Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 84 Chapter 083
On the afternoon of the sixth day of the first lunar month, two masters, He and He, who had previously built a bathhouse for Tang Zhitong, came to Tang's house with Zhang, a worker from the lumber factory.

Zhang Gong is not a name, but an honorific. His identity is an engineer and technical talent in a wood factory.

Tang Zhitong offered cigarettes to the three masters and talked about his plans for building a house, what kind of furniture he would like to put in, etc.

"How do you plan to arrange the furniture?" Master He was the first to ask after hearing this.

"One is used as a bedroom, with beds in the north and south. It would be better if a wardrobe and dressing table can be placed in it. The other is used as a bookshelf and a desk. If it is a little crowded, a set of tables, chairs, and a washbasin stand can be placed. Oh, By the way, we'll see how to put them properly when the time comes, and the stove will have to be installed in winter." Tang Zhitong counted them one by one with his fingers.

"Xiao Zhang, do you think it's okay?" Master He nodded and turned to ask Mr. Zhang in the lumber factory.

"The two rooms are a little more compact." Zhang Gong mentally calculated the dimensions of the furniture given by Tang Zhitong, hesitated a little, and said.

"Xiao Tang, I think the bricks, tiles and wood you prepared are enough. Your yard is also big. It doesn't cost much anyway. Let's just build three rooms. It's spacious." After listening to Tang Zhitong's request, Master He went to the yard He measured it with his feet and estimated the bricks, tiles and wood that Tang Zhitong had stocked up a while ago. It was enough!

"Isn't this... too eye-catching?" Tang Zhitong hesitated. Originally, the home he lived in was more spacious than his neighbors, but now it was even more spacious!

"You can only be considered a winner. How can you compare to the building over there with three rooms?" Master He pointed at the Anhua Building under construction in the west and said calmly.

Tang Zhitong knew something about this building. It was of high standard. It had a three-bedroom house with an area of ​​about 70 square meters. There were no public stalls.Decades later, all the buildings have become dilapidated, and the rent is still three yuan per square meter...

"You are about to get married, so you are not allowed to have children in the future? Once you have a few more, you will feel that the space is not enough. Then it will be troublesome to build another house. Since you have the conditions, just do it in one step." Master He also advised.

"Then let me ask my mother." Tang Zhitong was also very moved. Who doesn't want to live more comfortably?However, if one more room is built, one less vegetable plot will be built. This must be approved by Zhang Guifang.

"Your grandma has wanted to build it for a long time, but the family has never had money. As long as you and Xiao Wang have no objections, it will be fine." Zhang Guifang didn't mention the land at all. Isn't the child's business as good as the little vegetable plot?

So, the matter of building a house was finalized.

After finalizing the decision to build a house, Zhang Gong asked Tang Zhitong to discuss what wood to use for purlins, rafters, and furniture.

"I don't understand these things. I still need your advice on professional matters." Mr. Zhang is a scholar and is in charge of design and production. Today, he was assigned by Director Xu to communicate with Tang Zhitong about the wood. This is considered condescending. Tang Zhitong gave him a compliment. Smoke, try to give others enough respect.

"As the old saying goes, the rafters are made of locust wood, the beams are made of elm wood, and the pillars are made of persimmon wood. I guess the wood you bought was taken from the main house of a family. They are all used according to the old saying. They are well preserved, very regular and of good length. That's enough. I'll untie the rafters from the lumber factory, and the other wood can be used here with a little polishing." When Tang Zhitong entered the room to ask Zhang Guifang, Zhang Gong went over to check the wood. If the wood persists for 80 or [-] years, will it be a problem? big.

"Then it's up to you." Tang Zhitong nodded after hearing this. It was originally bought with strong, non-walking wood. It was usually covered with an oilcloth when stored, so it didn't get wet.

"These don't cost much, but the furniture you mentioned is not cheap. Why don't you consider going to Liulichang to buy some second-hand ones? Some furniture is not expensive and the wood is of high quality." Zhang Gong kindly reminded.

"Forget it. I don't plan to get married for a second time. It's okay to use old ones to build the house. The furniture must be new. Please pay attention to the wood." Tang Zhitong handed Zhang Gong a cigarette and said politely.

"Okay, there happens to be a backlog of mahogany in the warehouse. If you don't mind the price, I will make a complete set for you." Zhang Gong also saw that Tang Zhitong didn't care about spending more money on furniture, so he took the opportunity to deal with the inventory. Of course, the price of the finished product will definitely be higher than The store is cheap.

"The relationship is good. I'll go back and take a look, and then I'll ask you about the style of the furniture, and then we'll start work." Tang Zhitong planned to make the furniture as ergonomically designed as possible, making it as comfortable as possible.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month of the year of Jihai, it is appropriate to clean, break ground and lay the foundation.

On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Tang Zhitong stayed at home for a day. Master He and Master He brought six boys to mark the lines, spread lime powder, and dig the foundation early in the morning.

The construction team brought their own tools, but the Tang Zhitong family had to provide lunch during the construction period. This is the current rule.

Because of the construction of the west wing, digging the foundation on the west side would dig into the west courtyard wall. The courtyard wall was in disrepair for a long time. After obtaining the consent of Tang Zhitong, two masters, He and He, simply demolished the west courtyard wall and planned to build the gable. The courtyard wall is built into one piece, which is both beautiful and strong.Because of Director Xu's reputation, the construction team worked very hard, and the young men were still sweating even though they were wearing thin clothes.

Tang Zhitong worked in a grand manner, everyone had a quota, and since he couldn't buy food from the grain store, he bought the finished products directly from the steamed bun house, serving a large pot of cabbage, tofu, and a large plate of pickles.

Eight people can't afford to eat a full meal for only three yuan, not to mention the home-cooked millet porridge, which is sticky and expensive.

Master He has estimated that with this amount of work, seven or eight people can work hard in about ten days, and the processing cost will not exceed 100 yuan.

People's hearts are made of flesh, so at this time of year we can have such good food, plus most people are simple and no one is cheating.

The foundation was dug in the afternoon, and the excavated soil was not thrown away. The two masters He and He suggested that it should be laid on the east side to make the entire yard form a pattern of high in the east and low in the west, and then open a drainage channel on the west wall to connect to the underground culvert. , if it rains, the rainwater can be drained directly, and there will be no water accumulation in the yard.

Of course Tang Zhitong agreed. Anyway, he would have to fertilize in two days, and by the way he would be able to level the yard, which was not a loss.

Next, start building the dust.

The use of mortar for building has been around for a long time. Depending on the house being built, the amount of mortar used is also different.

For a shorter adobe house, one step is to build it with plain earth and one step with dust. For a tiled house with heavier building materials, one step is to build it with plain earth and two steps with dust.

The so-called lime soil is made of ordinary dry lime powder mixed with fine soil powder, with lime accounting for [-]%.

In fact, the composition of gray soil is not fixed. In some places, it is also mixed with some fine sand, called "sanhe soil". There are also some luxurious formulas that were used in the tombs of ancient emperors.

The advantage of building with dust is that it is cheap, but the disadvantage is that it is expensive and very tiring.To this day, many rural areas still use this method. It is said that the foundation created is stronger than stone.

During the break, Tang Zhitong listened to the knowledge of building a house taught by two masters, He and He.

Above the foundation is the wall foundation. Ordinary people use broken bricks and then build them with mortar. Those with better conditions are then filled with "peach blossom slurry". What is peach blossom slurry? The two masters did not say, and Tang Zhitong did not ask.

The height of the wall base is generally about one foot to one and a half feet. Those that are buried underground are called "buried deep" and those that are exposed on the ground are called "taiming".

If the wall infrastructure is not well constructed, the eaves and pillars may sink and the gables may crack, or the walls may collapse, leak, or collapse.

He also said that Tang Zhitong’s house didn’t need to worry about this. They directly used the blue bricks taken out of the city wall to bury it deeply and make it clear, and it could be guaranteed for a hundred years.

Further upwards are doors, windows, beams, purlins, rafters, and tiles.

Before laying tiles, you need to lay a layer of mat foil on the wooden rafters, and then apply a layer of gray-smooth straw mud backing.

On the gray back, use Ma Dao gray tiles and Yin and Yang board tiles, and hook them up to the eaves.

The two masters said that this is a technical job, but also a conscientious job. They will definitely not cut corners and ensure that it will not leak for at least 30 years.

Finally, two masters, He and He, reminded Tang Zhitong that he had to go to the lumber factory as soon as possible to discuss the door and window sizes with Mr. Zhang, so that they could reserve a suitable size.

(End of this chapter)