills containing about twice as much material as is necessary. If the foundation is properly made, of brick or stone, the sills may be two by six inches, but if the house is built on piers or posts, the sills should be six by eight inches, or eight inches square, with the corners framed together, and the joists framed in even with top of sills. When smaller timbers are used on brick foundation, the flooring joists are not framed in, but rest on top of sills.

The studding should be of good sound wood, free from many knots, two by four inches, cut to an even length, and gained on the side for ledger boards which support second story joists. Each studding should be nailed to the sill with four tenpenny nails; this we believe to be better than the old plan of mortising into the sills, as in that case they are framed very loose, and cannot stand so much rough usage.

The plates for rafters to rest upon should be two by four inches, and should be doubled, and spiked down to each studding with thirty-penny nails.

The ledger boards, supporting the joists of second story should be of the soundest material, one by five inches, let into the studding and spiked to them.

The first and second story joists should be two by ten inches, and the attic joists two by six inches. The joist of second story should be spiked to the studding with thirty-penny nails. The rafters, if for shingles, should be two by four inches, but if for slate, two by six; in either case they should be set sixteen inches apart, center to center, and collared with sound boards nailed to every other pair. At doors and windows the studding should be doubled to give more strength for casings; and where partitions are placed, the floor joists should be doubled.

Boarding for outside walls should be of sound pine, spruce, hemlock, or whitewood, one inch thick, planed on one side, laid close joint, and nailed on both edges at every bearing. The same kind of boards should be used for covering the rafters, but the joints should be laid open; and if floors are to be laid double, this kind of boarding will answer for bottom floor, and the attic floor will need no other flooring.

Sheathing Paper, see page 42.

Shingle Roofing, see page 42.

Clapboarding, see page 43.

Slate roofs, when of first-class slate, well laid, and all joints perfectly fitted, are the most desirable of all There are many varieties of slate, and, like Joseph's coat, of many colors. It has been the custom to use these different colored slates, arranged in pleasing figures, and presenting a very good effect, but we are inclined to prefer the jet black slate; nothing is richer, and the color will fade but slightly.

The slate should be seven by fourteen inches, cut to any desirable pattern on exposed ends, round, hexagonal, or clipped on the corners. Slate should be laid two and a half inches head cover, that is, each slate should lap over the second one below it that distance, and if the roof is not steep, three-inch laps will be required.

The first course of slate must be doubled, and the last course and all small pieces used in fitting must be well bedded in elastic cement, made and for sale for the purpose.

On gothic roofs, and in fact any roof where the roof makes an angle, great care should be taken to have the slate cut and set to a perfect joint; but as they can never be cut so as to make a perfectly water-tight joint, each course must be flashed under with tin, that is, tin must be bent over the last course and extend up on sheathing so that the next course will hide it. All valleys (gutters made by angles of roofs) must of course be made of tin, and the slates neatly fitted and set in cement.

In slating about chimneys, the tin should pass under the slate and turn up against the bricks; but this is not enough, this tin against the bricks must be cap-flashed, or in other words, the mortar must be dug out of bricks just above, and tin or sheet lead inserted and turned down, then no leak can occur.

For fire-proofing shingle roofs, see Recipes, Varnishes, and Paints.