THE OWNER BUILT HOME & HOMESTEAD
(Page 12 of 13)
September/October 1972
By Ken Kern
A good-quality paint brush will have more long-length bristles than short-length bristles—to insure proper paint absorption. Stiff and soft bristles are correctly proportioned to allow for proper paint retention. Some of the newer quality nylon brushes are as good as the traditionally superior Chinese hog bristle ones.
RELATED CONTENT
In many cases the paint roller will do a faster and better-appearing job than the brush. It can be used for applying any kind of paint; but the surface to be painted will determine the cover nap (roller cover) size; the smoother the surface, the shorter the nap should be.
In view of the multitude of technical details covered in these chapters, the would-be owner-builder may throw up his hands and sigh that the stuff is all too much to take in. But consider. The details set down here are meant to meet the various needs and interests of almost all possible owner-builders. They are not all meant for you. You will select from this material just what will help you. Perhaps you need note but one-tenth or one-twentieth of the observations these chapters offer. A student in a university architectural school must become familiar with all use-and-beauty building ideas in every country from the year one until the present. But that is not you. You are going to build, most likely, just one home for one family.
Building a home should not be the formidable project that it happens to be for some would-be owner-builders today. Land should be assigned without charge by the local community for house building and other improvements. Money should be loaned by the community bank without charge. There should be counsel and help from friendly neighbors who have already built their homes.
Lacking this home-owner's heaven at present, you may have to scout for desirable land at a moderate price, have some capital somehow to begin operations, and then perhaps work on and off for several years before you can move into your home. But that will be your family's haven in perpetuity and, if enlarged and adapted, perhaps for children's families. Building can be fun, especially if you are building together with someone. A house is not a home. Land is the home on which you erect a dwelling and several smaller buildings for work and appreciation. Your home should grow through your lifetime—and after.
There is nothing more desirable in this world than love; and nothing is better suited to cultivate love than a nature-based home of your own. Building your own home today, furthermore, is not a merely private affair. It belongs to the movement of freedom from America's religious, political and economic straitjacket comparable to the movement of our freedom-loving forefathers from Britain and Europe to these shores. We have grown accustomed to finding some sort of lodging wherever we can, if lucky, find employment, and to re-moving (on the average) every three years. This sort of thing cannot fitly be called human living. Today's revolution will occur when employment, including political, economic and technical operations, shall become a means to the tender love, personal growth, and spontaneous artistry of settled home life.
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