It not only
resists the disintegrating influences of the atmosphere, but becomes
even harder with the lapse of time. It may also be made in several
different colors, and can be finished off to nearly a polished surface
or can be left quite rough. Walls built of this material may be made so
hard that a nail cannot be driven into them, or they can be made
sufficiently soft to become a fixing for joinery, and, if a non-porous
aggregate be used, no damp course is required. Further than this, if
land be bought upon which there is sufficient gravel, or even clay that
can be burnt, the greatest portion of the building material may be
obtained in excavating for the cellar; and in seaside localities, if the
(salt) shingle from the beach be used, sound and dry walls will be
obtained. The use of concrete as a material for building will be found
to meet all the defects set forth by practical people, as it may be made
fire-proof, vermin-proof, and nail-proof, and in dwellings for the poor
will therefore resist the destructive efforts of the "young barbarian."
Nothing, therefore, can be better as a building material. The system
ordinarily employed to erect structures in concrete consists of first
forming casings of wood, between which the liquid concrete is deposited,
and allowed to become hard, or "to set.
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