I 
 
RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 AND 
 
 SALES EQUIPMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT Y. KERR 
 
 AMERICAN LUMBERMAN 
 CHICAGO 
 

 
 
 
 3> 
 
 A 
 
 COPYEIGHT, 1917, BY 
 
 THE AMERICAN LUMBERMAN 
 CHICAGO 
 
PREFACE 
 
 No argument for the building of lumber sheds is ad- 
 vanced in this book. The increasing value of lumber and 
 the tightening of competition have made it necessary for 
 retailers to avoid all possible losses, including those of stock; 
 so it is taken for granted that readers recognize the value of 
 adequate sheds and that their interest centers rather in the 
 planning of structures suited to their own specific needs. 
 
 All the building principles discussed in the succeeding 
 pages have been checked up, so far as that has been possible, 
 by the actual experience of practical lumbermen. It has 
 not been possible to collect a series of plans each one of which 
 without modification would be suitable for all parts of the 
 country. Differences in climate and in the kinds and sizes of 
 lumber carried in the yard make necessary a difference in 
 the details of 'any given type of shed. But it is hoped that 
 the designs included in this book may be of help to the 
 retailer who is in search of suggestions. 
 
 A number of plans have been included that were first 
 published in the AMERICAN LUMBERMAN. Others have 
 been taken from "Lumber Shed Construction," by Met. L. 
 Saley. Still others have been made especially for this book. 
 Assistance has been given by so many people that it is impos- 
 sible to mention them all by name ; but the compiler's thanks 
 are extended to all those who gave so generously of their time 
 and experience. Without this help the book could not have 
 been written. 
 
 371727 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION 5-7 
 
 LOCATION 8-12 
 
 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 13-19 
 
 SALES EQUIPMENT 20-41 
 
 SHED ARRANGEMENT 42-45 
 
 FOUNDATIONS AND BEARINGS 46-51 
 
 ALLEYS 52-56 
 
 GALLERIES 57-61 
 
 BINS 62-65 
 
 VENTILATION 66-69 
 
 LIGHTING 70-72 
 
 MOLDING STORAGE 73-76 
 
 FLOORING STORAGE AND WARM ROOMS. 77-78 
 
 TIMBER STORAGE AND HANDLING EQUIPMENT 79-84 
 
 SPECIAL MILLWORK STORAGE 85-86 
 
 END STORAGE SHEDS 87-89 
 
 FIRE RISK REDUCTION 90-94 
 
 A HOODED OPEN SHED 95-97 
 
 AN UNUSUAL OPEN SHED 98-100 
 
 A MODERATE COST SHED 101-102 
 
 A SEMI-ENCLOSED SHED 103-104 
 
 A DOUBLE OR UMBRELLA SHED 105-108 
 
 AN EASILY FRAMED SHED 109 
 
 A PROGRESSIVE COUNTRY YARD 1 10-112 
 
 A MODIFIED DOUBLE ALLEY SHED 113-116 
 
 A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE 1 17-1 26 
 
 A NORTHERN RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTING YARD. ... 127-132 
 A CAREFULLY PLANNED DOUBLE-ALLEY WARE- 
 HOUSE fSS-H 1 
 
 A MODEL YARD IN THE SOUTHWEST 142-152 
 
 A THREE-ALLEY SHED 153-154 
 
 A SHED OF SIMPLE FRAMING 155-156 
 
 ODD. GROUND PLANS 157-164 
 
 4 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The building of storage sheds has been a comparatively 
 late development in the lumber business. When the first 
 sheds were built a generation or more ago the builders had 
 no practical experience to follow. They drew on their imag- 
 ination or else copied structures designed for other pur- 
 poses, and as a result they made a good many mistakes. These 
 mistakes were most apparent in the larger, inclosed ware- 
 houses. Lumbermen realized the importance of ventilation 
 only when the piles became damp and began to mold. They 
 found that a 1 2-foot alley is scarcely better than no alley at 
 all. They discovered that the size and arrangement of bins 
 have much to do with the ease of handling. But after the 
 first mistakes had been corrected by experience the develop- 
 ment of shed-building principles was rapid, and satisfactory 
 designs were speedily worked out. Many of the sheds built 
 years ago are still giving good service. 
 
 Changes and improvements are still being made, and it is 
 not safe to predict what new designs will be hit upon. But 
 retailers have so much confidence in the principles already 
 proved satisfactory that they do not hesitate to make the nec- 
 essarily heavy investments in sheds intended to last a lifetime. 
 They feel fairly sure that these principles are practically cor- 
 rect and that reasonable alterations and rearrangements will 
 keep the buildings up to date for a great many years. 
 
 Altho the rapid advancement in the design of retail yard 
 equipment during the last twenty or thirty years has been 
 
6 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 due largely to the late start it got and to the necessity for 
 catching up with the rest of the business, there is another 
 reason for the more recent innovations. Business policies 
 have been changing; and this has made new and previously 
 unnecessary equipment desirable. Progressive retailers in 
 building new yards or in remodeling old ones are interested 
 not only in storage sheds but also in sales equipment. 
 
 The old-time policy of sitting back and waiting for trade 
 to come in is giving way to a reasonable creative salesman- 
 ship. Retailers know that in one sense they can not force sales 
 onto their customers; but they also know that by judicious 
 work they can create a certain amount of business by calling 
 the attention of their customers to reasonable and desirable 
 new structures. In order to sow- these seeds of building 
 desire successfully it is necessary to have a different kind of 
 yard equipment. In the old days it made small difference 
 where the yard was located, so far as winning trade was con- 
 cerned. If a customer had to have lumber he would go to a 
 muddy back lot on the edge of town as readily as to any other 
 location. The appearance of the place made small differ- 
 ence; in fact a lumber yard was supposed to look dingy and 
 disordered. It was nothing more than a storage place for a 
 kind of merchandise that was expected to sell itself. 
 
 Since competition and the knowledge that taking thought 
 will add several cubits to his business stature have shaken him 
 awake, the up-to-date retailer is not content with the busi- 
 ness that drops into his lap. But if he advertises the desir- 
 ability of good buildings and people come around to see him 
 and discover a mudhole, a sagging shed, stock so piled that 
 it can't be displayed and nothing in or near the office to help 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 them decide on house plans or interior finish they are likely 
 to leave in disgust. The last state of that business is rather 
 certain to be worse than the first. 
 
 The progressive retailer appeals to the home-owning 
 instinct of his customers, and he tries especially to interest 
 the women. If possible he locates his yard in a place that 
 is easily reached. Sidewalks are highly important. First 
 impressions may count heavily for or against a possible sale, 
 so such adornments as paint and flowers are a part of his sell- 
 ing equipment. He has a pleasant office where he can enter- 
 tain his customers and display various patterns of rriill 
 work and finish as they will appear when in place. He tries 
 not only to show his goods to the best advantage but also to 
 have his surroundings suggestive of attractive finishings and 
 furnishings. 
 
 While it is true that not all retailers hold advanced views 
 of service and creative salesmanship no retailer is wise to 
 ignore these things when he rearranges his yard or builds 
 new equipment. Ordinary prudence will lead him to design 
 his plant in such a way that he can add a service department 
 later without much remodeling. Otherwise he may find 
 himself with a large investment in more or less useless build- 
 ings. This book attempts to deal in a practical way both 
 with storage sheds and with sales equipment. 
 
LOCATION 
 
 Lumber retailers can not always suit themselves when 
 they locate their yards. Many yards are already located 
 and equipped with costly sheds and warehouses, and the 
 owners do not feel -that they can afford to change even if they 
 think other places would suit their purposes better. Some- 
 times a retailer is not able to buy the piece of land he -wants, 
 and sometimes he is barred by municipal fire limits from 
 using it for a yard. However, every retailer can console 
 himself with the thought that his location has some advan- 
 tage ; and it is not wise to try to lay down hard and fast rules. 
 
 If a retailer is free to choose his location there are a few r 
 things he should keep in mind, tho these things do not always 
 have the same relative values. In the first place the yard 
 should be high and dry. If the loss to the lumber business 
 thru floods, mold and rot, caused by placing yards in low 
 and undrained places, could be computed the total, while 
 probably less than the loss caused by fires, would be uncom- 
 fortably high. A large part of this loss is wholly without 
 justification and represents a tax on the business caused by 
 sheer heedlessness. Sometimes it is necessary to put a yard 
 in a low place; but in that case the owner should add to the 
 sum set aside for buying the location an additional sum for 
 grading the yard so that water never can enter it. It may be 
 necessary to add retaining walls or dikes as extra precautions. 
 In any event he should allow for this extra work, and he- 
 should see that it is done before the yard is built. Raising 
 
 8 
 
LOCATION 9 
 
 sheds and hauling in dirt after the place has been opened for 
 business are much more difficult and costly than doing them 
 in the first place. There is also the temptation to get along 
 without doing it at all if it is not done at the beginning, in 
 which case within a brief period enough stock will have been 
 lost to pay the bill; and then altho the loss has been suffered 
 the yard will still be in its old, sunken condition, making 
 certain that still other losses will follow. 
 
 In locating the yard attention must be paid to shipping 
 facilities. A few r years ago nearly every retailer would have 
 named this as the most important consideration in finding a 
 yard site. It is still highly important. Competition has 
 made the margin of profit narrow enough, and if it must be 
 narrowed further by an unnecessarily high charge for getting 
 stock from the car to the warehouse the retailer will be handi- 
 capped by that much in his fight for business. A private 
 siding is a valuable thing, especially if it can be located so 
 that cement, sand and other heavy stock can be unloaded 
 from the car directly to the storage place. Sometimes sidings 
 can be arranged so that lumber is unloaded directly from the 
 car into the bin, but it does not often happen that all stock 
 can be handled in this way. In some yards use is made of 
 unloading docks and hand trucks; but in a majority of cases 
 motor trucks or horses must be employed for getting the stock 
 to its storage place. Once the lumber is loaded a slightly 
 longer haul does not add heavily to the handling cost, so a 
 yard at a short distance from the railroad yards may be able 
 to handle its incoming shipments in a fairly economical 
 manner. 
 
 This extra hauling charge, no matter how small it is, 
 
Office and Shed 
 
 Front of Shed, Lamont Lumber Co., Lament, Iowa 
 
LOCATION 11 
 
 ought to be saved unless there are compensating advantages 
 to be gotten from a location nearer the center of town. A 
 lumber yard is now more than a storage place for lumber. It 
 is a selling point and must be arranged to suit the convenience 
 of the customers and also to assist in creating building desire 
 and in helping make sales. A location on a main-traveled 
 street is more and more desired. Merchants handling other 
 lines have long been convinced of the value of the show win- 
 dow in promoting sales, and lumbermen are being converted 
 to its use. But a show window is of no value unless people 
 pass along in front of it. Advertising is proving a great busi- 
 ness stimulator; but, aside from implanting a desire to build, 
 the lumberman's advertising is of greatest value in inducing 
 possible customers to visit his yard. These people usually 
 have no settled determination to buy some certain thing. 
 They are merely willing to be convinced of the wisdom of 
 putting up a house. They will be sensitive to irrtpressions. 
 If they have to go to an out-of-the-way, dirty corner of town, 
 wade across muddy streets and hunt around for the office 
 they will not be in a mood to be pleased or persuaded when 
 they do find it. 
 
 The matter of first cost of a lot on which to put the yard 
 is naturally of considerable importance. Some lumbermen 
 who were fortunate years ago when land was cheap in pick- 
 ing out a lot near the present center of town are inclined to 
 count the rise in value of the land as part of the yard profits. 
 Perhaps it may be unimportant what this profit is called; 
 but adding it to the yard profits may lead to bad merchandis- 
 ing. Retailers who are barely holding their own as lumber- 
 men feel that they are getting on satisfactorily because of the 
 
12 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 fact that the real estate increase shows a yearly advance suf- 
 ficient to give them a normal profit. In figuring business 
 costs a retailer should include a fair rental on the ground, 
 based upon actual value, tho this rental must be made to 
 care for taxes and the like. It is not proposed at this point 
 to say more about the details of a cost-finding system. But 
 if this increase in value is included in business profits the 
 owner is likely to have a sense of false security. Such an 
 advance ought to be considered as profits from an indepen- 
 dent real estate deal. Unless the lumber business stands on 
 its own foundation the owner will not know whether he is 
 making a success or not, and a slump in values may sweep 
 away his capital. A lumber business in an unhealthy condi- 
 tion is capable of causing sudden and serious losses on its own 
 account, and the owner ought to have an exact notion of its 
 real status. 
 
 As was said before it is impossible to set a relative valua- 
 tion on the different elements that go to make up a good loca- 
 tion. Probably a majority of practical retailers would vote 
 for shipping facilities. But a steadily increasing number 
 are placing a greater value on locations that will help them 
 in the actual selling of their goods. Whether a yard is placed 
 near to or away from the railroad the same care should be 
 exercised to see that the stock is kept dry. A swampy place 
 is to be avoided as a pestilence, and low ground where there 
 is danger from floods or from standing water should be filled 
 up and otherwise protected. 
 
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 
 
 Retail lumbermen are not always free to follow their own 
 wishes in regard to the choice of materials from which to 
 build their sheds. Local building codes and fire limits may 
 interfere, and in that case there is nothing to be done except 
 to follow the directions and provisions of the code. But a 
 lumber shed is something more than a building in which to 
 store lumber; it is considered by the community as an indi- 
 cator of the owner's faith in the material he sells. So it is 
 the part of advertising wisdom to build of lumber wherever 
 this is possible. There is some controversy over the advis- 
 ability of stucco finish. The presumption is against it. But 
 sometimes the fire ordinances allow stucco covered buildings 
 to be erected in restricted districts; and of course it is better 
 to build a frame building with a stucco finish than not to use 
 lumber at all. Some retailers handle stucco as part of their 
 regular merchandise; and no doubt they would find a stucco 
 finish on some or all the yard buildings a good advertisement. 
 
 It is hard to understand why lumbermen who are not 
 compelled to do so will build their sheds and warehouses of 
 substitutes. A well-built and well-cared-for wooden shed 
 is more easily kept dry and in proportion to first cost will 
 last longer than one built of substitutes. It is fine in appear- 
 ance and easily ventilated. But it is still harder to understand 
 why any lumberman in these days will yield to the temptation 
 of the "brick front." Years ago when sheds were still a nov- 
 elty some lumbermen, fired with the ambition to make their 
 
 13 
 
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 15 
 
 sheds look like city blocks, built these buildings of wood with 
 the exception of a brick front across the end next the street. 
 No reasonable purpose could be served by this combination. 
 No one is deceived into thinking the entire building is made 
 of brick, nor is it desirable to have them think so. No reason 
 is apparent except the damaging one that the retailer has not 
 faith enough in his own merchandise to use it himself. It 
 ought to be apparent that if a man is unwilling to use in his 
 own building the lumber he himself has for sale he has 
 thrown away his best argument against substitutes. 
 
 The substitute men have made two attacks on lumber as 
 a building material ; the first that a wooden building is neces- 
 sarily a fire trap, and the second that lumber is not a lasting 
 material. There are places where the fire hazard is peculiar 
 and where lumber is not to be recommended as a building 
 material. Wood will burn, of course; but in the ordinary 
 case with reasonable precautions taken in such matters as 
 construction, fire exposure and installation of heating and 
 lighting apparatus a wooden building is as safe as, if not 
 safer, than one built of any other material. This fact is well 
 known ; so the attack on lumber as an unjustifiably great fire 
 risk is losing force. The other attack, that against the lasting 
 quality of lumber, is being neutralized by two things ; calling 
 attention to the fact that many wooden buildings are in sound 
 condition after a century or more of use, and the increasing 
 use of wood preservatives. 
 
 Some retailers have the mistaken notion that the sooner 
 lumber rots the sooner they can make another sale. If wood 
 were the only possible building material obtainable this 
 mean-spirited, public-be-damned idea might have some prac- 
 
John Alden House, Duxbury, Mass. Built in 1653 
 
 Fairbanks Home, Dedham, Mass. Built in 1636 
 
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 17 
 
 tical force. But if a porch floor rots out quickly the owner 
 is quite apt to replace it with cement and then in the future 
 to use cement for a good many purposes that would be bet- 
 ter served by wood. The lumberman's interest would be 
 much better served by his helping the customer to select the 
 right lumber for his porch floor and by instructing him how 
 to fill the cracks with white lead. A satisfied customer will 
 mean a good many more sales than will a rotted floor. And 
 no matter what a retailer may think about his customer's 
 buildings he will not want his own to be destroyed by decay. 
 
 Wood decay is caused by various fungous growths that 
 feed upon the wood and that are fostered by dampness; so 
 the preservation of wood can be accomplished by keeping it 
 dry and by treating it with a suitable toxic agent that will 
 prevent the growth of fungi. The Barrett Co., of CKicago, 
 a concern that has devoted much time and experimentation 
 to the perfection of preservatives and to working out right 
 methods of application, recommends the use of creosote oil 
 not only as a preservative for the timbers used in construc- 
 tion but also as a paint for the entire building. The color is 
 the chief objection, but the oil is serviceable when used for 
 this purpose and is said to be much less expensive than paint. 
 If it is desired to paint over a surface treated with creosote 
 oil this surface must be covered with shellac or the paint will 
 not stick. 
 
 Two methods are suggested. The brush method consists 
 of applying creosote oil in the same manner as paint to points 
 of contact or to timbers especially exposed to decay. Two 
 coats are usually applied. The open tank method consists 
 of complete immersion. In either case the directions that 
 
18 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 come with the oil should be followed exactly. It is not nec- 
 essary that all the timbers used in framing a lumber shed 
 should be treated. But all timbers that come in contact with 
 masonry or the ground, all mortises or similar points of con- 
 tact and all timbers exposed to dampness will last much 
 longer if treated with a suitable preservative. In addition to 
 sills, joists, stringers, columns, girders, beams and roofing 
 material that are to be used in the building itself it is advis- 
 able to treat posts, fencing lumber, timber, framing of scales 
 and other wooden structural material used about the yard. 
 It is a common practice to place a wooden lining on the top 
 of cement bearings so that the stock will not rest directly 
 on masonry. If this wooden lining is treated it will prevent 
 the infection of piles with dry rot from below. 
 
 Kurt C. Earth, of the Barrett Co., suggests three precau- 
 tions in treating wood. The first is to have the wood thoroly 
 air dried; the second is to have it completely framed before 
 being treated ; the third is to use a standard grade of oil suited 
 to that particular kind of work and to follow the manufac- 
 turer's directions exactly. There is a good reason for each 
 of these precautions ; but the reason for the second may not 
 be immediately apparent. The preservative forms a film on 
 the outside of the stick that is poisonous to fungous growths 
 and so prevents their attacking the wood. But if this film 
 is broken at any point the fungus may get a start there. 
 Hence it is important that the timbers be framed before being 
 subjected to treatment to insure that there will be no breaks 
 in the film. Timbers that are subject to abrasion of any kind 
 should be treated by the open tank method in order to make 
 the preservative penetrate more deeply. 
 
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION 19 
 
 Another construction matter may be mentioned here; 
 namely, yard paving. Many new sheds that represent heavy 
 investment are not equipped with paved alleys, tho the only 
 objection urged against paving is the necessarily heavy cosr. 
 A number of things may be cited in its favor. In nearly all 
 parts of the United States and especially in the middle West 
 one of the enemies of stored lumber is dust. A number of 
 things have been tried to lessen this evil, and while some have 
 been partly successful none has as yet become universally 
 accepted as a suitable remedy. Paving, of course, reduces 
 this dust evil to a minimum. An unpaved alley is apt to 
 become uneven and to develop mudholes during spring 
 thaws. A mudhole in the alley, besides being an eyesore and 
 an irritation, creates dampness that is bad for the men as well 
 as for the lumber. If a paved alley is reasonably level a yard 
 man can easily pull a loaded wagon down to the next bin. 
 Each retailer must decide for himself whether or not these 
 advantages are worth the cost of paving. 
 
 James Costello, of Liberty, Mo., has a very completely 
 paved yard. It is paved outside as well as inside the build- 
 ings. In a letter to the AMERICAN LUMBERMAN he made 
 this statement: "Considering the first cost and service of the 
 extensive paving I have I will say that for a yard doing $50,- 
 ooo or more business yearly, and permanently located, I 
 consider the paving a good investment." 
 
 The kind of paving to be used is also a local problem. 
 Wood blocks are admirable; and if the lumberman can have 
 his alleys paved at a time when the city is having wood block 
 paving laid he should be able to get his work done at a rea- 
 sonable rate. 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 
 
 There is no part of the yard equipment to which the 
 average retailer needs to pay more attention than to his office 
 and other selling equipment. This is not because these things 
 are all important but rather because until recently by a kind 
 of common consent they have been ignored. The lumber 
 business, like some other lines of retailing, has been chang- 
 ing in character. Instead of being a mere storage place for 
 lumber the modern yard has become an active agent for the 
 promotion of the right kind of building. Instead of being 
 merely a means for supplying demand it has added the func- 
 tion of creating and directing demand. 
 
 Not so many years ago the advertising of lumber in local 
 papers was considered a waste of money. For, it was argued, 
 if people w r ant lumber they will go to a lumber yard. If 
 they do not want it no amount of advertising will induce 
 them to buy it. Later when advertising was beginning to 
 prove itself a valuable aid in getting business it was consid- 
 ered merely an agency of competition, in getting trade away 
 from a rival yard. The possibilities of the creative functions 
 of advertising were slow to be recognized. 
 
 In other lines of retailing it is a well-established fact that 
 by a process of education the public can be brought to recog- 
 nize as desirable certain things for which they previously 
 had no liking. This trait of human nature is very deeply 
 seated. It accounts for such things as fashions in dress, in 
 amusements, in education and a vast number of other things. 
 
 20 
 
. SALES EQUIPMENT 21 
 
 It may be utilized in architecture and the promotion of 
 home building. One person in a neighborhood builds a new 
 house. After that has happened his neighbors do not need 
 new houses any worse than they needed them before. But 
 this event serves to call their attention to the subject of build- 
 
 A Bungalow Office 
 
 ing. Every lumberman of much experience has observed 
 epidemics of building that have been started by just such 
 events as this. 
 
 But it is not necessary to wait for someone to build a house 
 in order to have attention directed to the desirability of 
 building. This whole subject may for convenience be called 
 creative salesmanship. It involves a good many things such 
 as newspaper advertising, classified lists of prospects, the 
 installing of a plan service department and the like. It must 
 be based on a full knowledge of the community. In fact 
 it must permeate the whole establishment and the whole busi- 
 ness policy. It must be reflected in the equipment of the 
 yard. 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 23 
 
 The yard owner will, of course, fit his sales equipment 
 to the amount of money he feels able to spend and to his 
 conception of the needs and possibilities of his community. 
 While it is true that installing the best of sales equipment 
 will involve the investment of some money it is not always 
 true that the largest investment brings the best results. This 
 is a matter of careful planning. A small investment in an 
 office may still be made to yield large returns in creative 
 salesmanship if it is made with intelligence and good taste. 
 So an equipment that would answer splendidly for one yard 
 might not suit another at all. Keeping this fact in mind it is 
 possible to name over some of the features of sales equip- 
 ment. In some offices several of these features may be com- 
 bined in a single room. They may include the office proper, 
 the service department, customers' room, show room for 
 millwork, show window and the general appearance of the 
 whole yard. 
 
 The office proper has several functions. In the first place 
 it must provide for the transaction of business and for the 
 keeping of records of sales and stocks and of prospective 
 trade. This must not be lost sight of in enthusiasm over mak- 
 ing the place an aid in selling lumber. The plans should 
 provide for good light for the bookkeeper and order clerk 
 and for convenience in getting out into the yard. It ought 
 to be roomy enough so that there is no feeling of cramped 
 quarters, and there should be plenty of space for the filing 
 of papers. Nearly every lumber office needs a fireproof 
 vault for this purpose. A safe does well enough for some 
 things, but there are old records and sales tickets of no great 
 value but that may serve to settle disputes sometime; and 
 
Suggested Sales Rooms, No. 1 
 
 Suggested Sales Rooms, No. 2 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 
 
 25 
 
 Suggested Sales Rooms, No. 3 
 
 these soon bulk up too much to allow of their being put into 
 a safe. 
 
 After the purely business transactions have been pro- 
 vided for there should be considerable attention paid to 
 appearance. The office and customers' room can be made 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 
 
 27 
 
 very effective displays of woodwork. FeW persons outside 
 the trade know what the various finishing woods look like, 
 and it is impossible to sell unknown things to them on the 
 
 Suggested Sales Rooms, No. 4 
 
 strength of a verbal description. Small samples give a per- 
 son but a faulty idea of the appearance of a whole room. So 
 it is well to pick out a few kinds that promise to be leaders, 
 not forgetting the cheaper woods, and to use them in various 
 parts of the office. Each room should be finished in a single 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT t 29 
 
 kind of wood, for a customer instinctively judges the desir- 
 ability of a finishing wood by the general attractiveness of 
 the room in which it is seen ; and no room is very attractive 
 if patched together with inharmonious finishes. The doors 
 need not all be the same size or pattern. It is possible to use 
 doors of different styles of paneling without destroying the 
 effect of unity. 
 
 These rooms should be carefully planned with the fur- 
 nishings and decorations in mind so that they may be har- 
 monious and restful as well as attractive. By showing what 
 he has done with his own office a retailer places his own 
 measure upon his skill as a building adviser. Needless to 
 add, the rooms should be kept in order. No matter how 
 costly and well planned a room may be it will be unattractive 
 if there are a litter of papers over the furniture and floor, a 
 thick coating of dust on the table, half burned wood and coal 
 ashes in the fireplace, cigar ashes strewn about and a glare of 
 light from a window with the shade run clear to the top. 
 Rooms that are well planned, well finished and well fur- 
 nished, that are in order and that have the light regulated 
 by properly adjusted shades and curtains will give the cus- 
 tomer a restful, satisfied feeling that is highly important in 
 doing business with him. All these things may be said 
 equally of all the rooms included in the sales equipment. 
 
 The service department and the customers' room are 
 often combined. The customers' room is a place where are 
 collected the plan books and similar helps for coming to a 
 decision about the size and style of the house to be built. 
 These helps should be arranged in such a manner that they 
 may be looked at in comfort. On the walls may be taste- 
 
Suggested Sales Rooms, No. 5 
 
 5TREET 
 
 5CALES 
 
 PRIVATE OFFICE 
 
 DESK 
 
 NKHUMPffS 
 
 LOBBY 
 
 LAVATORY 
 
 VAULT 
 
 Office of Moderate Size 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT . 31 
 
 fully framed photographs of houses sold by the company. 
 This room should be secluded somewhat so that customers 
 may be alone and undisturbed while looking at plans and 
 making up their minds. The room may be used as a con- 
 tractors' room where contractors may take their clients for 
 conference. On this point R. L. Sieg, of the Curtis Com- 
 panies, Clinton, Iowa, makes this statement: 
 
 "A lumber yard should have what might be termed a 
 customers' room. This room need not be very large, but it 
 should contain a fair sized desk with a file of stock plans or 
 other information for building. In addition to this there 
 might be a wall case for such items of material that occupy 
 only a small space, such as roofing samples, samples of wood 
 finishes, catalogs of woodwork and plan books. Almost all 
 yards have their friendly contractors, and for this reason 
 this will serve for a contractor's room when he is engaged 
 in making his estimate on a certain piece of work; and this 
 makes it possible for the contractor to have a ready refer- 
 ence of all materials that go to make up his figures." 
 
 Mr. Sieg says further: 
 
 "Off of this customers' or contractors' room there should 
 be a display room. It would be rather a hard problem to say 
 exactly what size this room would need to be to accommodate 
 the amount of woodwork that any dealer would want to dis- 
 play. This room, however, need be only of fair size, and our 
 recommendations in this line would be to provide the follow- 
 ing: A standard design of bookcase colonnade, a few stair 
 newels, two or three styles of stair balusters and rails, several 
 styles of casing, base and cap trim, possibly a nice sideboard, 
 but by all means a door rack which should contain a display 
 
Model of a Doorway 
 
OC 
 
 a 
 c/: 
 
Suggestion for a Customers' Room 
 
 Office of the President, Pacific Lumber Co. 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 35 
 
 of five or six designs of standard stock doors in the three 
 woods, oak, birch and yellow pine." 
 
 The Morgan Co., of Oshkosh, Wis., has been active for 
 years in promoting the use of fine doors and interior finish. 
 On being asked its opinion of the display room as a part of the 
 equipment of a retail yard the company forwarded a pam- 
 phlet containing an address prepared by David E. Breinig, 
 president of the Bridgeport Wood Finishing Co. In this ad- 
 dress are quoted a number of letters from lumber dealers who 
 have had experience with these rooms. Below are given some 
 of these quotations. The first is from a letter written by John 
 J. Demarest, of Closter, N. J.: 
 
 "The samples of wood with the different finishes have 
 helped a great deal, by enabling us to show people just what 
 results they will obtain by using-the different materials." 
 
 This is from an Ohio dealer: 
 
 "This room indeed has been a great help to us. It is 
 the best advertising medium we. have ever experienced. It 
 is a very beautiful room, and we have had in it everything 
 showing the different styles of woods and how they are fin- 
 ished, so that our customers may see exactly how the rooms 
 in their homes will look after being properly finished. We 
 have experienced a great increase of trade by its use." 
 
 This comes from New Jersey : 
 
 "This room has enabled us to take an architect, builder, 
 painter or manufacturer out of our busy retail department; 
 and in the quiet of our display room we are in a position to 
 tell them our story in a manner which leaves a definite im- 
 pression on their minds. Basing our calculations on our 
 experience we can not too strongly urge on the earnest dealer 
 
Display Room, Spahn & Rose Lumber Co., Dubuque, Iowa 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 37 
 
 who is endeavoring to build up a quality business the neces- 
 sity of working out his problems along similar lines." 
 
 This one comes from Utica, N. Y. : 
 
 "We find that it is being used more and more by archi- 
 tects, building contractors and painters, and by people who 
 are erecting their own homes, and who want to get ideas on 
 how to finish them. It is fast becoming what might be called 
 a wood-finishing library. We believe that it is a splendid 
 plan, and we have not as yet realized the benefit it is going 
 to be to us here in Utica." 
 
 These quotations show the importance that certain retail- 
 ers attach to these show rooms. 
 
 The show window is another recent addition to retailing 
 equipment, and it is one that is somewhat difficult to utilize. 
 It lacks much of being self-operating. A show window dis- 
 play must be changed rather frequently, must be attractive 
 in itself to the casual passer-by as well as to the person search- 
 ing for building hints, and it must, promote the sale o'f 
 building materials, in part at least, by suggesting or portray- 
 ing the finished article. All of these things are more difficult 
 to accomplish with lumber .than with many other lines of 
 merchandise. But many retailers are making good use of 
 show windows. Some whose sheds are on side streets are 
 said to have gotten gratifying results by renting show win- 
 dows in the shopping district. The show window and the 
 display room together have made it possible and desirable 
 in some instances to locate the office and display rooms in the 
 retail district while the sheds remain out on the outskirts of 
 town. 
 
 The general appearance of the yard is of much impor- 
 
Two Views of the Sales Room oi Smyth Lumber Co., Beaumont, Texas 
 
MS J 
 
 Office, Smyth Lumber Co., Beaumont, Texas 
 
 Office, Rand Lumber Co., Burlington, Iowa 
 
A Finely Paneled Office 
 
SALES EQUIPMENT 41 
 
 tance in this connection. Much might be written of the 
 value of paint, grass and flowers. B.ut each yard is a prob- 
 lem to itself in these matters, so little more can be said than 
 that the wise dealer gives much attention to these things. 
 It takes no great amount of work to keep the parkings clipped 
 and the window boxes cared for. Lumber yards in the past 
 have had the reputation for being dirty, ill-looking places. 
 They can be beauty spots if a little thought and care is ex- 
 pended on them, and this care will eventually count in 
 increased sales. 
 
 The suggested sales rooms shown in this chapter were 
 designed by the service department of the Curtis Companies, 
 Clinton, Iowa. 
 
SHED ARRANGEMENT 
 
 - g'irfj ^n 
 
 Very little can be said in a general way about the arrange- 
 ment of lumber sheds. Each yard is an individual problem. 
 The size of the lot and the shape, the kind and amount of 
 stock carried and the class of customers served must be taken 
 into account. It is well to arrange the yard in such a way 
 that a wagon taking on miscellaneous items can make a cir- 
 cuit of the yard without doubling on its track. Since the 
 long, heavy timbers go on first and the shingles and millwork 
 last it will be well to arrange the framing lumber in order 
 according to size and the different sizes according to length. 
 Then if the circuit can be brought back near the office where 
 the millwork is stored the arrangement will prove satisfac- 
 tory in a majority of cases. 
 
 If ground is limited it will be necessary to sacrifice some 
 of the roominess that gives the yard its well-ordered appear- 
 ance and that makes it look like a good place in which to 
 work and in which to buy house bills. In general it will be 
 better to go rather high in the air with the piles than to 
 cramp the alleys. A narrow alley makes a fire trap, and it 
 is wasteful of labor. 
 
 So far as possible the office should be kept free of the 
 appearance of being a storage spot. The office in these days 
 is part of the sales equipment and should not be cluttered up 
 with odd doors and bales of cement sacks. Its normal ap- 
 pearance should be dress parade. The^sales rooms must be 
 connected with the office, and the office ought to be located 
 
 43 
 
SHED ARRANGEMENT 45 
 
 so as to be in direct connection with all parts of the yard. 
 Very often this is not possible; but if the sheds can be ar- 
 ranged so that there is a direct path from the office to all 
 parts of the yard the men will save time and the manager 
 will be able to keep closely in touch with all that is going on. 
 If part of the yard is to be left free of sheds this part 
 should, generally speaking, be the center. If the sheds can 
 be arranged around a court, as it were, they will afford pro- 
 tection to the open yard in winter and at all times against 
 persons who have no business on the premises. This clashes 
 with the principle that sheds should be located far enough 
 inside the lot to overcome the danger of catching fire from 
 neighboring buildings; and in deciding where to put the 
 buildings the owner must weigh the desirability of each of 
 these principles and also the influence that the size of the lot 
 itself will have. Not many lots are large enough to be iso- 
 lated by a broad vacant space around the outside. Garages, 
 paint and varnish houses and planing mills should be isolated 
 if this is at all possible. Stables, if located on the lot, are 
 better placed at a distance from the office. If the yard has a 
 railroad siding the cement and plaster houses and the sand 
 piles should be along this siding. This is the heaviest stock 
 and should be handled with the least possible labor. But as 
 was said before each yard is an individual problem, and no 
 hard and fast rules can be laid down. 
 
FOUNDATIONS AND BEARINGS 
 
 Lumber shed foundations are receiving more attention 
 than formerly. When the idea of shedding lumber was new 
 there seemed to be a general belief that such structures 
 needed to be little more than makeshifts to take the place of 
 the old covering boards laid on top of the piles, and that 
 little planning or care in building was necessary. As a result 
 the buildings settled, swayed sideways and eventually fell 
 down. When lumbermen awoke to the fact that a lumber 
 shed must carry an enormous load and so must be built for 
 permanence and strength they began applying to it the prin- 
 ciples that had been worked out for other buildings. Few 
 of the newer sheds have developed any foundation troubles. 
 
 Foundation materials include brick, stone, cement, hol- 
 low blocks, wooden blocks and the like. Cement is probably 
 more commonly used in these days than is any other material. 
 Nearly every lumber yard carries it in stock and so is in a 
 position to supply itself at wholesale rates. If concrete is 
 mixed correctly it makes a satisfactory and lasting founda- 
 tion. It can be laid rapidly; and if it is necessary for the 
 owner and his men to do the work they can hope for better 
 success with concrete than with brick or stone. Brick foun- 
 dations do fairly well when laid in solid walls and protected 
 by sills, but when built into piers they leave much to be 
 desired. Soft, molded brick will crumble if exposed to 
 abrasions by wagon wheels, and sometimes it falls to pieces 
 when exposed to moisture, freezing and thawing. Pressed 
 
 46 
 
FOUNDATIONS AND BEARINGS 47 
 
 brick is better but more costly. Stone has few if any advan- 
 tages over concrete as a material, tho in places near the 
 quarries it can sometimes be bought at low prices. Hollow 
 blocks are said to do fairly well where protected from me- 
 chanical abrasion. Wooden foundation blocks are seldom 
 used except in temporary buildings or in certain parts of the 
 South where conditions of climate are favorable to the use 
 of this material. In a building planned for permanent occu- 
 pancy wooden foundation blocks, if used at all, should be 
 treated with preservatives. 
 
 Daly Second-Deck Truss Bearing 
 
 It is customary in building double-decked sheds to put 
 in two or even three foundations. The shed rests on one, the 
 lumber in the lower bins on a second and that in the upper 
 bins on a third. However, it is more common for the shed 
 structure to carry the weight of the upper deck and thus to 
 have the foundation divided into two units. The reason for 
 this division of the foundation is plain. If all the weight is 
 carried on a single foundation and the load on the lower deck 
 causes one section to settle the entire shed is pulled out of 
 shape. To avoid this the bearings of the lower deck, where 
 a large percentage of the stock is carried, are made in sep- 
 arate units. 
 
 This division of the foundation is advisable in those sheds 
 where the bearings are not very heavy. The real value of 
 this type of foundation lies in the fact that if the foundations 
 
48 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 are made separately it will be apparent that each must be 
 strong enough to bear its own load; while if a single founda- 
 tion is made to do duty for both there is a temptation to make 
 
 
 a" TOP LINING OF WOOD . 
 
 "-' - CONCRETE v-- />- ;;.: 
 
 BEARING TIMBER 
 
 CONCRETED 
 
 WNCRETE\ 
 
 GROUND LINE 
 
 Lower-Deck Bearings 
 
 this dual foundation little, if any, stronger than would have 
 been necessary were it to carry but a single load. If it is 
 large and strong enough to bear the load placed upon it 
 there is little, if any, advantage in separating it into parts. 
 But if the owner is inclined to skimp his bearings he will do 
 well to separate the supports of the lower deck from those of 
 
FOUNDATIONS AND BEARINGS 
 
 49 
 
 the shed. Then if the former sag out of position the shed will 
 not suffer. 
 
 Several types of lower deck bearings are in use, and most 
 of them are proving successful. One is the concrete wall, 
 which does very well except that it may interfere with ven- 
 tilation. To secure sufficient ventilation the builder has but 
 
 Lumber Stripped in Blocks of Five 
 
 to lay a number of tile endwise thru the wall. The usual 
 tendency is to put in too few of these tile. Another bearing 
 is made by placing concrete piers a few feet apart and laying 
 a sill over the top. James Costello, of Liberty, Mo., has 
 installed this pattern of bearing in his shed. In regard to it 
 he says: "Comparing the concrete piers with solid walls I 
 very much prefer the piers even at the same cost, because 
 they keep the ground dry and ventilate thoroly under the 
 piles." Another type of bearing is that used in the shed of 
 the Hawkeye Lumber Co., of Centerville, la. The cement 
 
Outside Bearings of Cement and Railroad Iron 
 
FOUNDATIONS AND BEARINGS 51 
 
 bearings are made low, and on top of them are wooden bear- 
 ings made of two 2x4*3 joined by pieces of 2x4 spiked in at 
 short intervals like the spindles in a stair rail. These bear- 
 ings are easily lifted out for repair or for cleaning the bin. 
 
 In any case it is advisable to have a cement bearing 
 topped with wood, and this wood ought to be treated with a 
 preservative. This is not only to increase the length of serv- 
 ice of the bearing but also to prevent the stock from being 
 infected from below with dry rot or other lumber diseases. 
 
 Usually the bearings of upper decks are made of 2-inch 
 pieces set on edge. This answers the purpose fairly well; 
 but it sometimes happens that heavy loads are carried on 
 these bearings. Every lumberman has seen these sticks split 
 and sagging. This is a loss both of material and of time, 
 for they might as well have been installed properly at the 
 beginning. Claude C. Daly, of Newton, la., devised a very 
 strong second deck bearing truss that is being used in the big 
 shed of R. C. Daly & Co. and that will be serviceable in 
 any place where a heavy load is to be supported. It consists 
 of two 2x8's with a sort of bridge truss between them. . The 
 first 2x8 is put in place and has a 2x8 block a foot long spiked 
 to the middle of one side. A 2x4 cut at the proper bevel rests 
 against the end of this block at the upper side of the stick and 
 extends diagonally down like the roof of a house until it rests 
 on the frame at the lower edge of the 2x8. Another is put in 
 on the other side of the block. These 2x4*3 are driven tightly 
 into place and spiked. Then the second 2x8 is laid against 
 this truss and spiked fast. This makes a bearing that will 
 support almost any weight that it ever could be called upon 
 to carrv. 
 
ALLEYS 
 
 The alley is an elastic element in a shed plan. It usually 
 takes up or yields space as the needs of the situation dictate. 
 But the tendency has been to make the alley too narrow even 
 when there was no lack of yard space. This has been due to 
 a lack of the appreciation of the functions of the alley as a 
 part of the yard's equipment. It has been considered in the 
 past as little more than a necessary evil requiring much costly 
 roof to cover it. So the early inclosed sheds started in life 
 with 12-foot alleys. A very little experience proved these 
 to be too narrow, but once the shed is built the alley can not 
 be broadened. A narrow alley makes the handling of stock 
 unnecessarily difficult, and it also increases the danger from 
 fire. 
 
 While lumbermen have agreed that 1 2-foot alleys are not 
 wide enough they have not decided on any width as stand- 
 ard. .Probably a great majority of alleys are 20 feet in width. 
 This allows for the unloading and turning of lumber with 
 comparative ease, but it is none too wide. 
 
 Nearly every retailer, if asked about it, will say that he 
 always puts his new stock directly into the bins without any 
 useless piling down in the alley. This is the ideal manner of 
 handling, but few lumbermen are able to realize it every 
 time. Half a dozen cars will come in the same day. To get 
 them unloaded without paying demurrage it may be neces- 
 sary to pile down a large amount of stock somewhere. The 
 alley is about the only available place that is under roof. But 
 
 52 
 
ALLEYS 53 
 
 if the alley is but 20 feet wide it will not admit of much extra 
 piling without being choked up entirely. And if it is used for 
 this purpose the new piles must be made along the front of 
 the bins, locking them for all reasonable intents and pur- 
 poses. This may not be so serious so far as supplying cus- 
 tomers is concerned if the alley piles are made up of the 
 same patterns, lengths and sizes as the stock in the bins. The 
 customers can take their stock out of the piles. But it is a 
 serious thing when the time comes to put these alley piles into 
 the bins. They stand in their own way. 
 
 Some lumbermen have found that a 26-foot alley will 
 allow these extra piles to be placed along the center with a 
 driveway on either side. The advantage of this is at once 
 apparent, and the only cost is the few feet of extra roof and 
 the paving, provided, of course, that the alley is paved. A 
 lack of yard space sometimes makes this impossible of ar- 
 rangement; but it is safe to say that no lumberman who has 
 ever built a shed with a 26-foot alley has regretted it. It 
 offers shelter to loaded wagons without blocking the passage 
 way. It gives a clear space for the piling of lumber into the 
 bins and for taking it out. It makes ventilation much more 
 generally effective, and it reduces the fire risk. 
 
 In certain big yards where lumber is to be moved to the 
 dry kiln or into the planing mill a narrow gage truck track 
 has been found of much value. A system is laid out in the 
 yard with switches and turntables. Then a yard man can 
 push a hand truck around the yard gathering up a miscella- 
 neous lot of stock. He has no difficulty in pushing the truck 
 on the track when he would have found a wagon or a hand 
 truck designed to make its own track to be immovable. How- 
 
ALLEYS 55 
 
 ever, this arrangement is usually more valuable in connection 
 with a large yard that operates a correspondingly large plan- 
 ing mill. If a yard has a reasonable amount of paving it is 
 usually possible for the men to move wagons or hand trucks 
 to the bins without undue effort. 
 
 An unpaved alley accumulates dust. But when an alley 
 is dusty it is dry enough to be swept. Sometimes this sweep- 
 ing has to be done with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, and the 
 objection is made to this that it will eventually hollow the 
 alley out. But after dust has once accumulated several inches 
 in depth it is next to impossible to incorporate it into the hard 
 earth floor again. Some lumbermen have made the mistake 
 of applying a liberal dose of road oil to a dusty alley of this 
 kind and have found themselves with a doughlike mess into 
 which they sank ankle deep and which clung to shoes and 
 wheels and lumber and tracked into their offices and out onto 
 the street until the public avoided them and their places 
 of business like a pestilence. This oil is said to be an excel- 
 lent thing for unpaved shed alleys, but before it is applied the 
 dust already on the alleys should be removed. If the alley 
 becomes hollowed out it is better to bring in fresh earth 
 than to try to harden the dust down into solid roadway again. 
 
 Mention may be made at this place of a device projected 
 by the Spangler & Grouleff Lumber Co., of Churubusco, 
 Ind. It is not known how successful the arrangement proved, 
 but at least it holds a suggestion for the inventive lumberman 
 intent upon labor saving devices. The chief objection that 
 occurs to one thinking of construction details is the difficulty 
 of supporting the track. Here is the company's own account 
 of the project: 
 
56 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 "We are figuring on running a track similar to a hay track 
 the full length of the driveway, and using a regular machine- 
 shop lifting apparatus, which we will hook on to the load, 
 raise it up and slip timbers under the ends that will rest on 
 heavy timbers running crosswise of the driveway. That will 
 place our load on a line with our overhead bins so we can pull 
 the boards from the load straight back endwise into the bins, 
 and at the same time it will unload our wagons in from two 
 to three minutes per load." 
 
 Use has been made of a somewhat similar device for 
 lifting a load from a loading wagon to the delivery truck. 
 
GALLERIES 
 
 Every shed that has more than one deck must have a 
 gallery or platform in front of the upper bins. These gal- 
 leries have been made according to a great number of pat- 
 terns. Like other features of the modern shed they were 
 developed but slowly. In some sheds the upper deck was an 
 afterthought and lay so close to the roof that there was not 
 room for a gallery. If it were put on a level with the bottom 
 of the bins a person could not stand erect on it. If it were 
 put lower down it would interfere with the storage of stock 
 in the lower bins. This particular problem has been over- 
 come in certain sheds by hanging a movable platform on a 
 track similar to that used for a sliding barn door. 
 
 Others of the early galleries were a positive danger be- 
 cause of being narrow and unprotected and because the floor- 
 ing boards were merely laid in place instead of being spiked 
 down. Some men seem to have the feeling that any precau- 
 tion against falling from a gallery is a sign of unmanly weak- 
 ness. They prefer to show a robust disregard for danger. 
 But taking unnecessary chances is a sign of silliness rather 
 than of courage, and a guard rail in front of a solid gallery 
 indicates that the owner is a man of sense. 
 
 There is a difference of opinion about the width that gal- 
 leries should be. Some builders have gone to extremes in 
 narrowness and others in unnecessary width. The size and 
 general design of the shed will be determining factors. It 
 may be said that two feet is too narrow and that six feet is 
 
 57 
 
58 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 unnecessarily wide. Possibly 42 to 48 inches will usually be . 
 about right. The galleries in a shed built for permanence 
 should be solid enough so that a person working on them will 
 feel that he has a firm footing. The flooring plank should 
 be nailed solidly in place with no cracks thru which a foot 
 may be thrust or inequalities of surface that may catch a toe 
 and cause a stumble. 
 
 Each gallery should be protected by a heavy rail, as was 
 stated above. This rail is not the nuisance that certain lum- 
 bermen inexperienced in its use seem to think. It is not in the 
 way. On the contrary it is a positive help in storing lumber 
 in the upper bins, for it acts as a fulcrum over which the 
 sticks may be swung. Since it must serve this purpose the 
 rail should be strong, and it is better for the purpose if it is 
 dressed and has the corners rounded. As a protection against 
 falling it is indispensable. No matter how sure a man may 
 say he is of not falling he will have the possibility in mind all 
 the time, and this will slow up his work. In these days of 
 employers' liability no lumberman can afford to let his men 
 take chances. And even if he were not running the risk of 
 heavy damages he would not be showing a decent regard for 
 the welfare of his men if he were to make it necessary for 
 them to take these needless risks. 
 
 A toe board is another safety device that is not so essential 
 as a guard rail, but it is an added factor of security. It con- 
 sists of a strip nailed along the outer edge of the platform and 
 extending an inch or more above it. The purpose of this 
 board is to prevent a man from sliding a foot off the edge and 
 sustaining a fall between the platform and the guard rail. A 
 man may be pulling a board out of a pile. He has one foot 
 
GALLERIES 59 
 
 f 
 
 extended to the rear. His board yields unexpectedly, and he 
 slides this rear foot over the edge with a scraped shin and a 
 bruised back as a result, to say nothing of the scare it gives 
 him. 
 
 Not many customers take the trouble to inspect lumber 
 in the bins any more. Retailers are coming to say less and 
 less about grades in these days of building service and instead 
 specify that the lumber will be "satisfactory." Few persons 
 know much about grades unless they are engaged in the 
 lumber business. But it will be well to have the shed ar- 
 ranged so that it will be easy and safe for any customer to 
 inspect the lumber in any bin in the yard. For this purpose 
 as well as for the safety of the men a solid and secure gallery 
 is essential. 
 
 Getting up onto the gallery is another problem that has 
 been solved more or less satisfactorily in a number of ways. 
 The most desirable means of approach is a solid stair with a 
 planed hand rail in the proper position. The objections to 
 these stairs are numerous. In the first place they spoil part 
 of a lower bin. Nothing can be piled behind them except 
 with the expenditure of much labor. In the second place it 
 is hard to locate stairs at all desirable points, even if storage 
 space is sacrificed. But the Advantage of these stairs is so 
 great that it seems advisable to make serious efforts to install 
 them at least at the ends of the galleries. Any person, no 
 matter how agile and experienced with ladders he may be, 
 can climb a stair with more ease than he can climb a ladder. 
 And in the case of customers, mentioned in the paragraph 
 before this, the stair is even more necessary. In sheds of the 
 type erected by the Jasper Lumber Co., of Newton, la., 
 
60 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 described on another page, the stair takes up comparatively 
 small space. In this shed there are three decks, none of 
 which is more than about 6 feet in height. The lower deck 
 projects into the alley, the second comes even with the posts 
 
 Stair to Second' and Third Decks 
 
 and the third is set back of the posts. This makes a natural 
 slope backward from the alley. The stair can be set on this 
 slope so that a person gomg up the stair has his back to the 
 alley. This blocks only the space the width of the stairs. If 
 the stair goes up diagonally in front of the bin it obstructs 
 much more space. 
 
GALLERIES 61 
 
 For parts of the alley where stairs are too inconvenient 
 ladders may be used. The ordinary garden variety of lad- 
 der that is unattached is a snare if used for this purpose. It 
 is never in place. Some arrangement must be made to make 
 it a fixture in its own locality. If the second deck is high 
 enough so that a ladder hinged to it and swung out horizon- 
 tally will clear the wagons that drive along the alley the 
 arrangement is easily made. A rope with a pulley and 
 weight will pull it up as soon as released, and a short piece 
 of rope tied to one of the rounds will make it possible for a 
 person on the ground to pull it down. 
 
 Alley bridges are equally necessary. Some lumbermen 
 have installed movable bridges that run up and down the 
 alley on tracks set on the second deck, and these men seem to 
 like their contrivances. If it is necessary to carry stock across 
 this arrangement is justifiable; but it is hard to think of a 
 situation that would make much of this kind of transfer nec- 
 essary. The usual use for an alley bridge is to permit a man 
 to cross to the upper deck on the other side of the alley with- 
 out descending to the ground. For this purpose there seems 
 small need for a movable bridge, for if the bridge is rolled 
 down to the opposite end of the alley and the man goes down 
 there he simply crosses and leaves it where it is. 
 
 If possible a bridge should be located every 50 feet, tho 
 that is rather closer together than they are usually placed. 
 These bridges should be as solid and as securely railed as are 
 the galleries. 
 
O. E. Anderson and His Piling Board, Bismarck, N. Dak. 
 
 Yard of the ?4ortz Lumber Co., Bismarck, N. Dak. 
 
BINS 
 
 There is no one size that is best for all bins. As they must 
 vary in depth to accommodate the different lengths carried, 
 so they must vary in width to suit the amount of the different 
 patterns usually kept in stock. Large city yards and whole- 
 sale yards carry vast amounts of each pattern, and they find 
 it necessary to build piles 30 feet high. Their experience 
 indicates that in every lumber yard the storage space and 
 arrangements must be fitted to the stock carried. A yard 
 that carries a big stock of 2x4*3 will not find it expedient to 
 pile them in 4-foot bins; and neither will it be expedient to 
 carry finish lumber in 1 8-foot bins. Every yard needs bins 
 of different size. The proportion of wide and narrow bins 
 must be determined in advance by observation and by esti- 
 mating the amount of each pattern that is likely to be carried. 
 
 Bins should be of such width that the stock can be piled in 
 them with a few inches at the side to spare. For this pur- 
 pose it is well to avoid even feet between the posts. Other- 
 wise considerable space is apt to be wasted. If the stock 
 wedges in tightly between the posts it can not be handled 
 readily, and in the end the bin will be filled with one tier of 
 boards left out. 
 
 It is the practice in many yards to make two piles of each 
 kind and size of stock. Then sales are made out of one pile 
 until it is exhausted. New stock is put in this pile, and sales 
 are then made out of the other. This arrangement makes it 
 possible to dispose of old stock without going to the extra 
 labor of taking the bottom courses out before new stock is 
 
 63 
 
64 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 put in. This does not make it necessary that there should 
 be two separate bins. Stock can be piled in two divisions 
 in the same bin. For this purpose a bin measuring 9 feet 
 on center is very satisfactory. It makes possible the storage 
 of two 4-foot piles with free space, between and at the sides. 
 This makes ordinary 4-foot lath available for sticking. 
 However, some lumbermen do not recommend the use of 
 lath. They find them too light for the purpose. Lath break 
 easily and do not give much rigidness to the pile. Neither 
 do they leave much ventilation space. In place of lath these 
 lumbermen recommend strips measuring 1x2 inches. 
 
 The increasing number of kinds and patterns of lumber 
 carried has operated in two ways in changing the size of 
 bins. It has made necessary a greater number of storage 
 spaces, and it has reduced the amount of stock of each kind 
 carried. This calls for smaller storage units. There is no 
 doubt but that bins are much smaller now than they were 
 even a few years ago. The sheds built twenty years ago with 
 large bins show much waste space unless these storage spaces 
 have been divided or have been filled by more than one kind 
 and size of lumber. 
 
 The Jasper Lumber Co., of Newton, la., has arranged 
 these duplicate bins one above the other. The reason for 
 this is that in actual practice the duplicate bins are not used 
 equally. It is usually possible to store most of the material 
 in one, and of course with this arrangement the bin used most 
 is the lower one. Then if stock comes a little damp it can 
 be put in the upper bin where ventilation is more complete. 
 These bins are 6 feet high, so the upper bins are not out of 
 reach. 
 
BINS 65 
 
 Piling boards are used by a number of retailers. These 
 are aids to getting the front of the pile even and consist of 
 a heavy plank fastened across the front of the bin. The man 
 on the pile drags the board over the plank, pushes the end 
 against it and lets go. When the pile reaches the upper 
 edge of the plank the latter is raised. A number of devices 
 for securing and regulating these piling boards have been 
 worked out. O. E. Anderson, of the Nortz Lumber Co., 
 Bismarck, N. D., has fixed up one that gives good satisfac- 
 tion. This consists of a plank the right length to fit the 
 narrower bins in the yard. At each end is an iron bracket 
 that will clamp around the uprights that divide the bins. 
 This bracket is tightened by a crank nut, and the whole 
 device can be put in place and tightened in a brief time. 
 Other yards are equipped with piling boards that are ar- 
 ranged to slide up and down in grooves. Some are sup- 
 ported by counter weights. Most of them work fairly well, 
 but it takes no little amount of material to put a plank in 
 front of each bin, and none of the sliding kind can be made 
 perfectly rigid. They are also hard to elevate after stock 
 has been piled against them. 
 
VENTILATION 
 
 Shed ventilation is to be distinguished from mere windi- 
 ness. More than one shed with wide open doors thru which 
 the wind could sweep in gales has housed lumber that was 
 spoiling for air. Adequate ventilation means a steady cir- 
 culation of air thru all parts of the building. To obtain this 
 some attention must be paid to correct design and construc- 
 tion. The outlet in the roof must be such as to cause an up- 
 ward draft, and the intake must be located so as to cause the 
 air in its passage thru the building to reach all the storage 
 points. 
 
 The most successful roof outlet is a scientifically designed 
 cupola. A number of companies are manufacturing cupolas 
 that are giving good satisfaction. A cupola is in the nature 
 of an air pump and acts much like a chimney. It used to be 
 supposed that the draft up a chimney was caused by the heat 
 of the fire; that the expanded air and gas being lighter than 
 the cold air outside floated upward just as wood rises in 
 water. But there is always a draft up a well designed chim- 
 ney whether it is carrying off hot smoke or not. It has been 
 proved by experiments conducted by the King Ventilating 
 Co., of Owatonna, Minn., that at the height of about 30 feet 
 there is always a breeze. On the stillest day, when not a 
 breath seems to stir, there is a movement of air at this height, 
 and its velocity has never been found to be less than three 
 miles an hour. The motion of this breeze passing over the 
 top of the chimney produces a partial vacuum and causes 
 
 66 
 
VENTILATION 9 67 
 
 the air below to rise. This action may be seen in the opera- 
 tion of a common atomizer. A blast of air from a rubber 
 bulb passing over the end of a tube extending down into a 
 liquid creates a vacuum in the tube and causes the liquid to 
 rise. The second or third blast is filled with tiny drops of 
 the liquid that has been pumped up the tube in this manner. 
 
 The old-fashioned cupola made with slats set at an angle 
 to deflect upward any breeze entering thru the sides is only 
 partly successful as an air pump. The velocity of the wind 
 is checked, and part of it rising inside and striking the roof 
 is deflected downward into the building. So while a cer- 
 tain amount of air is drawn out the back draft from the 
 cupola tends to replace it. The result is a motion of the air 
 up under the roof that may have little or no effect on that 
 around the piles below. The cupolas manufactured by the 
 King Ventilating Co. and other reliable concerns are so de- 
 signed as to prevent back draft and to insure a steady upward 
 current of air no matter what the velocity of the outside wind. 
 
 If for any reason it is desired to ventilate some closed 
 room in the shed it will be necessary to install foul air pipes 
 leading from this room up into the cupola. Otherwise it 
 is possible to get satisfactory results merely by placing the 
 cupolas on the roof and allowing the entire interior of the 
 building to act as a foul air flue. 
 
 The location of the intake is important, for if ventilation 
 is to be successful and complete the current of air must move 
 under the piles and along their ends. To make this move- 
 ment reasonably certain the intake is usually placed low 
 along the sides of the building. It is a commonly and seem- 
 ingly successful and acceptable practice to build wooden 
 
68 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 sheds with the siding near the bottom spaced with inch cracks 
 between the boards. If this siding is corn cribbing with 
 the edges beveled to slope outward like a roof very little rain 
 or snow will blow in, and there will be a good circulation of 
 air. Sheds built of brick or hollow tile should have spaces 
 left low in the sides. These may be screened if they are so 
 located that small animals may creep thru. 
 
 It is desirable to have these intakes so arranged that they 
 can be closed in severely cold weather. Some lumbermen do 
 not favor this idea. They prefer that the ventilation system 
 be in active operation at all times. T. H. Dolby, of Ames, 
 la., has a shed which is most thoroly ventilated. It is sided 
 clear to the roof with spaced corn cribbing, and the offsets 
 in the roof are framed for windows but have been left with- 
 out sash. There is little to prevent the blowing of the wind 
 thru any part of the building. But most lumbermen desire 
 that an inclosed shed shall be more than a roof and an in- 
 closure against thieves. It is somewhat to be doubted 
 whether a shed built in this open fashion is a better place in 
 which to keep lumber well aired than is a tighter shed with 
 a scientifically installed ventilating system. 
 
 The shed belonging to R. C. Daly & Co. (Inc.) , of New- 
 ton, la., is built of hollow blocks. Several tiers of these 
 blocks the length of each bin are set lengthwise thru the wall. 
 In order to control the inflow of air a board is fitted on the 
 inside of the wall over the ends of these open tile. This 
 board is set in wooden brackets that allow it to slide up and 
 down. When down it closes the ventilation openings. A 
 notch is cut in each bracket so that when the board is raised 
 it can be moved out at the bottom to engage this notch. A 
 
VENTILATION 69 
 
 p. 
 
 slight push will release it and allow it to slide down the 
 groove, closing the ventilators. 
 
 The lower deck bearings should be constructed in such a 
 way as to allow a circulation of air under the piles. This is 
 not so much to dry the lumber as to keep the ground itself 
 dry. A space of 15 or 20 inches between the pile and the 
 ground is most desirable, and the bearings should be made 
 in such a way as to permit air to pass thru them. This may 
 be effected by setting tile thru the cement bearings, or it 
 may be done by using a heavy cross sill set on concrete piers 
 as a bearing. J. J. Edwards, manager of the Hawkeye 
 Lumber Co.'s yard at Centerville, la., has installed wooden 
 top bearings made of 2X4's. One of these sticks lies on the 
 supporting bearing of concrete; the other serves as the sill 
 upon which the stock rests; and the two are joined by short 
 pieces of 2x4 placed some eight or ten inches apart, making 
 a rigid crib that allows an almost unobstructed flow of air. 
 These cribs are arranged so that they may be taken out easily. 
 
 There should be a movement of air along the rear ends 
 of the piles, and to make this possible the bins should be 
 deep enough from front to back to accommodate the stock 
 without its being crowded tight against the rear wall. 
 
 Other mention of ventilation will be made from time to 
 time in dealing with different types of sheds and warehouses. 
 
LIGHTING 
 
 The kind of artificial lighting used will depend on cir- 
 cumstances. But at present no light is safer and more satis- 
 factory than electricity. The lighting of the office presents 
 no problems different from those encountered in any other 
 office, and the local electrician will be the proper person to 
 whom to refer the planning and installation of the circuits. 
 Electric wiring is safe enough if installed by a competent 
 and honest workman, and no other should be employed. 
 This is not a job for an amateur unless he is peculiarly quali- 
 fied for it. Defective wiring has caused a good many lum- 
 ber yard fires and will doubtless cause many more. This 
 point is dealt with in another chapter devoted to the reduc- 
 tion of fire risks. 
 
 Some lumbermen are inclined to doubt the necessity for 
 artificial lighting in the sheds. They think that nature has 
 provided sufficient light for these places and that the first 
 cost and upkeep of artificial lighting is not a justifiable ex- 
 pense. However, there are a good many other very potent 
 reasons why sheds should be well lighted at all times when 
 work is being done in them. A shed with plenty of windows 
 is a much more attractive place than is one in which on the 
 brightest day there is only a gloomy twilight. Customers 
 will like it better and consciously or unconsciously will have 
 an increased respect for the yard and for the owner. Plenty 
 of daylight is good for the yard itself. Light is the enemy of 
 fungous growths that cause lumber decay. A well lighted 
 
 70 
 
LIGHTING 71 
 
 shed is likely to have more care than will a dark one. Dis- 
 ordered piles will be more apparent and will receive atten- 
 tion sooner. Lumber that is damaged by light will of course 
 be kept in light-tight rooms; but for the rest of the stock 
 there can hardly be too much light. Some -dealers have 
 found it expedient to paint the interiors of their sheds white 
 to secure greater diffusion. 
 
 If daylight is important, artificial light is but a degree 
 less so. Artificial light does not retard rot perhaps, but it 
 does prevent the slowing up of labor on winter afternoons. 
 In northern States at least there is a long daily period of twi- 
 light and darkness before quitting time. No man can work 
 well in the dark; so the yard loses daily some of the labor it 
 is paying for and that it could have except for this darkness. 
 Two or three high power lights set well up in the alley will 
 make working in the evening as easy as working at mid day. 
 
 Every lumber yard will have several circuits. There 
 will be the circuit in the main office, one in each alley, one 
 in the sash and door room, and others in the stable, show 
 room, show window and so on, depending on the complete- 
 ness of the equipment. Some of these lights will be apparent 
 to the most careless man charged with closing up the place 
 in the evening. Others, such as those in the stable and the 
 stock room, will not. It is an easy and inexpensive thing 
 to include a so-called pilot light in each of these circuits. 
 If the switches are located in the office the installation of 
 these lights will require but little extra wiring. Pilot lights 
 are about one candle power and are located in some conspicu- 
 ous place in the office. Then when the last man turns off the 
 office lights at night, if any of the circuits are on he will be 
 
72 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 informed of that fact automatically by the glow of the pilot 
 light. It doesn't break a man up to leave a circuit switched 
 on all night, but it is a useless expense that this little device 
 will save. 
 
MOLDING STORAGE 
 
 The storing of moldings has become important during 
 the last few years because of the fact that so much interior 
 finish is varnished instead of painted. A dirty or discolored 
 stick is useless for this purpose. And when a customer is 
 paying full price for what he buys he does not want shop- 
 worn goods. Formerly molding was kept in a haphazard 
 way because it was considered of little value anyway and 
 because customers could be induced to take about anything 
 that was offered. If they objected they were told that paint 
 would cover the dirt. That argument is no longer effective. 
 They refuse to take it, and they are apt to attach a dispro- 
 portionate significance to the fact that the yard carries such 
 stuff. Molding costs more than it once did. And if it is 
 to be carried at all it ought to have a storage place well 
 enough built to keep it straight and clean. 
 
 A number of molding cases have been devised, and all of 
 them give a certain degree of satisfaction. The one usually 
 installed in new yards, if there is a place suitable for it, is the 
 end-storage case. All the advantages can be claimed for the 
 end storage of moldings that are advanced in support of the 
 end storing of yard stock, and the former has fewer disad- 
 vantages. It should be placed in a dust-tight room, and 
 of course this room must be as high as the longest molding 
 carried in stock. The usual design is a short alley with 
 cases on either side. These cases are given a backward slant 
 of about an inch to the foot or enough to keep the sticks from 
 
 73 
 
Pigeon-Hole Molding Case 
 
MOLDING STORAGE 
 
 75 
 
 falling forward. At regular intervals there are strips nailed 
 horizontally to the sides of the pockets, and these serve as 
 side supports and as indicators of length. A person can 
 
 Molding Rack, C. L. Colman Lumber Co., Albert Lea, Minn. 
 
 pick out a piece of molding and tell its length at a glance by 
 noting which of these side supports the upper end is nearest. 
 Moldings stored on end will shed dust readily, for the jar- 
 ring caused by picking out a piece will dislodge it and cause 
 it to fall to the floor instead of down among the other pieces 
 
76 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 as happens in horizontal storage. The door at the end of the 
 alley should be tight. 
 
 Sometimes the shed is not high enough to admit an end- 
 storage rack. In that case the owner may choose among 
 several horizontal types. The pigeonhole type is familiar 
 to every lumberman. It is a series of small compartments 
 into which the molding is thrust from the end. It is neces- 
 sary to employ some kind of marking such as different colors 
 of chalk to indicate the length. Boxes with cleats across 
 the bottoms are said to shed dust better than those with solid 
 bottoms, but the latter keep the stock straighter. This kind 
 of rack should be located with enough clear space in front so 
 that the longest pieces can be pulled out of the boxes. Some 
 lumbermen have made horizontal cases by arranging 
 brackets up the side of a frame. The moldings are laid on 
 these brackets, which should be rather close together to pre- 
 vent warping of the stock. 
 
FLOORING STORAGE AND WARM ROOMS 
 
 Even the smallest country yard in these days sells more 
 or less hardwood flooring. No kind of interior trim requires 
 more careful handling than hardwood floors. If the boards 
 become damp and swell only slightly before being laid they 
 will shrink and show cracks after being laid. There is only 
 one kind of satisfactory hardwood floor, and that is a perfect 
 floor. Any other kind will cause much more trouble and 
 loss than the sale is worth. In order to keep this flooring in 
 perfect condition at all seasons it is necessary to keep it warm. 
 The amount of heat need not be large, but there should be 
 enough to keep dampness away. . 
 
 In order to accomplish this there must be a specially 
 built room and some satisfactory source of heat. R. S. Bas- 
 sett, manager of the Alexander Lumber Co., Champaign, 
 111., describes a warm room in his storage shed. This room 
 is built with a double thickness of i-inch flooring with a 
 layer of i-ply roofing between to keep out dampness and 
 dust. The walls, .floor, ceiling and door are all constructed 
 in this manner. Mr. Bassett says this room has been very 
 satisfactory and that it is absolutely moisture and dust proof. 
 There are other methods of insulation, but this is a simple 
 one that requires no materials not carried in the ordinary 
 yard. 
 
 Heating a warm room is a more difficult problem. If 
 it is located near the office it can be heated by the office fur- 
 nace. Steam and hot water heat are considered better than 
 
 77 
 
78 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 hot air, tho the latter is used by numbers of successful re- 
 tailers. This furnace heat does well enough in the winter, 
 but it often happens that periods of damp weather play havoc 
 with the stock in the summer time when there is no heat in 
 the furnace pipes. It is possible to kindle fires once in a 
 while and to throw all the heat into the warm room. Mr. 
 Bassett tried electric heaters a few years ago and regret- 
 fully decided against them. They answered the purpose 
 excellently and proved to be the simplest and safest source of 
 heat; but unfortunately the cost of the current proved pro- 
 hibitive. In those places where electricity is cheap the elec- 
 tric heaters should prove satisfactory. 
 
 A good many flooring rooms are located over the office. 
 This simplifies connecting them with the furnace heat and 
 also lifts them high above ground dampness. Some Ium6er- 
 men rely on heat from the sun on the roof to keep the stock 
 dry in summer. But if outside heat is to be fully effective 
 some of the insulation of the ceiling may have to be sacri- 
 ficed, and this is likely to prove disastrous in damp, cool 
 weather. 
 
TIMBER STORAGE AND HANDLING 
 EQUIPMENT 
 
 The question of handling timbers in a retail yard admits 
 of a wide variety of treatment. There are yards that handle 
 almost no timbers, while others count their timber trade as 
 a highly important part of the business. Under these cir- 
 cumstances much will have to be left to individual pref- 
 erence. 
 
 The yard that sells only a few large sticks a year needs 
 to take little trouble with its timber yard. Some place that 
 is out of the way of general activity and that is long enough 
 to carry the stuff and that can be kept reasonably dry and 
 free from disease-breeding litter will do well enough. But 
 the yard that does a reasonably active business in timbers will 
 need to take considerable thought about the matter. Timbers 
 should be kept under cover unless they are moved very rap- 
 idly. Handling them by unassisted man power is wasteful 
 of time and is extremely hard and sometimes dangerous work. 
 This overhead handling cost is often enough to make it im- 
 possible to make a profit on selling big stuff. Every yard 
 that deals at all extensively in timbers or that contemplates 
 building up a jobbing business should investigate the various 
 mechanical helps that are available. 
 
 A circular crane is one of the most widely used aids to 
 timber handling. These cranes are of all sizes and capaci- 
 ties from the small, hand operated affairs with a lo-foot arm 
 up to the electric cranes such as are used by the Thornton- 
 
 79 
 
80 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 Claney Lumber Co., of Chicago, that have an arm reach of 
 more than 80 feet and a lifting capacity of five tons at the end 
 of the arm. These cranes are useful in an open yard. In 
 addition to handling timber they may be used to lift a load 
 from a loading wagon to a delivery truck or for other heavy 
 lifting. 
 
 A heavy steel track with a carrier and chain hoist is 
 equally valuable in an open yard and in a timber shed. The 
 
 TRUSS POOF 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 OPEN OR 
 
 SEMI-OPEN SIDES 
 
 
 ELEVATED 
 
 CARRIER TRACK 
 
 
 
 
 k CK 
 
 tk 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 CEMENT SUPPORT 
 
 FOUNDATIONS 1 
 
 PILING SPACE STOCK PILED 
 
 
 
 CROSS WAYS 
 
 OF BUILDING 
 
 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 
 
 
 Suggestion for a Timber Shed 
 
 Edwin Taylor Lumber Co., of Hartford, Conn., has such 
 an outfit that was designed and built by the Berlin Construc- 
 tion Co., of Berlin, Conn., a concern that is said to possess 
 unusual facilities for this kind of construction. The Taylor 
 people are very well pleased with the service their equipment 
 has given. They have two tracks, and each is equipped with 
 two carriers and chain hoists. 
 
 This kind of equipment may be used in a timber shed. 
 The shed may be any desired length and wide enough to 
 accommodate the longest timbers it is desired to store. If 
 there is any great variation in length of timbers, as usually 
 happens in yards handling jobbing trade, there should be 
 separate storage for the very longest. This steel track would 
 
TIMBER STORAGE 81 
 
 run the long way of the shed and would be supported by the 
 ironwork shown in the accompanying drawing. The load- 
 ing and unloading place might be in the center or at either 
 end of the shed and should be arranged if possible so that 
 the wagon might be parallel to the track, tho this is not abso- 
 lutely necessary. The piles would be under the track and at 
 right angles to it. Suppose a few timbers are to be loaded. 
 A wagon is driven into the shed and stopped at the proper 
 place. The carrier is run by hand down the track until it 
 is over the pile. A timber is engaged with the tackle and 
 raised with the hoist until it swings free from the pile. It 
 is then turned parallel to the track so that it will clear the 
 supporting posts and is run down to the wagon where it is 
 lowered into place. In arranging the piles the long timbers 
 would have to be placed next the posts so they could be swung 
 around without the end striking the neighboring posts. 
 
 If the business is not large enough to warrant the instal- 
 lation of this handling machinery the big sticks may be piled 
 in any convenient place, as was said before. Most yard 
 foremen prefer to have the wagon along the side of the tim- 
 ber so that one end may be lifted on at a time rather than to 
 have the wagon at the end of the pile. In some of the early 
 sheds the heavy sticks were piled under a penthouse at the 
 back of the shed. The Jasper Lumber Co., of Newton, la., 
 utilizes a peculiarly good place in its big warehouse. There 
 are two alleys in this warehouse with a short alley connect- 
 ing them near the rear end. Along the side of this short alley 
 next the main part of the shed is a storage space as long as 
 the width of the two center rows of bins. Timbers are laid 
 on suitable bearings along here. They are not in the way, 
 
Timber Alley, Cross, Austin & Ireland Lumber Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
/ CONCRETE 
 
 . 
 - ---- 
 
 5'6" H 
 
 Support of Timber Track, Taylor Lumber Co., Hartford, Conn. 
 
84 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 they are splendidly shedded, and they can be loaded and 
 unloaded as easily and conveniently as the moving of timbers 
 by hand ever can be accomplished. In every shed some 
 more or less suitable place can be found for this kind of 
 stock, and finding it must be the work of the person who 
 designs the yard. 
 
SPECIAL MILLWORK STORAGE 
 
 Every yard not equipped with a complete planing mill 
 must order much special interior finish from mills in neigh- 
 boring cities. In order to have it in time the retailer orders 
 it as soon as possible. It may arrive several weeks before 
 it is to be used. If some special storage place is not pro- 
 vided for this kind of stock it stands to fare badly. It must 
 be piled in with some other stock and take its chances of 
 bruised edges and swelled joints. Obviously there should 
 be some place for storing it where it will be undisturbed and 
 where dampness can be excluded. 
 
 It has happened also that a bill calling for stock stuff 
 can not be filled because of depleted stock, altho there was 
 plenty at the time the bill was sold. Perhaps there have 
 been unexpected demands for that stuff. Then when the 
 customer comes for his doors or sash he has to be put off 
 until a shipment can be gotten in. If there is a place to store 
 such stock it may be well as soon as a bill is sold to pick out 
 enough millwork to fill it and to pile this by itself. 
 
 The newer yards make provision fo.r such a room, usually 
 near the sash and door room. Sometimes spaces that are 
 useless for any other purpose may be fitted for this kind of 
 storage. In those yards where an open shed turns a corner 
 there is quite a bit of room in the corner that can not be used 
 for bins because there is no open front. The C. L. Colman 
 Lumber Co., of Albert Lea, Minn., uses a corner of this kind 
 for storing special millwork and stock stuff that has been sold 
 
 85 
 
86 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 but not delivered. If the room is built to be dust and mois- 
 ture tight it will do fairly well. If it is equipped with arti- 
 ficial heating apparatus it will do very well. And if the 
 yard men can be trained to keep the door shut it will be an 
 ideal place. This keeping of doors closed in those rooms 
 where finish and millwork is stored is a prime necessity. 
 
END-STORAGE SHEDS 
 
 End storage of molding is generally accepted as the most 
 satisfactory way of carrying this stock where the sheds are 
 of such shape and design that there is room for the racks. 
 But there is no such uniformity of opinion in regard to car- 
 rying a general retail stock in this manner. A number of 
 sheds of this type have been built and according to the state- 
 ments of the owners have given good satisfaction. But they 
 seem not to be coming into general use with any rapidity. 
 
 There are certain advantages claimed for this type of 
 shed. In the first place it can be built with less material, 
 tho the frame has to 'be strong to carry the weight of the 
 leaning lumber. Alleys may be narrower because of the 
 fact that stock is dropped down onto the load instead of 
 being pulled out and turned. In fact the piles can be ex- 
 tended into the alley simply by continuing to lay stock against 
 the pile. The size of the bins may be varied to suit personal 
 preference. Those in one of the earliest sheds were made 
 9 feet wide and 8 feet deep from front to back. Others are 
 made 12 feet wide and 16 feet in depth. A greater amount 
 of stock can be piled in a given space. Some lumbermen 
 estimate the increased capacity at as much as 30 percent. 
 Lumber will dry more quickly because of the fact that mois- 
 ture follows the grain to the lower end of the stick. In cer- 
 tain sawmills in the East hardwoods direct from the saw are 
 put in end-storage sheds. It is possible to stick this lumber 
 tho this requires the use of a ladder. The stock keeps clean, 
 
 87 
 
88 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 for when new stock is put in or old taken out the jarring 
 causes the dust to fall to the floor. It is claimed that less 
 labor is required to handle lumber in this type of bin. These 
 are some of the things claimed for end storage. 
 
 The end-storage shed has certain disadvantages. Piling 
 heavy lumber on end is hard work; so hard in fact that the 
 large stuff, such as framing lumber, is better piled flat. In- 
 
 Suggested Framing for an End-Storage Shed 
 
 voicing is not easy, as it is necessary to climb on top of the 
 pile to count the pieces. The appearance of such a shed is 
 never as good as that of a shed in which the stock is laid flat. 
 The boards leaning back against the wall have the appear- 
 ance of being out of place. Some retailers object to this 
 method of storage because it shows up the defects of low 
 grade stock so plainly. 
 
 Floors under the piles must be strong, for the weight of 
 the stock is carried on the floor instead of directly on the 
 bearings. In some sheds the floor is raised enough next to 
 the alley so that the stock when leaned back in place will be 
 perpendicular to the floor. Stock is usually piled with a 
 
END-STORAGE SHEDS 89 
 
 slant of one inch off vertical to the floor. For example, if a 
 vertical line were dropped from the top of an 1 8-foot board 
 it would miss the lower end of the board by 18 inches. It 
 is possible to divide the stock in a bin into two divisions and 
 to use out of one division until it is gone and then out of the 
 other, thus preventing the accumulation of old stock at the 
 back. 
 
FIRE RISK REDUCTION 
 
 All lumbermen recognize the fact that fire risk is present 
 wherever lumber is stored. But experience has shown that 
 with care exercised in construction and location and in the 
 installation of heating and lighting apparatus this risk may 
 be much reduced. A list of fire losses suffered by one insur- 
 ance company and tabulated according to causes will indicate 
 the sources of danger. This list is taken from "The Wood- 
 worker," a booklet published by the Mutual Lumber Insur- 
 ing Companies. 
 
 Percentage of Total 
 
 Heating Apparatus 1.76 
 
 Lighting Apparatus 2.08 
 
 Smoking 2.25 
 
 Sparks and Coals, R. R. Stack, Burner 14.80 
 
 Lightning 1 45 
 
 Spontaneous Combustion 32 
 
 Miscellaneous 3.54 
 
 Exposure 24.28 
 
 Incendiary 14.3 1 
 
 Unknown 35- 21 
 
 It will be seen from this list that of the known causes 
 sparks, exposure and incendiary are the largest, and that 
 unknown causes produced the largest number of all. It is 
 reasonable to suppose that at least some of the fires credited 
 to unknown causes were set by human hands. So on the 
 score of prevention the first two things to be considered are 
 isolation and inclosure. 
 
 90 
 
FIRE RISK REDUCTIQN 91 
 
 It is said by experts that three-fourths of the incendiary 
 fires could be prevented, and one of the most effective pre- 
 ventives is a high, tight fence surrounding the yard. In 
 speaking of fires of incendiary origin The Woodworker 
 makes the following statement: "Boys who want to see the 
 fire department in action; thieves who want to get a crowd 
 on which to act or to leave them free to steal elsewhere, or 
 to conceal theft from the plant; drunkenness, craziness, mis- 
 chievousness and general cussedness are the causes of most 
 of these fires." To this list must be added the activities of 
 the ubiquitous bum. Tramps are not always malicious, but 
 neither are they careful; and the ashes from a pipe may 
 send thousands of dollars' worth of stock and storage equip- 
 ment up in smoke. About 60 percent of fires occur at night 
 or on holidays. Some of these are caused by spontaneous 
 combustion or by faulty wiring or similar causes. But the 
 owner can feel that his yard is much more secure from fire 
 if it is secure from entry than he can if the place is open to 
 any casual Weary Willy who may happen along. 
 
 If possible sheds should be set far enough inside the lot 
 so that heat from the nearest neighboring building, should it 
 burn, will not ignite them. This distance is considered to 
 be about 100 feet for a wooden building. But in many cases 
 limited areas and high valuation of real estate will not permit 
 this. If a yard can be located on a tract of ground entirely 
 surrounded by streets it may be considered reasonably free 
 from the hazard of exposure. But this, also, is not always 
 possible. Where a shed must be placed close to a building 
 on an adjoining lot it is wise to build a fire wall extending as 
 high as or higher than the roof. In erecting long sheds it is 
 
92 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 advisable to divide them with fire walls and self-closing fire 
 doors. 
 
 Badly planned structures are no more fruitful sources of 
 loss than are carelessness and litter. One insurance expert 
 says the chief objection to horse stables in the yard is the 
 carelessness of the men in handling kerosene lanterns and in 
 allowing litter to accumulate. A clean yard, other things 
 being equal, is much safer than a dirty one. A shed with 
 wide alleys is safer than one with narrow alleys. The prohi- 
 bition of smoking will prevent some fires. A good many 
 yards that are large in size or that are peculiarly exposed to 
 danger can scarcely afford not to have a watchman. If a 
 watchman discovers a blaze that is just starting and if he is 
 provided with handy fire-fighting apparatus he can extin- 
 guish it easily. If it is left to be discovered by the public at 
 large the fire may easily be beyond the power of the best of 
 fire departments. 
 
 Stoves and kerosene lamps are considered dangerous. 
 The former, if used, should be placed on a metal floor pro- 
 tection extending several feet on each side of the stove, and 
 it should be surrounded by a stout iron fence. Chimneys 
 should be built from the ground up and be provided with 
 metal ash cans. It is better to have the stove pipe enter the 
 chimney in the same room where the stove is located. Fur- 
 naces should be installed with the same care as stoves. Steam 
 pipes have caused fires as far as 300 feet from the boilers, 
 so care should be used to see that they are kept clear of rub- 
 bish or other combustibles. They should not extend thru 
 hollow walls or floors without being protected by metal 
 jackets that leave a two-inch clear air space around them. 
 
FIRE RISK REDUCTION 93 
 
 
 
 Rats and mice building nests near these warm pipes have 
 laid the kindling for a good many fires. 
 
 Electric wiring should be done by competent and honest 
 electricians. It is well to have a cut-off switch near the door 
 so that the current can be kept out of the building when not 
 needed. Heavy charges from trolley or power lines have 
 been known to enter buildings without causing fuses to melt 
 and have caused serious fires. Gas and electricity should 
 not be used in the same room. If gas is used there should be 
 a valve installed at a safe distance from the buildings so that 
 in case of fire it may be closed. 
 
 The Woodworker has this to say about a garage in a 
 lumber yard: "If it is desired to keep and care for a car on 
 the premises, a brick building with a cement floor is pre- 
 ferred, heat to be steam or hot water, generator to be in a cut 
 off room without opening to garage ; light to be incandescent ' 
 electricity, keyless vapor proof lights, portable cord, con- 
 trolled by switch outside of room. Gasolene to be kept in 
 underground tank with outside pump, one raised self-closing 
 metal waste can, pyrene fire extinguisher, faucet and hose, 
 and permit in the insurance policies." 
 
 Fire fighting apparatus can never take the place of fire 
 prevention, but it is necessary and valuable. In the first 
 place if it be at all possible the owner should assure himself 
 of the protection of the city fire department. Hydrants 
 should be located near enough to be effective; certainly not 
 more than 300 feet distant. Hydrants should be connected 
 with street mains not smaller than six inches in diameter, or 
 if they are on dead-ends these should be at least eight inches 
 in diameter. 
 
94 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 In addition, to public protection each yard should have 
 some appliances of its own. The basis of this private appa- 
 ratus is a pail filled with water or with a solution of chloride 
 of calcium. More small fires have been extinguished by- 
 water thrown from pails than by all other means combined. 
 The solution of chloride of calcium does not freeze, corrode, 
 evaporate or get foul. If it is used in wooden buckets or 
 casks these must be painted or varnished on the inside. Gran- 
 ulated calcium dissolves easily and is said not to be costly. 
 Three pounds to the gallon is the proportion usually recom- 
 mended. Fire insurance experts recommend that a cask 
 painted red and stenciled, "For Fire Only," filled with water 
 or the calcium solution and equipped with two fire pails be 
 placed 100 feet apart in lumber yards. 
 
 Chemical extinguishers are approved by insurance com- 
 panies, but it must be remembered that most of these will 
 freeze in cold weather and so must be placed in warmed 
 rooms in winter. Pyrene is recommended for use around 
 motors and in paint rooms. A pail of sand is useful in the 
 latter place. The use of automatic sprinklers and steam 
 jets is recommended for certain places. Steam is valuable 
 in small, inclosed rooms, and in such places it puts out fires 
 by covering them and excluding the air. 
 
 It is well both for the purpose of decreasing the fire risk 
 and of avoiding loss of stock and equipment to make careful 
 inspection of the entire yard at frequent intervals. This 
 will show the accumulation of trash, breaks in the fence or 
 sheds and other conditions that increase the danger of fire. 
 Such inspections will show stock that is poorly piled or that 
 is exposed to the infection of dry rot. This is a case where 
 a stitch in time saves more than nine. 
 
A HOODED OPEN SHED 
 
 Sheds intended for the storing of lumber fall into two 
 general classes, tho there are a great number of modifica- 
 tions followed in the designing of individual buildings. 
 These two classes are the open shed consisting of roof, ends 
 and rear side with the front open, and the inclosed shed with 
 one or more driveways extending thru it. In the following 
 pages will be shown examples of these two general styles. 
 Included will be a number of modifications. It is hoped 
 that the designs will be of assistance to prospective builders 
 in two ways; in furnishing plans that may be followed with 
 few if any changes, and in suggesting possibilities for new 
 and different plans suited to individual needs. 
 
 Few if any sheds of the true open design are used for the 
 storage of lumber. Retailers have found that the addition 
 of a hood costs little and adds immensely to the value of the 
 building. So general is the practice of adding this hood 
 that the term "open shed" is commonly understood to mean 
 a hooded open shed. This was one of the first styles of sheds 
 to become popular, and its worth is still testified to by the 
 hundreds of open sheds new and old that are giving satisfac- 
 tory service. There is little or no trouble about ventilation; 
 the framing of the structure is so simple that an amateur car- 
 penter can achieve satisfactory results in building it, and 
 the initial investment, due to the simplicity and lightness of 
 the frame, is not prohibitive. Care should be taken to locate 
 the shed on ground where the drainage is good and to raise 
 
 95 
 
96 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 the piles far enough above ground to provide for ventilation 
 under the pile and to guard against the infection of dry rot. 
 The shed, of which the end elevation is shown here, is 
 intended for the storage of lumber no longer than 16 feet. 
 But it would be a simple matter to change the design or to 
 
 End Elevation of an Open Shed 
 
 arrange at one end for bearings extending further to the front 
 if it is desired to store longer lengths. The hood extends 
 eight feet beyond the ends of the piles, and this would allow 
 the piles to extend further to the front and still be sheltered 
 fairly well. The ends are sided out to a point even with the 
 outer edge of the hood. The gallery in front of the second 
 deck would be better if laid without open spaces between 
 the flooring boards. Since the guard rail, attached to the 
 diagonal brace, is further out than the outer edge of the walk 
 
A HOODED OPEN SHED 97 
 
 
 
 it would be well to extend the walk or to add a toe board to 
 the outer edge. The rear of the shed may be sided solid or 
 else with corn cribbing spaced an inch apart for ventilation. 
 The design indicates a ladder to be hinged to the gallery 
 floor. This can be drawn up by rope, pulley and counter 
 weight, the latter working up and down in a conducting box 
 made of 1x4 stuff. It is well to provide eave spouting of 
 some kind for this type of shed, especially for the hood. 
 Otherwise the rain runs down in the drive along the front and 
 increases the mud at the very place where it should be 
 avoided. 
 
AN UNUSUAL OPEN SHED 
 
 The Pratt Lumber Co., of Binghamton, N. Y., has an 
 open shed, a cross section of which is shown herewith. This 
 shed is unusual in having a hood wide enough to cover the 
 driveway in front and also to extend part way over the rail- 
 road siding which runs parallel to the driveway. This 
 makes it possible to unload cars on a rainy day without get- 
 ting stock or men wet. The long distance of the railroad 
 track from the bins makes necessary the use of gravity un- 
 loaders. 
 
 The bins are 18 feet in depth, and the drive, between the 
 outside supporting post and the post supporting the center 
 of the roof, is 14 feet in width. This allows for certain piles 
 of long stuff to project a little way into the drive and still 
 leave ample room for wagons to pass. The front posts, those 
 next the railway track, rest on piers. The posts in the back 
 part of the shed where the lumber rests are set on the foun- 
 dations which form the bearings for the piles. There are 
 five rows of these bearings. The middle and the outside 
 posts that rest on these foundations extend up to the roof ; the 
 second and fourth extend no higher than the second deck 
 and give to this upper deck the same number of bearings 
 that the lower deck has. These five supporting posts in the 
 rear of the shed are 4x6's. The one in front is a 6x6. These 
 front posts next to the railroad siding are put in at intervals 
 of 1 8 feet; but the supporting posts and braces in the storage 
 side of the shed are put in at intervals of six feet, thus making 
 
 98 
 
AN UNUSUAL OPEN SHED 
 
 99 
 
 the bins six feet wide. The supporting timbers under the 
 piles both in the upper and lower decks are 4x6*8 laid on edge. 
 The braces from the center post of the storage part to the 
 outside posts are 4x4*8 and are so located as to hold and stiffen 
 all five of the supports of the upper deck. The long braces 
 from the center post of the shed to the hood roof near the 
 
 End Elevation of Open Shed, Pratt Lumber Co., Binghamton, N. Y. 
 
 outside post next the railroad track are 2x6's and occur every 
 eighteen feet. The rafters are ax6's and are two feet apart 
 on center. The plates on which these rafters rest and that are 
 placed on the tops of the three posts in the rear of the shed 
 are 4x4*3; but the one under the front of the hood is a 3x10. 
 From each side of each front post and extending up to this 
 plate are braces made from sticks measuring 3x4 inches. 
 The second deck extends out to form a platform along the 
 front. These, I think, are the most important measurements, 
 and a study of the accompanying cut will make them clearer 
 than a description can be. 
 
100 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 In following this plan it would of course be possible to 
 make the shed of any desired length. In fact length makes 
 small difference in the planning or construction. The Pratt 
 shed is peculiar in that the railroad siding along the front 
 curves away at one end, and the f rontof the shed curves out 
 to follow it while the back runs straight. So at this end the 
 bins are much deeper and are used much like an open storage 
 yard. Piles are put around where they are convenient. 
 There are twenty-eight bins 6 feet wide, ten bins 8 feet wide, 
 and nine bins 14 feet wide. These 14-foot bins are in front 
 of the curve in the track and have neither piers nor bearings. 
 This curve shows the adaptability of the plan. Indeed it 
 could easily be changed in other particulars besides making 
 it follow the crooks of a siding. It could be built of timbers 
 of other sizes. 
 
A MODERATE COST SHED 
 
 The two cuts shown on the next page are of a combina- 
 tion of shed, wareroom and office. The building is easily 
 erected, and the cost is moderate. Lumbermen beginning in 
 a modest way or on rented ground where the building of an 
 expensive shed would not be warranted will find this plan 
 worth considering. The shed may be continued to any de- 
 sired length and used beyond the office in the same manner 
 as an umbrella or double shed. It has no second deck, and 
 the posts measure only eight feet. They could be made 
 somewhat longer if desired. The absence of a second deck 
 makes it possible to use lighter framing material. 
 
 101 
 
102 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 End Elevation 
 
 c 
 
 "ZI 
 
 [tU\xU\tuja 
 14X10' 
 
 SasK Bud Doors 
 M'xfco* 
 
 3 
 
 Ojjic* 
 
 14UO' 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lumber 
 
 itied 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lf-jf 
 
 S'-O" 
 
 9'-0" 
 
 9 : 0" 
 
 9'-0" 
 
 5' 
 
 Partial Ground Plan 
 
A SEMI-INCLOSED SHED 
 
 On the next page is shown a cross section of a so-called 
 semi-inclosed shed. This type of shed follows the general 
 plan of a hooded open shed; but added to that plan are slid- 
 ing doors that close the top or the bottom deck. In some 
 sheds both decks are closed in this manner. The doors are 
 hung on two tracks so that they will slide past each other. 
 This design is of a building 20 feet wide on the ground line 
 and 1 8 feet high. In constructing this type of shed it is well 
 to build separate foundations for the shed and for the lower 
 deck. Such a shed must carry a heavy load; and yet the 
 tendency is to skimp on the foundation because it is not a 
 large building. 
 
 The usefulness of this type of shed is indicated by the 
 great number to be found in the lumber yards of the United 
 States. In small yards where the volume of trade is not 
 thought to be large enough to warrant a heavy investment in 
 equipment this kind of shed will afford adequate protection 
 to millwork and finish lumber. 
 
 103 / 
 
104 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 Upper Deck Inclosed 
 
A DOUBLE OR UMBRELLA SHED 
 
 The double or umbrella type of shed is a modification 
 of the open shed that finds favor in a good many places. 
 The same advantages can be claimed for it as for its original 
 type. On the next page is shown the cross section of an 
 umbrella shed designed and extensively used by the Long- 
 Bell Lumber Co. Some of the specifications made by this 
 company are given below. 
 
 It is directed that the walls and piers should be at least 
 1 8 inches wide at the bottom and reduced to 12 inches at the 
 top ; should be 6 inches above grade at the highest point and 
 should extend below grade to a sufficient depth to insure 
 against being displaced by frost. 
 
 The following directions are given the carpenters erect- 
 ing the shed. Place 2x4 on top of the foundation, spacing 4 
 feet, 6-inch centers ; rest the posts on these, spiking to each 
 side a 2x6 at the bottom and center, and at the top use a 2x4 
 plate; tie the posts together at the center and top with 2x4; 
 at the center use a 2x6 fastened to the first and second posts 
 extending past the front of the shed to form a support for 
 the walk. Nail all ties to each post. 
 
 Space the rafters 2 feet centers; toenail to the plates and 
 spike to the upper ties; cut braces of 2x4 and fasten them to 
 the outer ends of the first, third, fifth and so on of the 2x6. 
 To support the rafters for the hood use 2x4 plates on these 
 supports notched into the supports or doubled, toenailing the 
 rafters for the hood to this plate, and spike to the main 
 rafters. 
 
 105 
 
106 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 Cut the cross pieces underneath the upper bearings from 
 post to post diagonally across the shed beginning at the corner 
 and center. These should be put in closely and well spiked 
 to prevent the shed from leaning endwise; also brace on the 
 two/ rows of long posts 1x6 braces. Also brace with 2x4 
 
 Showing Part of End Elevation 
 
 from the lower to the upper deck, these to be flush with the 
 posts, closely fitted and well nailed at bottom and top. 
 
 Make the walks of 2x8, fastened to 2x6 supports. Access 
 to the walk may be provided by ladders at either or both 
 ends, fastened to the ends of the shed, or by light ladders 
 provided for this purpose. 
 
 PLAN OF A DOUBLE SHED 
 
 The accompanying end elevation of a double or umbrella 
 shed is self explanatory. Bins are 9 feet wide and permit 
 
A DOUBLE OR UMBRELLA SHED 107 
 
 of a division of the pile so that sales may be made out of one 
 side until it is exhausted, thus preventing the accumulation 
 of old stock at the bottom of the bins. Following is the 
 lumber bill for ten bins, or a shed 99 feet long: 
 
 Showing Half of the End Elevation 
 
 4 pieces 4x4 16, oak. 
 
 24 pieces 4x4 18, braces. 
 
 24 pieces 4x4 1 8, uprights. 
 
 24 pieces 4x4 20, uprights. 
 
 36 pieces 4x4 22, uprights. 
 
 84 pieces 2x4 8, supports for upper piling joists. 
 
 77 pieces 4x4 9, supports for upper piling joists. 
 
108 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 1 100 feet lineal 2x4, diagonal braces. 
 300 feet lineal 2x12, 9- or 1 8-foot lengths, top stone wall. 
 400 feet lineal 2x6, 9- or 1 8-foot lengths, top stone wall. 
 800 feet lineal 2x6, 9- or 1 8-foot lengths, walk. 
 200 feet lineal 2x4, 9- or 1 8-foot lengths, railing. 
 700 feet lineal, 2x8, 9- or 1 8-foot lengths, piling joist. 
 2100 feet lineal 2x6, 9- or i8-foot lengths, nail ties. 
 26 pieces 2x6 16, cross ties at bottom. 
 24 pieces 2x6 18, cross ties at center. 
 48 pieces 1x6 10, cross ties at top. 
 24 pieces 2x6 10, hood rafters. 
 24 pieces 2x6 16, support to roof nail ties. 
 5850 feet shiplap. 
 
 22 pieces 1x6 12, longitudinal bracing 
 2400 feet drop siding. 
 4 ladders. 
 
 16 pieces 1x4 14 545, ladder weight conductors. 
 30 feet lineal 1x8, gutter strips. 
 8 hinges for ladders. 
 8 pulleys. 
 200 feet sash cord. 
 150 pounds nails, 2d. 
 200 pounds nails, lod. 
 50 pounds nails, 8d. 
 
AN EASILY FRAMED SHED 
 
 The accompanying cross section plan of a shed built by 
 the Kalamazoo Lumber Co., Kalamazoo, Mich., is presented 
 as a suggestion to any retailer desiring to find an easily framed 
 and satisfactory single-alley shed. The dimensions are 
 fairly satisfactory and could be varied slightly without doing 
 material damage to the plan. A somewhat wider alley 
 would be desirable in most cases. But the plan as it stands 
 would yield a very good shed if it were put on solid founda- 
 tions and thoroly ventilated. For this latter purpose gal- 
 vanized iron cupolas on the comb and vents low in the outside 
 walls would be satisfactory. As in most similar plans the 
 length may be made to suit individual needs. 
 
 n n n n n 
 
 //9"Ceaferj 
 
 A 
 
 /Ss*4 
 
 Part of the End Elevation 
 
 109 
 
110 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 \ X 
 
 HEAP 
 ENTRANCE 
 
 PROPERTY 
 
 PILING SPACE 
 FOR SHINGLES 
 
 OI5PLAY 
 15' 
 
 MOULDING 
 RACK i?'*24 
 
 ' 
 
 ^r 
 _ \ OFFICE 
 
 off/c 
 
 CAPACITY OF 
 
 FRONT 
 ENTRANCE 
 
 TWO STORY 5HED FOR LUMBER 
 20'X90 
 
 PILING SPACE 
 FOR POSTS 
 
 
 
 !5 
 
 
 BARN t 
 
 OF 
 VED5 
 70 FT. 
 
 I 
 
 %- 
 
 LIME 
 CEMENT 
 
 
 1 
 
 ll 
 
 &WSWP 
 16x24 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 PILING S 
 FOR BRIC 
 
 
 <. 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 \ 
 
 
 X. 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 | FEEDING 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^ SPACE 
 \FOR COUNTRY 
 
 c 
 
 
 U TEAMS 
 
 STREET 
 Ground Plan, Harris-Bryant Lumber Co., Sulphur Springs, Texas 
 
A PROGRESSIVE COUNTRY YARD 
 
 Claude W. Bryant, manager of the Harris-Bryant Lum- 
 ber Co., of Sulphur Springs, Tex., insists on calling his 
 establishment a "country yard." A glance at the accom- 
 panying drawing will indicate that there is no reason why 
 a country yard can not be as well arranged and as convenient 
 and up to date as any yard. 
 
 Special attention is called to the display room with its 
 plate glass show window. This yard is located close to the 
 center of town and on a prominent street. The show win- 
 dow has done good advertising service, and the display room 
 has proved itself an effective sales help. 
 
 The open shed has proved popular in the South. The 
 arrangement of the yard, while simple, shows careful plan- 
 ning. The space has been well utilized without cramping. 
 One notable feature is the watering trough and feeding space 
 in one corner. The utility of these things depends entirely 
 on the habits of the community and the facilities which the 
 town affords. Under certain circumstances they are the best 
 possible advertising. 
 
 111 
 
' 1 
 
 HAWHS- BRYANT LUHSIft CO- 
 
 Office, Harris-Bryant Lumber Co., Sulphur Springs, Tex. 
 
A MODIFIED DOUBLE-ALLEY SHED 113 
 
 Ground Plan, Hawkeye Lumber Co., Centerville, Iowa 
 
A MODIFIED DOUBLE-ALLEY SHED 
 
 This shed is built according to a general plan that is 
 popular in certain parts of the middle West. It is the same 
 as a double-alley shed except that one of the outside rows of 
 bins is omitted. The Hawkeye shed is built with a front 
 such as would be used with the ordinary type of double-alley 
 shed, and the space that would otherwise be occupied by the 
 outside row of bins is used for piling posts, wire fencing 
 and the like. This side is on the east, and the driveway is 
 covered with a wide hood. Winter storms in this climate 
 usually come from the Northwest, so for the purposes of 
 shelter the shed does about as well as tho it were entirely 
 inclosed. 
 
 The front of the building is covered with stucco, has the 
 company's name in a tasteful and striking sign and is illu- 
 minated at night by an electric light and reflector located on 
 a building across the street. The shed measures 100 by 200 
 feet on the ground, is 24 feet high in the center and 16 feet 
 high at the eaves. The west row of bins is 16 feet 6 inches in 
 depth, the west alley is 26 feet wide, the double row of bins 
 36 feet wide and the east alley 22 feet wide over all. The 
 office in the northwest corner of the shed measures 24 by 22 
 feet and gets its extra width by extending out into the alley 
 five or six feet. The private office has one door opening into 
 the lobby and another behind the order counter. The man- 
 ager has his desk behind the counter and in front of a window 
 looking out into the alley. On account of the extension of 
 
 114 
 
MODIFIED DOUBLE- ALLEY SHED 115 
 
 the office into the alley he can see the full length of the shed. 
 
 All the tight storage rooms are near the office, and this 
 part of the alley is paved with cement. Next the office are 
 the stock rooms for windows and doors. On the opposite 
 side of this alley is the show window, measuring 8 by 10, 
 and next to this window and serving as an entrance to it is a 
 display room for glass doors. In the rear of this room and 
 window are the storage spaces for roofing, molding, case and 
 base and a separate room for special millwork. Flooring is 
 kept in a room above the office, and this room is heated by 
 hot water coils attached to the office furnace. The molding 
 room is of the pigeon hole type and is arranged with a door 
 opening into the rear of the molding case, so that the short 
 pieces that work back can be gotten out. This rack and in 
 fact the whole yard is equipped with little brass card holders 
 into which can be slipped cards with sizes and grades type- 
 written on them. 
 
 The foundations of the shed and of the lower deck bear- 
 ings were made separately. In this shed is used a wooden 
 upper bearing mentioned elsewhere in this book. On top 
 of the foundation bearing of solid cement is placed an upper 
 bearing made of two 2X4's connected by short pieces of 2x4 
 spiked in like the spindles of a stair rail. This upper bearing 
 can be taken out easily for cleaning or repair. 
 
 Two pilot lights are used in the office, one on the warm- 
 room circuit and the other on the basement circuit. These 
 pilot lights are located in a conspicuous place and serve to 
 remind the person in charge if these circuits are left 
 switched on. 
 
 Special efforts are made to keep this place looking clean 
 
116 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 and well kept. One notable thing is the fact that at the rear 
 of the shed, the place that usually attracts broken down 
 wagons and rotting barrels, there are flower beds and turf 
 that would do credit to the front entrance of a country home. 
 
A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE 
 
 The warehouse of the Jasper Lumber Co., Newton, la.. 
 is located within a block of the retail center of the town and 
 so is within the fire limits. This made it necessary to use 
 clay products in erecting the building. The Jaspers chose 
 hollow blocks. The front is covered with rough dash stucco 
 and is trimmed with vitrified brick. The roof is of tar and 
 gravel and has given good satisfaction. The building itself 
 measures 132x172 feet on the ground and is of double-alley 
 design. 
 
 The inner foundations are of 5x8x1 2-inch hollow blocks, 
 and the piers upon which the shed rests and the bearings 
 under the lower bins are built separately with a 2-inch space 
 between. The purpose of this is to take the heavy load of 
 the stock in the lower bins off the shed foundations and so 
 to lessen the danger of the shed's being dragged out of shape 
 by settling bin foundations. However, as a matter of fact 
 none of the piers or bearings has settled in the least. The 
 bottom row of blocks in the bearings is laid the 1 2-inch way, 
 and the upper courses are laid the 8-inch way. Some of the 
 blocks are turned endwise to let air under the piles. The 
 tops of the piers and of the bearings are level with the drive- 
 ways, but ventilation is secured by an excavation about 18 
 inches deep under the piles. 
 
 The average shed is a double decker with a tier of lower 
 bins 10 or 12 feet high and an upper tier that goes as high as 
 the roof or the strength of the yard men will allow. These 
 
 117 
 
118 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 Ground Plan, Jasper Lumber Co., Newton, Iowa 
 
A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE 
 
 119 
 
 big lower bins seemed to the Jaspers to be wasteful of space 
 and of labor and to be unsatisfactory in the matter of storing 
 green or damp stock. They noticed that the big bins of their 
 old shed were usually less than half full, and when new 
 stock came in it was piled on top of the old and sent out first. 
 This meant that the new stuff that was sometimes damp often 
 proved unsatisfactory and brought them a good many com- 
 plaints, and the old stock laid in the bottom and got black- 
 
 Half of Front Elevation, Jasper Lumber Co. 
 
 ened and checked and unsalable. So the new bins were 
 made smaller,, and instead of the orthodox two decks there 
 are three. The lower piles project into the alley, the second- 
 deck piles come even with the upright supports, and the 
 third-deck piles are set inside of these uprights far enough 
 to allow room for a walk. The lower bins are six feet high 
 and so can be filled by a man standing on the ground. The 
 reserve bins just above can be filled by a man standing on the 
 
120 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 load. The practice is becoming common to have two small 
 bins instead of a single large one, but to place them side by 
 side instead of one above the other. The Jaspers like their 
 system better, because it is not necessary to use both bins to 
 capacity all the time, and so practically always they can store 
 in the upper bin any damp lumber that happens to be sent 
 them. This puts it away up in the air, where it has the best 
 chance to dry. 
 
 The third-deck bins are used to store slow-moving stock 
 but not short lengths. Short lengths usually sell with a 
 struggle, and the company does not intend to make that strug- 
 gle harder by putting the shorts up out of sight. In different 
 parts of the construction of the shed short lengths have been 
 used for the purpose of displaying what can be done with 
 them. 
 
 The ventilation system is one of the most important parts 
 of any building intended for lumber storage, for without a 
 good draft of air it will be considerably worse than no build- 
 ing at all. Probably the cardinal principle of shed con- 
 struction is to take a large current of air and then to put the 
 building around it. The Jaspers succeeded admirably in 
 doing this. Along the comb of the roof are four 36-inch 
 ventilators. There are four offsets in the roof, each fitted 
 with a row of sash. There are two sash, 20x54 inches to each 
 9 feet, and above each row of sash and under the projection 
 of the roof is an open space six inches high. This provides 
 plenty of space for air to get out, but it won't go out unless 
 other air can come in. There are the big doors at either 
 end of the shed, but this was not considered enough. Low 
 in each of the two side walls are ventilators made from 
 
A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE m 
 
 12-inch hollow blocks laid lengthwise thru the wall. A 
 dozen or more of these blocks are laid together in a little 
 pattern in each ventilator, and there is a ventilator every 
 nine feet. 
 
 As one enters the office door he passes under a projecting 
 rain and sun shield trimmed with stucco to match the front 
 of the shed. The main office is 22 feet square and contains 
 a vault 7'x7'-6", toilet room, the order counter, the coal ac- 
 counts desk and the scale beam. Along the side of the vault 
 that faces the lobby is a built-in seat the top of which is 
 hinged. This makes a convenient place to keep advertising 
 matter and samples. Back of the main office are a private 
 office i2'xi2'-6" and a stenographer's office 9 / xi2 / -6 // . The 
 latter is equipped with an abundance of vertical files for cor- 
 respondence and price lists. The front office is finished in 
 plain red oak finished in the natural, but the order counter 
 has a quarter-sawn top, and this makes it easy for customers 
 to make a comparison of the two kinds. The floor is of ce- 
 ment and is covered with battleship linoleum. The doors 
 are of oak and are two paneled. 
 
 The private office is finished in red gum and is laid with 
 a clear beech floor of ilxi^-inch shorts. The longest piece 
 is 7 feet. The stenographer's room is finished in birch with 
 a birch floor that is also made of shorts. The walls of all the 
 rooms are finished with paneling three feet above the floor 
 and above that with sand finish plaster tinted to harmonize 
 with the woodwork. The ceilings are of metal to afford the 
 necessary elasticity ; for above the office is a store room where 
 two or more cars of hardwood flooring are kept. The hot 
 and cold air pipes under the cement floor of the main office 
 
Sidewall Ventilators, Jasper Lumber Co., Newton, Iowa 
 
A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE 123 
 
 are of vitrified sewer pipe. The window for the scales is in 
 two sections that slide back and forth. 
 
 The side of the office next to the driveway is sided with 
 8-foot box-car siding. This is another demonstration of the 
 usable qualities of short lumber and it has helped in making 
 a good many sales. 
 
 The storage room for flooring just above the office is 
 22x36 feet in size and has hot air pipes that are connected 
 with the furnace in the basement. 
 
 The moldings are stored on end in racks just back of the 
 office. There are two short alleys with molding bins on each 
 side. Each bin will hold from 3,000 to 4,000 feet of i-inch 
 moldings, and this makes a total capacity that is ample for 
 the needs of the business. This end-storage system has given 
 good satisfaction both because the sticks are easy to handle 
 and also because they keep cleaner on end than lying flat. 
 
 At the rear end of the shed and between the two long 
 driveways is the lime and plaster warehouse, a room 17x32 
 feet in size. This room has two doors, one opening into each 
 of the long alleys. At the side of this wareroom is a short 
 driveway connecting the two long alleys and along this drive- 
 way, next to the center piles, are bearings for long timbers. 
 
 In the corner diagonally opposite from the office is the 
 cement wareroom. It is 17x30 feet in size and has a capacity 
 of about 3,000 sacks. There is a door opening thru the 
 outside of the shed on the west as well as one on the inside 
 opening from the shed alley. The foundations of this room 
 consist of three rows of hollow blocks set on concrete 
 footings. 
 
 In the southwest corner of the shed is the sash and door 
 
End of Shed, Jasper Lumber Co., Newton, Iowa 
 
 Interior of West Alley, Jasper Lumber Co. 
 
A WIDELY COPIED WAREHOUSE 125 
 
 room, 25x36 feet in size. A show window will be cut in the 
 front of this room and a little display room, 5x10 feet in size, 
 partitioned off. This was not included in the original plans, 
 but the Jaspers are convinced that they can use this kind of 
 advertising to advantage. The shed fronts on a street that 
 is well traveled and they carry a stock varied enough so that 
 window displays of timely articles will doubtless bring good 
 results. 
 
 On the west side of the shed between the sash and door 
 room and the cement wareroom the bins do not extend clear 
 back to the wall. It is the practice to store short lumber on 
 this side, and this leaves a large open space back of the piles. 
 There are three doors, each 4x7 feet in size, opening thru 
 the outside of the shed, and this gives ready access to this extra 
 storage room. It is used for keeping woven wire fencing,, 
 sewer pipe junctions, fire brick and clay, barn paint and other 
 bulky articles. The lumber is stored so that the very short 
 lengths come opposite to these doors, thus leaving the most 
 storage room in the most convenient and accessible places. 
 
 The yard was built before the company owned a delivery 
 truck, but the Jaspers believed the time was not far off when 
 such a machine would be a necessity, so they built a garage 
 room, 85^x25 feet in size, next to the sash and door room. 
 
 Bins 28 and 29 in the front center of the shed are left clear 
 to be used as a passage way between the two long alleys. But 
 since this is more space than is really necessary for a walk 
 some steel gates are stored against each side. This makes a 
 place to keep them and also displays them prominently. A 
 good many have been sold because they caught the attention 
 of men who perhaps had not thought of buying such things. 
 
126 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 These two bins have been floored with two thicknesses of 
 shiplap laid over the regular piling. 
 
 Above the sash room and garage is an inclosed room 
 26x45 feet in size in which are stored stock doors, columns 
 and small items of finish such as corner beads and thresholds. 
 The room is entirely light proof and this makes certain that 
 the finish will go out without any light stains. Above bins 
 49 to 55 inclusive is a tight room in which is carried all the 
 yellow pine trim. These bins are tightly floored and are 
 closed in front by closely fitting sliding doors. These doors 
 are made of ^-inch ceiling set in a rabbet in oak frames 
 made of pieces 1x1^2 inches in size so that the outside has 
 a paneled appearance. These doors slide past each other in 
 grooves plowed half an inch apart. A little axle grease 
 applied to the grooves from time to time keeps them work- 
 ing easily. By sliding the doors one way or the other the 
 front can be opened to any desired size. 
 
 After building as good a warehouse as they could the 
 Jaspers beautified it by planting Boston ivy along the side 
 walls. This plant has done well on the walls of some of the 
 Newton churches and presumably it will do as well on the 
 sides of the lumber shed. 
 
A NORTHERN RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTING 
 
 YARD 
 
 The C. L. Colman Lumber Co. has a branch yard at 
 Albert Lea, Minn., upon which it expended much money 
 and pains. It was designed to be larger than the needs of 
 the one community would make necessary, for it serves as a 
 distributing point for the line of yards owned by this com- 
 pany. 
 
 The tract of ground upon which the yard is located is 
 slightly irregular in shape and is a little smaller than a city 
 block. It is on a side hill, and the street along the east side 
 is some eight or ten feet higher than the level of the yard. 
 The office is built in the northeast corner of the yard. The 
 entrance is from the street level, and this makes the base- 
 ment above ground on two sides. This basement contains a 
 lounging room for the yard men. The office is built of 
 pressed brick, and the outside woodwork, including the 
 doors, is of fir finished in the rough and stained brown. The 
 interior is finished in golden oak. The front door leads into 
 a lobby longer than it is wide that extends across the north 
 side of the building. At the left as one enters this door is a 
 private office extending across the east side. The bookkeep- 
 er's and order clerk's room is in the southwest corner of the 
 room and is separated from the lobby by a handsome bank 
 rail. A door in the west end of the lobby leads by means of 
 an outside stair to the yard. 
 
 There are two single-alley sheds standing parallel, the 
 
 127 
 
128 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 9*/fo' 
 
 Ground Plan, C. L. Colman Lumber Co., Albert Lea, Minn. 
 
RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTING YARD 129 
 
 
 
 north one forming the outside wall of the yard. It is ex- 
 tended westward by an open shed that presently turns south 
 and forms the west wall of the yard. The entire yard is 
 inclosed in such a manner that a trespasser would have a 
 hard time getting in. Where the street is higher than the 
 yard steel posts have been set in the cement of the sidewalk, 
 
 End Elevation of Inclosed Sheds 
 
 and these posts carry an ornamental woven fence. The cor- 
 ner space where the open shed makes the turn at the north- 
 west corner of the yard* is utilized as a storage place for 
 special millwork and for storing the stock stuff sold for any 
 particular job. As soon as the sale is made the millwork is 
 picked out and piled here to make sure that no sudden run 
 on millwork will make it impossible to fill the order. 
 
RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTING YARD 131 
 
 The cement room is supported by a series of 1 2-inch 
 walls three feet apart on center. This makes the open spaces 
 between them only two feet wide. On top of these walls 
 heavy joists are laid, so there is little danger that the heavy 
 loads a cement room must carry will ever break this one 
 down. Special attention is called to the big King ventilators 
 on the inclosed shed. Ventilation was one of the primary 
 requisites that the builders of the yard had in mind. The 
 sheds are covered, sides and roof, with galvanized iron. This 
 was made necessary by the fact that the yard is within a block 
 
 End Elevation, Open Sheds 
 
 of the retail center of the town and so well within the fire 
 limits. i 
 
 The second decks are protected with guard rails, and the 
 stairs leading to the upper walks lead up to trap doors that 
 when open serve as a barrier to keep the careless from falling 
 
132 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 down the stair well. The stable is floored with cement with 
 a top lining of plank. The molding racks are modifications 
 of the pigeonhole type. Iron brackets set in the position a 
 small boy's arm assumes when he carries in the kindling are 
 fastened to the wall. These brackets are set closely enough 
 together so that the sticks will not sag. They have the advan- 
 tage of the pigeon-hole case in that stock can be put in and 
 taken out more easily and that a person can tell at a glance 
 how long any given stick is. 
 
 A study of the sketches shown herewith will give the 
 reader a good idea of the general plan. 
 
A CAREFULLY PLANNED DOUBLE-ALLEY 
 WAREHOUSE 
 
 R. C. Daly & Co. (Inc.), of Newton, la., have a lumber 
 warehouse that may be considered a model of its kind. It is 
 located within the fire limits of the city and so perforce was 
 built of hollow blocks. It is a double-alley shed and is ex- 
 actly square, measuring 132 feet, 6 inches on each side. It 
 faces east on a paved street. In fact the shed is surrounded 
 by paved streets and alleys, which gives it a manifest advan- 
 tage in hauling and in the control of dust. The building 
 measures 32 feet to the comb and has 26-foot alleys. These 
 wide alleys are features of which the builders are especially 
 proud. 
 
 The bins north of the north alley are 20 feet deep. The 
 center is 32 feet wide, and the bins south of the south alley 
 are 26 feet deep. This row of bins on the south allows for the 
 storage of long stuff. But there always is space back next the 
 wall that would go to waste, so three doors have been cut in. 
 the south wall, and this space is used for the storage of asphalt 
 shingles and other heavy stuff. The office is in the front 
 center of the shed and measures 32 by 29 feet. Next to this 
 and extending back 36 feet farther in the center of the shed 
 are the sash and door rooms. 
 
 The foundations were made extra heavy. When some 
 brother lumberman protested that the Dalys were wasting 
 money by making the foundations heavier than necessary 
 they replied that they hoped to be in the lumber business for 
 
 133 
 
Northwest Arkansas Lumber Co., Fayetteville, Ark. 
 
 R. C. Daly Lumber Co., Newton, Iowa 
 
DOUBLE-ALLEY WAREHOUSE 135 
 
 
 
 a great many years, and they did not care to have this shed 
 fall down because it was not solidly supported. So the extra 
 concrete went in. It didn't cost much more than the lighter 
 walls would have cost, and the shed has not shown the slight- 
 est sag in any place. The bearings in the lower bins are of 
 cement with square tile set thru them at short intervals for 
 ventilation. These bearings are four feet apart and have a 
 2-inch piece on the top to keep the stock from lying directly 
 on the concrete. The shed is a three decker with room for a 
 fourth deck in the center if it ever should be needed. The 
 lower deck extends out into the alley about 18 inches beyond 
 the uprights that divide the bins and support the roof. The 
 second deck comes even with this upright, and the third is 
 set inside far enough to allow for a walk between the upright 
 and the ends of the stock that is stored in the bins. The idea 
 is to have the deep bins at the bottom for the long, heavy 
 lumber and the shallower bins at the top for the shorter and 
 lighter stuff. This allows more room in the upper reaches 
 of the alley, where very often it is a convenience. The lower 
 tiers of bins are 6y 2 feet in height, the second 5 feet, and the 
 third extend to the roof. On the north side, due to the fact 
 that the bins are but 20 feet in depth, the upper tier does not 
 have a large capacity, but it serves conveniently for the stor- 
 age of a good many items. 
 
 The bearings for the upper tiers of bins were especially 
 designed by Claude Daly and bid fair to hold up all that can 
 be piled on them. Claude had observed the melancholy 
 sight of a supporting timber with a diagonal crack running 
 thru it, a long, jagged splinter sticking down, and a sag in the 
 bin that meant a dismal spill sooner or later. His remedy 
 
136 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 for this condition was a special bearing made of two 2x8's 
 with a regular bridge truss between them. This bearing was 
 made by putting in a 2x8, spiking a 2x8 block to one side of it 
 in the center of the span, and putting pieces of 2x4, cut with 
 a bevel, on each side of the block. The 2x4 rested against 
 the block at the top and extended to the bottom of the 2x8 
 at the supporting end, where it fitted firmly against the sup- 
 porting timbers. When these two pieces of 2x4 were in place 
 they formed braces like the roof of a house. Then the other 
 2x8 was spiked on. The truss was fitted in tightly. In fact, it 
 was driven into place with an ax. So it doesn't take much 
 imagination or much engineering knowledge to see that these 
 bearings are fitted to carry big loads and that if they do break 
 down the building is likely to fall first. 
 
 The ventilation system thru the outside walls, the feature 
 that R. C. Daly claims as his own, consists of five horizontal 
 lines of tile set endwise thru the walls. These lines are not 
 continuous from one end of the shed to the other. At the 
 points of division between bins the wall is solid. Three of 
 these lines of open tile come into the lower deck and two 
 into the middle deck. They allow a ready circulation of 
 air; so ready, indeed, that they made the shed unbearably 
 cold during the winter. So the Dalys nailed boards to the 
 timbers against the wall at the points of division between the 
 bins. These boards had notches cut in them that served as 
 grooves in which were fitted long boards that covered the 
 ends of the open tile. Then up a little way in the groove 
 was made a second notch so the board can be pushed up and 
 slipped out at the bottom enough to engage the second notch ; 
 and there it rests with the ventilators wide open. Big vcn- 
 
DOUBLE-ALLEY WAREHOUSE 137 
 
 flj 
 
 tilators on the comb allow the air to escape, and at almost 
 any time they have a draft like that of a chimney. There 
 are two rows of windows in offsets of the roof on each side, 
 but they are used more for lighting than for ventilation. 
 
 All the walks in front of the bins are protected by guard 
 rails. In time Mr. Daley intends to put the added protec- 
 tion of a toe board along all the walks and cross bridges. 
 This toe board is nothing but a strip nailed along the edge 
 and extending an inch or two above the level of the walk. 
 It will keep a man who is in the throes of pulling out a board 
 from sliding his hind foot over the edge and barking his 
 shin or falling clear thru under the rail. 
 
 Moldings are stored on end in big racks at the west end 
 of the millwork warerooms that are located in the central 
 part of the shed back of the office. These end-storage racks 
 have the full approval of the owners and of the men. The 
 racks have horizontal bracing strips nailed every two feet, 
 and by means of these strips it is an easy matter to tell the 
 length of a stick. 
 
 Surplus molding is stored temporarily on the top of the 
 sash and doors rooms. The height of the shed leaves a good 
 deal of room in the top center unutilized, but if need ever 
 arises it is there ready to be used. A good many of the breth- 
 ern with yards located in cities where space is at a premium 
 make practical use of space harder to be gotten at than would 
 a fourth deck. It is possible that at some time in the future 
 the yard will carry a complete stock of building hardware. 
 The top of these warerooms can be made to serve as a storage 
 place for stock very easily by the installation of an elevator. 
 At the present time aside from the extra molding on top of 
 
138 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 the millwork rooms the only stock stored up in the fourth- 
 deck region is ladders. 
 
 The sash and door rooms have double doors opening into 
 each of the two alleys. In planning these rooms it was the 
 idea to store all the doors and windows flat, and in time it is 
 probable that this will be accomplished. But in the hurry 
 of getting the stock in it was necessary to put in some tem- 
 porary racks, so some of the windows and a few of the doors 
 are on edge. The upper tier of window racks is hung from 
 the ceiling, and when the permanent racks are all in place 
 they will be filled with stock in the order in which it is listed 
 in the standard sash books. With this arrangement it will be 
 a simple matter to check over the stock and to see what sizes 
 are running low. 
 
 Claude Daly, being an electrical engineer, designed the 
 lighting circuits and did the wiring himself. His father 
 thought there would be little need for much light in the 
 alleys, but Claude put three highpower nitrogen lamps in 
 each alley. In the winter time when the days are short it 
 gets dark in the shed a good while before quitting time, but 
 those lamps light it about as brightly as the sun would, and 
 work can go on easily without the slowing up that always 
 goes with poor lighting. There are about three light circuits 
 in the yard and in the warerooms, so Claude put a little pilot 
 light on each circuit. These pilot lights are placed in the 
 main office where they are in plain sight thru the front win- 
 dows and from about any place in the office. If a man turns 
 on a circuit and then forgets it the burning of the pilot light 
 will remind him. 
 
 The shed alleys at the west end open out on to an alley 
 
DOUBLE-ALLEY WAREHOUSE 139 
 
 
 
 that is rather narrow, so the doors have been made 20 feet 
 wide to make driving out and in easier. The door at the east 
 end of the north alley is also 20 feet wide, for the plan is a 
 little later to put scales in that alley; but the east door of the 
 south alley is 14 feet. These doors are large in area and have 
 to stand a heavy wind pressure. To be sure that some morn- 
 ing after a high wind the doors will not be found blown half 
 way down the alley a heavy iron brace is put in the center 
 of each door, about four feet above the bottom. When the 
 door is to be opened this rod is swung around and laid over 
 a hook on the side of the door where it is entirely out of the 
 way. But when the door is closed the bar is hooked thru an 
 eye set solidly in cement about five or six feet back in the 
 alley. The west end of the shed fronts on an alley on the 
 opposite side of which are a couple of barns. The presence 
 of these barns increases the danger of fire and raises the insur- 
 ance rate, so in order to reduce both the danger and the rate 
 these west doors are encased with metal. There is a hydrant 
 in each alley. 
 
 The roomy front office is dominated by the handsome 
 order desk. The Dalys wanted to make the office attractive, 
 convenient and usable without investing an unreasonable 
 sum of money in it. This big desk is the focal point, the bal- 
 ancing feature in the Daly office. The office itself is large, 
 being 32 feet wide. The desk would have been a sort of 
 semicircle had it followed curved lines, but it follows 
 straight lines and so has five faces. 
 
 In the first place this piece of furniture is the working 
 center of the office. On the rear sides it is fitted with files and 
 drawers for every kind of working tackle needed in a retail 
 
140 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 office, and everything has a definite place. Among the rest 
 is a cash drawer. The telephone sets on this desk, and the 
 cord goes down thru a hole and is weighted so it slides down 
 out of the way. There are push buttons connected with a 
 buzzer in the private office where there is a telephone exten- 
 sion and connecting with a gong out in the yard. Each man 
 about the place has a certain ring and can be called into the 
 office by the ringing of the gong. The desk is the first thing 
 you see when you go into the office. Like ancient Rome all 
 roads lead to it. It focuses all the forces. A man behind 
 this desk is in the center of the business life of the yard. 
 
 In the second place it serves as a demonstration of woods 
 and finishes. This desk is paneled with more than a dozen 
 different kinds of wood, and the panels are big, generous 
 affairs that fill the eye. The desk has a plain oak frame and 
 a quartered top. There are three yellow pine panels dark, 
 golden and natural. Next are three birch panels in the same 
 finishes. Following are two quartered red oak panels in nat- 
 ural and golden finishes, two quartered white oak in natural 
 and golden, red gum, plain red oak natural, walnut, two syca- 
 more, plain and quartered, and a birch panel finished in imi- 
 tation of mahogany. 
 
 Just back of the order desk is the fireproof vault. This 
 has not been made burglar proof, but it is not the intent of 
 the company to keep more than a million dollars lying 
 around at any one time. On the north side of the vault is the 
 private office, and on the south side are the service office and 
 the lavatory. This service office is a place where the books 
 can be posted if too much hilarity prevails in the front lobby. 
 It is also a place where a contractor can take a customer for 
 
DOUBLE-ALLEY WAREHOUSE 141 
 
 a private conference. In the lobby is a little cabinet with 
 glass doors in front in which it is proposed to keep a display 
 of molding. 
 
A MODEL YARD IN THE SOUTHWEST 
 
 . James Costello, of Liberty, Mo., has had a wide expe- 
 rience in the retailing of lumber, and he has a wide acquaint- 
 ance among practical lumbermen; so he had a great fund of 
 experience to draw upon in designing his sheds and yard. 
 
 The Costello yard is on a piece of ground that would 
 measure 210 by 360 feet were it rectangular. But the rail- 
 road takes a corner off and there is a notch out of the oppo- 
 site side. The yard slopes from front to back. It is inter- 
 esting and instructive to see how deftly this irregular space 
 has been utilized to make a complete and convenient retail- 
 ing plant. The cement shed and the stable were already 
 built, so the rest of the yard had to be planned to round out 
 what had already been begun. A glance at the sketch of the 
 yard will show how this has been managed. A wagon makes 
 a circuit of the yard, loading the heavy lumber first, comes 
 past the shingle and lath platform, and finishes the load with 
 the sash and doors from the warehouse and the hardware 
 from the office. A very little planning will make it possible 
 to put on any load in the proper order without doubling 
 back. 
 
 Experience has shown Mr. Costello that during a con- 
 siderable part of the year Missouri skies cloud up and rain 
 and Missouri soil gets muddy. It is a good thing to keep 
 Missouri or any other kind of rain from falling on lumber, 
 and it is also a good thing to keep mud out of a yard. It 
 
 142 
 
A MODEL YARD 
 
 143 
 
 splashes on the ends of piles, causes them to draw dampness, 
 makes a mess in which neither customers nor yard men like 
 to work and gives the whole plant a frowsy appearance that 
 doesn't help sales. There seemed to be only one way to 
 remedy this, and that was to remedy it. So the Costello yard 
 is completely covered with cement paving. The alleys be- 
 tween the warehouse, office, barn, cement shed and the main 
 
 End Elevation, Main Shed, James Costello Lumber Co., Liberty, Mo. 
 
 storage shed are paved, as are the alleys on each side of the 
 main shed and the one running thru the center. These 
 alleys are slightly hollowed so that they will drain the rain 
 that falls on the yard back to the gutters of the adjoining 
 street. The streets on each side of the yard are paved, so the 
 business of keeping the place clean is very simple. Sweeping 
 or flushing the yard paving once in a while keeps the place as 
 clean as a Dutch kitchen. This paving, probably, is the most 
 
144 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 distinctive feature of the yard. It is surprising how much 
 this adds to the appearance of the place. There are some 
 men who, no matter what kind of work they are doing or how 
 roughly they are dressed, always look clean and fresh and 
 
 -.06 
 
 IS 
 
 SSI A 
 
 
 - l o^/ 
 
 
 w 
 
 trim. A well-built yard with inches of dust lying in the 
 alleys or seas of mud around the buildings is like an elegantly 
 dressed man with shaggy hair and three days' growth of 
 beard on his face. Of course the cost of this paving was one 
 of the big expenses of the yard equipment, and from the point 
 
A MODEL YARD 145 
 
 of view of a forest products fan it might better have been 
 made of wood blocks. But Mr. Costello had his own ideas 
 about material ; and one is not likely to quarrel with him, for 
 the appearance of the yard with its clean paving is too attract- 
 ive for an observer to be critical of materials. Perhaps when 
 the place needs repaving wood blocks will be given a chance. 
 
 The yard is surrounded by a fence not easily scaled and 
 the whole plant can be shut up and locked nights and holi- 
 days. This is not wholly for the purpose of protecting stock 
 from the light-fingered gentry who might shove a scantling 
 into a rear pocket and stroll innocently past the local police 
 force. The yard is within half a block of the Burlington sta- 
 tion and so would be a shining; mark, a veritable haven, for 
 Weary Willie when he dropped of! a freight. It also would 
 be a natural stamping ground for loafers. The front of the 
 yard is protected by a high picket fence and the sides by wire 
 fences with barbed projections at the top. 
 
 The office is a one-story building with a gable 'roof and 
 projecting eaves. It is built on a high foundation, has a 
 porch and a canvas awning in front, is sided with bevel siding 
 and is painted green and trimmed in dark red. The building 
 is set back far enough to allow plenty of room between ths 
 porch and the picket fence and its appearance is very 
 pleasing. 
 
 The office building is 24 by 70 feet in size and is divided 
 into three parts. The office proper is 24 feet square. Back 
 of that is a room in which building hardware is kept, and 
 in the rear of the building is a warm room for hardwood 
 flooring. In the basement are the lavatory and the furnace. 
 The furnace, so Mr, Costello says, burns little, if any, more 
 
Office and Warehouse, James Costello Lumber Co., Liberty, Mo. 
 
 Main Shed, James Costello Lumber Co., Liberty, Mo. 
 
A MODEL YARD 147 
 
 coal than would a stove, and it maintains an even heat and 
 also warms the flooring storage room. 
 
 The warm room in the Costello office is well fitted for its 
 purpose. The high foundation keeps dampness from enter- 
 ing from below and the furnace heat does the rest. While 
 heat is not usually to be had during the summer months it is 
 not impossible to light a fire in the furnace at any time and 
 to throw all the heat into the flooring room. 
 
 The office part of the building is divided into three parts. 
 There is a private office 9 by 10 feet in size in one of the front 
 corners, a railed-in part for the bookkeeper and order clerks 
 in the opposite corner in the back of the room and the public 
 lobby comprising the rest of the room. The office is finished 
 in oak, but Mr. Costello said the flooring and doors used 
 were some that could not be sold on account of their odd 
 sizes. There are two-panel doors and cross-panel doors of a 
 size seldom called for, but they serve for display purposes. 
 A customer can see the effect of the different paneling in 
 spite of the odd sizes. The windows are all the same size and 
 fitted with sash 44x32 inches in size, but some are single pane 
 sash and some of them have three panes in the upper sash. 
 The flooring is made of odds and ends of oak, some white and 
 some red, in various grades. It is possible to point out the 
 different kinds to customers ; and while they may not get as 
 good an idea of the finished effect as they could from an 
 entire floor of a single kind and grade this method has served 
 the double purpose of using up stock that otherwise would 
 be a loss and of showing all kinds and grades after a fashion 
 where otherwise but a single kind in a single grade could 
 have been shown. The floor looks much finer than a person 
 
148 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 might suppose possible. In fact, the different styles and sizes 
 of doors and other interior trim are put together in such a 
 way that the finished effect is one of unity and harmony. 
 
 The bank railing around the order desk is of particularly 
 fine workmanship, being of fumed waxed oak and brush 
 brass. It was suggested and made by a friend of Mr. Cos- 
 tello's who specializes in that kind of interior work. Back 
 of the desk and set in the rear wall is the fireproof vault with 
 the carefully filed records of the business kept from the time 
 the company was started. 
 
 The private office, tho a small room, is large enough 
 to serve the purpose for which it was designed. There is a 
 large flat-topped desk in the center of the room and an easy 
 chair at each side. Mr. Costello does little of his work there. 
 He has a roll-top desk out in the lobby where he does most 
 of his work. But many of his customers, especially women, 
 do not like to talk over their affairs where other people can 
 hear. The pleasant little private room with its comfortable 
 and elegant furnishings is for the convenience of these people. 
 
 It is not possible to show much detail of the big shed on 
 a small sketch of the whole yard. The building measures 
 92 by 120 feet and has a 2O-foot alley thru the center. The 
 shed is open on each side and has a paved driveway on each 
 side. On each side of the central driveway is a storage space 
 36 feet in width which allows the storage of 20- and 1 6-foot 
 stock end to end. There are nine rows of cement piers, each 
 measuring 10 by 12 inches at the top, running the full length 
 of each side. And on each side are twenty-six bins measuring 
 4 feet 6 inches on center. The eaves project to form a hood at 
 the sides, but otherwise there is no special obstruction to keep 
 
A MODEL YARD 149 
 
 
 
 the wind from blowing clear thru the building from one side 
 to the other. 
 
 This special attention to ventilation is another result of 
 Mr. Costello's wide experience. He has found that dust and 
 snow collect in closed about as much as in open sheds. In 
 fact, he said that in open sheds where the wind blows thru 
 there is probably less trouble with these things. The dust 
 does not stop at all, and the wind causes such snow as does 
 drift in to evaporate without melting. In addition to the 
 open sides there are two King ventilators on the comb, and 
 there are thirteen windows on each side along the upper 
 offset in the roof. These arrangements serve to keep the 
 lumber piles as well aired as tho they were put out of doors, 
 and perhaps even better; for the roof serves much the same 
 purpose as a chimney and causes a strong upward draft on 
 still, hot summer days. The storage space under the eaves is 
 but one deck in height. In the center there are three decks, 
 tho there is no walk along the front of the top one. The walk 
 along the middle deck is protected by a guard rail, and there 
 is a cross bridge in the center of the shed. The upright posts 
 along the middle alley are each made up of two ax6's up as 
 far as the third deck, and from there up of one 2x6. 
 
 In the roof on each side are two offsets. Mr. Costello was 
 wondering how to keep the shed from looking like a great, 
 clumsy barn and hit upon this device. Then he was not sure 
 how it would work out and was rather relieved to find the 
 effect of the completed building so good. Its appearance is 
 very pleasing. The ends of the building are covered with 
 drop siding, and it is painted dark red and trimmed with 
 green,, thus reversing the color scheme of the office. The 
 
150 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 ground slopes to the back end of the shed, as was mentioned 
 before, and this made it necessary to put three different 
 levels in the line of the lower bearings on one side of the shed 
 and two offsets and a sub-deck on the other. 
 
 The shingle and lath platform located near one corner of 
 the main shed is made of cement and is 36 feet square. It 
 slopes slightly to the sides from the middle to insure that no 
 water will stand under the bundles. 
 
 The warehouse across the alley from this shingle plat- 
 form measures 36 by 90 feet. The alley between the ware- 
 house and the office is paved, but the alley on the opposite side 
 is covered with cinders. This makes a satisfactory drive, 
 and this access to each side enables the yard's teams to haul 
 stock from the cars for storage in the warehouse without 
 interfering with customers 7 or delivery teams that are taking 
 stock out. There is a loading platform along the side all 
 except for about 18 feet at the rear end. This loading plat- 
 form is on a level with the wagon beds. The foundation at 
 the rear end is much lower, and here there are two end- 
 storage molding bins. Each bin has a tight door. Each 
 bin slants outward from the bottom, and the two together 
 occupy space much like VV. This leaves a certain amount 
 of unutilized space at the bottom between the two, so Mr. 
 Costello cut a door in the side next the office and put in a 
 pigeon-hole rack for battens. He is strongly in favor of the 
 end storage of moldings. In his opinion this storage takes 
 up less room ; a workman can set in a bundle at a time, instead 
 of a stick at a time as must be done with the pigeon-hole type ; 
 it is easy to pick out the right length at a glance, and the 
 shaking keeps all the stock free from dust. 
 
A MODEL YARD 151 
 
 01 
 
 The remaining space in the warehouse, being 72 feet in 
 length, is divided into four rooms each 1 8 by 36 feet in size. 
 One room is used for storing doors, another for sash, a third 
 for roofing and the fourth for a variety of things that do not 
 classify elsewhere. In the door room is a long rack that holds 
 the doors in an upright position and allows them to be swung 
 back and forth for comparison. 
 
 Doors and sash are stored on edge in racks that are three 
 decks high. This kind of storage allows of piling a large 
 amount of stock in a given space, and the way this warehouse 
 is arranged there is ample space for moving around. It is 
 usual to see a sash and door room piled so full of stock that 
 one has to edge his way around among the piles, and if a 
 workman scatters a few windows about in looking for a par- 
 ticular kind or size a mess results that it is not a pleasant 
 thing to contemplate. 
 
 The stable is not in any way unusual. It is a two-story 
 brick building 40 feet square with stall room for four horses. 
 In one corner is a room in which is located the scale beam. 
 The scales platform is on the side next the street. These 
 scales were put in solely to care for the yard's own business, 
 but on account of the central location of the yard a great 
 amount of public weighing is done. The barn man does 
 all this weighing. 
 
 The cement shed is 24 by 60 feet in size, is located on the 
 railroad siding and has its floor level with the car floors. 
 This reduces the expense of handling materially. On the 
 delivery side are two sliding doors and the house is divided 
 into two rooms, tho there is a large opening thru the parti- 
 tion. This building has a cement floor. Farther back along 
 
152 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 the siding are open bins into which sand and grit are shoveled 
 directly from the cars, and the brick that the company 
 handles is wheeled out of the cars over movable bridging. 
 The opposite corner of the yard back of the shingle and lath 
 platform is being covered with cinders and will be used for 
 the storage of posts. Along the edge of the yard by the ware- 
 house the sewer tile is piled. This is the north edge of the 
 yard, and this stuff breaks the force of the heavy winds in 
 winter. 
 
A THREE-ALLEY SHED 
 
 Most lumbermen building a shed as large as this will 
 have very definite ideas of their own about designs. Such a 
 shed should be planned much more in detail than space and 
 the size of these pages will permit of being shown in this 
 book. But the accompanying cross section is included in the 
 hope that it will be at least suggestive. It is the cross section 
 
 Part of Front Elevation j 
 
 of a large shed planned and built by A. H. Doane, of Win- 
 field, Kan. Mr. Doane made a long and careful study of all 
 the sheds and shed plans to which he had access. The front 
 of his shed is 149 feet wide. The three alleys are each 18 feet 
 wide. Most retailers would prefer them, at least the center 
 one, to be wider by four or more feet. The 1 8-foot space to 
 the left of the left alley as one enters the shed is devoted to the 
 public and private offices, sash and door room, store room, 
 
 153 
 
154 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 molding bins, casings and base storage and lime and cement 
 wareroom. The two central double rows of bins are each 32 
 feet in width. The alley on the office side extends clear thru. 
 There is a cross alley at the back leaving a tier of bins 20 feet 
 deep along the rear end of the shed. There is also a cross 
 alley thru the central block of bins next the office side, leav- 
 ing a block 32 feet, 6 inches long next the street and 49 feet, 
 6 inches long in the rear. The other central block has a 
 passage way leading thru it near the front of the shed. This 
 shed, which is 140 feet long, has an estimated storage capacity 
 of 1,500,000 feet of lumber. 
 
A SHED OF SIMPLE FRAMING 
 
 The accompanying design is included here because of the 
 simplicity of the framing. It frequently happens that a yard 
 needs an extra shed for the storage of overflow stock. If a 
 simple design is selected it is possible during a slack season 
 for the yard men to build the shed with the help of a little 
 extra and only moderately skilled labor. 
 
 This shed is 62 feet wide and may be made as long as is 
 
 Cross Section Single-Alley Shed 
 
 desired. Bins 9 feet wide on center are recommended. The 
 posts measure 12 feet to the eaves and 16 feet, 6 inches along 
 the alley and including the offset in the roof. These offsets 
 each carry a row of windows for lighting purposes, but 
 windows should not be depended on solely for ventilation. 
 A suitable number of correctly designed ventilators along 
 the comb should be considered a prime necessity. 
 
 If desired this design may be followed in building the 
 
 155 
 
156 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 main shed and can be modified to include the necessary office 
 rooms and millwork storage bins. But it was designed pri- 
 marily as an auxiliary storage shed to contain nothing but 
 open storage bins. 
 
ODD GROUND PLANS 
 
 It becomes necessary at times for retailers to design yard 
 buildings for special purposes and to arrange sheds to fit 
 odd-sized lots. There seems to be no limit to the number of 
 these special problems, and it is, of course, impossible to deal 
 with many of them, ev.en in a general way. The following 
 plans are not intended to illustrate any universal principles. 
 They are introduced here merely as suggestions. 
 
 One special design frequently asked for is a combination 
 of lumber office and hardware store. An increasing number 
 of lumber retailers are putting in stocks of paints and hard- 
 ware ; and indeed in small towns some are carrying groceries 
 or general merchandise. The space necessary for carrying 
 these merchandise stocks is usually small; but definite pro- 
 vision must be made for it in planning the building. Few, if 
 any, buildings designed solely to be lumber offices can be 
 used to advantage in carrying even the smallest lots of 
 merchandise. 
 
 Two outline plans are presented here. Either can be 
 altered easily to meet the special needs of any prospective 
 builder. Each is located in a building that turns a square 
 corner, a type of building that is widely popular among lum- 
 bermen. Plan No. i has the office and store facing the main 
 street. The office itself is in the corner with the store extend- 
 ing into one wing, and the sales room, bookkeeper's room, 
 private office, vault and lavatory extending into the other. 
 The order desk is the focal point of the office. The order 
 
 157 
 
-158 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 clerk can go directly behind the counter in the store, out into 
 the yard, or into the private office or salesroom. The book- 
 keeper has a room back of the order counter. If it is desired 
 scales can be located out in the yard with the scale beam in 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 e 
 
 
 W4/?f//005 
 
 >--. 
 
 
 5/4/5 /?(9(9A/ \PRIVATE 
 
 5 
 
 
 OFFICE 
 
 
 
 ^___ _ 
 
 W/WP 
 
 
 VA/J/T BOOKKEEPER 
 
 wr\(JL. 1 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 n n , 
 
 \f)PDEft DESK J | | 
 
 
 OFFICE STORE 
 
 ^ 
 
 n 
 
 Uj 
 
 
 kj 
 
 
 Qc 
 
 | WINDOW -^ II 5/yOW WINDOW ' ( 
 
 /W//V 57- A/n. ; 
 
 Combined Office and Store 
 
 this room. The private office overlooks the yard, is remote 
 enough to assure privacy and still opens directly into the 
 salesroom and thru the bookkeeper's room into the public 
 office. The salesroom with its samples of millwork and its 
 plans and other building helps is next the office and still is 
 cut off so as to assure quiet to the customers who are laboring 
 
ODD GROUND PLANS 
 
 159 
 
 over their plans. The storeroom is small, but if desired it 
 can be enlarged by increasing the length of that wing. One 
 defect of this design is the fact that teams on entering the yard 
 do not pass directly by the office. Farmer customers and 
 others who haul their own stock will have to come in thru the 
 
 ki 
 
 YARD* 
 
 I 
 
 VAULT 
 
 LAV, 
 
 HARDWARE d PAINT 
 
 STORE SPACE SALESROOM 
 
 LOBBY 
 
 STREET 
 
 A/O, a 
 
 Combined Office and Store 
 
 rear door from the yard to settle their bills, and for this pur- 
 pose the order desk is curved around to face the space just 
 inside this door. Much business would be done at this end of 
 the desk. Two large windows are included in the plan. 
 These may be used for display windows or not as desired. 
 Number 2 is of the same general design but differs in a 
 
STREET 
 
 V-x-v. 
 X^^^S/""" 
 
 OPEN 
 5HED 
 
 ^s 
 
 HOOD 
 
 / 
 
 OPEN PILING 
 SPACE 
 
 * AS' x 
 
 ' PP' 
 
 
 v^ 
 
 ^ 1 Q ' N 
 
 ^ /O x 
 
 S L.O 
 
 AL 
 
 <Q 5 WITCH TRACK r- 
 
 x^ 
 
 EY 
 
 ^ /o / 
 
 MOLDING 
 SASH 
 & 
 DOOR 
 STORAGE. 
 
 SPECIAL 
 MILL 
 WORK 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 1 OFFICE 
 
 \VAUL7 
 
 LI- 
 
 !*r 
 
 
 
 {PRIVATE} SALES 
 \OFFICE 1 ROOM 
 
 STREET NO. 3 
 
 For a Narrow Yard 
 
ODD GROUND PLANS 161 
 
 number of details. The public office is in the corner, but the 
 entryway of the yard is under roof and is located between 
 the office and the warehouse. The private office is in the 
 corner next the drive and is entered thru a door that opens 
 behind the order desk. The salesroom is beyond the store. 
 If this salesroom were intended as a general congregating 
 place its location would be unfortunate. Customers will not 
 walk thru a storeroom to reach a lounging room. They will 
 hang around the order desk or else will leave the place. But 
 the salesroom is intended to be a quiet place where people 
 intent upon learning something about the art of house plan- 
 ning and building may have a certain amount of uninter- 
 rupted privacy. For this purpose the location at the rear 
 of the store, other things being equal, is good. Scales are 
 located in the drive with the beam behind the order desk. 
 Space over the office can be used for the storage of flooring. 
 By using a hoist heavy hardware can be stored either above 
 the office or on the second floor of the warehouse. 
 
 The three remaining plans shown herewith are of odd- 
 shaped yards. The first, or No. 3, is located on a long and 
 narrow piece of ground with a railroad siding running the 
 entire length. The special requirements stipulated were 
 sheds for most of the stock with a certain amount of open 
 space for outdoor piling of posts and the like. The ground 
 is about 65 feet in width. The requirements were met by 
 dividing the yard into three parts : office, single-alley shed 
 and an open shed facing an open piling plot. 
 
 The office extends clear across the front. In the corner 
 is the public office with its order desk. Next to this along 
 the side street is the private office. Opposite the private * 
 
162 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 office is the vault with its door opening behind the order desk 
 and the washroom opening into the salesroom. A passage 
 way extending between the private office on the one side 
 and the vault and washroom on the other leads into the sales- 
 room. 
 
 The driveway into the shed is next the office and at right 
 angles to the shed alley. Since this alley must accommodate 
 a siding and freight cars it is made 28 feet wide, leaving the 
 bins on either side 1 8 feet in depth. If the lot were still more 
 narrow it would be possible to economize in alley space by 
 running the siding closer to the side of the shed opposite the 
 front driveway and by using all or most of that side for mate- 
 rials kept in tight bins or for short lengths or shingles or 
 other stock that can be handled fairly well in rather cramped 
 space. 
 
 The open shed recommended for the remainder of the 
 stock is one designed by the Pratt Lumber Co. and described 
 on another page. This shed has a bin depth of 18 feet and 
 a hood 14 feet wide. This unusual width of hood allows for 
 a drive between the bins and the railroad tracks and permits 
 the unloading of lumber in comfort on stormy days. Stock 
 is carried over this 1 4-foot space by means of gravity unload- 
 ers. This open shed along the street serves to inclose the 
 yard. Farmers or others doing their own delivering may be 
 notified by a sign to enter the yard by the gate at the end 
 opposite to the office. With the stock arranged in rotation so 
 that the heavy stuff is at that end a mixed load may be put 
 on without doubling back. Then the finished load emerges 
 thru the driveway past the office. 
 
 Plan No. 4 is of a triangular yard. Any yard that departs 
 
ODD GROUND PLANS 
 
 163 
 
 from rectangular form must be a law until itself. But as a 
 very general principle to which there are numerous excep- 
 tions it is well to avoid all but rectangular buildings and to 
 avoid setting them in any but rectangular forms. If one 
 building faces north and another northwest the chances are 
 
 PROPERTY LINE 
 
 OPEN SHD 
 INCLOSED UPPER DECK 
 
 I 
 
 GATE 
 
 GATE 
 
 NO. 4- 
 
 A Triangular Yard 
 
 that getting around from one to the other will be difficult 
 and that space will be wasted. In this plan an open or semi- 
 inclosed shed is laid out along the two sides that are perpen- 
 dicular to each other, and the office building and the cement 
 house are set so as to leave a driveway between them and the 
 sheds. Ready access may be had to all the buildings with 
 
164 
 
 RETAIL LUMBER SHEDS 
 
 the least danger of obstruction. If a rectangular yard is large 
 enough the buildings and sheds may be located around the 
 outside with an open piling space in the center. 
 
 Plan No. 5 illustrates no general principle unless it be the 
 advisability of looking out for easy access to all sheds and 
 
 MILLWOW 
 
 \ PRIVATE 
 } OFFICE 
 
 SAlfS 
 MOh 
 
 OFFICE 
 
 -" 
 
 1 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 OPEN SHED 
 
 DRIVE 
 
 STABLE 
 
 STREET 
 
 NO, 5 
 
 An Irregular Yard 
 
 buildings. In .a yard of this type the temptation is to crowd 
 buildings together in order to utilize all possible space with 
 the result that they are inaccessible to delivery wagons. It 
 is better if all the space can not be utilized for buildings to 
 leave open space in the center for post piles and the like. 
 
Books for Lumbermen 
 
 Climax Tally Book 
 
 For hardwood lumbermen, 110 pages, size closed 4%x 
 8% inches. Finger straps to hold book open when tally- 
 ing. One copy $1.00, six $5.50, twelve $10.00. 
 
 Collections by Eetail Lumber Dealers 
 
 A series of letters by subscribers to the AMERICAN 
 LUMBERMAN-, giving their views on the best way to 
 handle the accounts of a retail lumber business. These 
 letters offer many excellent ideas, and it will well repay 
 any retail lumber dealer to read them carefully. Fifteen 
 cents, postpaid. 
 
 The American Lumberman's Vest Pocket Ready 
 Reckoner 
 
 Seventy-two pages of tables, showing the contents of 
 any number of pieces of dimension lumber from 1x8-10 
 to 12x20-40, including also table of freights, weights of 
 lumber, shingles, lath, doors, sash, blinds, styles of 
 siding and the different log scales. Twenty-five cents, 
 postpaid, five copies $1. 
 
 Chapin's Lumber Reckoner 
 
 Reduces to board measure lumber, scantling, square tim- 
 ber and saw logs. Morocco $3, cloth $2, postpaid. 
 
 The Organization of the Lumber Industry 
 
 This volume, from the AMERICAN LUMBERMAN press, em- 
 braces the most thorough and comprehensive study thus 
 far undertaken of price movements and ranges in the 
 lumber industry and their economic causes. Price $2. 
 Cloth bound. 
 
 Science of Organization and Business Development 
 
 By R. J. Frank. A treatise on the law and science 
 of the promotion, organization, reorganization and man- 
 agement of business corporations, with special refer- 
 ence to approved plans and procedure for the financing 
 of modern business enterprises. Morocco, $2.75. 
 
 The Practical Lumber Man 
 
 Short methods of figuring lumber, octagon spars, logs ; 
 specifications and lumber carrying capacity of vessels 
 and a great deal of other information applying to the 
 lumber business of the Pacific coast. $1.50, postpaid. 
 
 Nicholson on Factory Organization and Costs 
 
 By J. Lee Nicholson, certified public accountant and fac- 
 tory costs specialist. $12.50, postpaid. 
 
 Bungalowcraft 
 
 A book on bungalow and cottage building in its latest 
 development. Heavy paper cover $1, postpaid. 
 
 We will be glad to send complete descriptive 
 matter of any or all these books 
 
 AMERICAN LUMBERMAN 
 
 431 S. Dearborn St. CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
The 
 
 Lumberman's 
 Actuary 
 
 The n e w sixth 
 edition, which has 
 150 pages more than 
 the preceding, shows 
 at a glance the 
 amount of any num- 
 ber of feet between 
 2 feet and 29,000 
 feet at any price be- 
 tween $6 and $75 a 
 thousand feet, thus : 
 at $6.00, $6.25, 
 $6.50, $6.75, $7.00 
 and so on to $75.00. 
 It also shows the 
 feet in any number 
 of pieces between 1 
 and 2,000 pieces for 
 any thickness, as 
 inch, inch and one- 
 quarter, inch and 
 one-half, two inches 
 and up to twelve 
 inches, and for any width from 2 to 24 inches. It con- 
 tains also tables for figuring the cost of any number 
 of thousands of lath or shingles from 85 cents to $6.00 
 a thousand, and a loader's table showing the number 
 of pieces it will take of any given measure to make a 
 given number of board feet. 
 
 For the use of retail lumbermen and contractors the 
 section of the Actuary devoted to estimating is alone 
 worth the cost of the book, as it prevents errors in 
 making out bills and estimates and saves much time 
 in figuring the average cost of performing all kinds of 
 labor in the erection of buildings, including masons, 
 carpenters and painters, arranged in a systematic 
 manner for easy reference. 
 
 For figuring moldings, lumber bills, car freights, 
 car invoices, yard inventories, odd sizes, etc., the Ac- 
 tuary does a man's work and does it accurately ^ 
 
 One feature of the book is the specially devised cut- 
 in index which brings all sizes under your eye at one 
 glance. All lengths on the same page. 
 
 In addition the Lumbermen's Actuary has a table for 
 determining the list price of new mouldings, a table of 
 prices on door and window stock, a table of measure- 
 ments on wall board in 32- and 48-inch widths, a table 
 showing the square feet in the ceiling and four walls 
 of rooms of various sizes and tables estimating the 
 quantities of various items of lumber, shingles, mill- 
 work, etc., required for the covering of given surfaces 
 etc. A very useful table of wire nails, kinds and quan- 
 tities required for various work, formula for strength 
 of joists, table of straight loads, holding power of 
 nails, cubic foot unit cost of buildings of different 
 kinds, a table of average day's work in different kinds 
 of building labor and a number of other very useful 
 tables of reference information which the retail lum- 
 berman or builder often requires. 
 
 The size of the Actuary when closed is 4x8x% inches 
 and it fits the hip or side pocket conveniently. 
 
 Price, postpaid, bound in Leather, $5.00; in Cloth 
 $4.50. Sample pages for the asking. 
 
Bound in green silk cloth, illus- 
 trated in tint. Third edition, 
 and still selling. $ 1 .25 postpaid. 
 
 The funniest prose writ- 
 ings ^of "the lumberman 
 poet," the Aesop of the 
 
 lumberyard. $1.00 postpaid 
 
 Full of the spirit of the camp, 
 
 r un or me spirit or me camp, 
 the trail and the great outdoors. 
 
 me Liauaiiu me g i cai outdoors. 
 You owe yourself and your 
 
 $1.00 postpaid, 
 
 A bright little brochure 
 now in its seventh edition. 
 Twenty- fivecentspostpaid. 
 
 A Vivid Story 
 
 of the life every lumberman 
 knows woven around a typical 
 lumber town of scarcely one 
 thousand souls far up on Lake 
 Superior, makes 
 
 Glory Pines 
 
 By Dr. William Chalmers Covert 
 
 mighty good reading for those 
 who have won by hard knocks 
 and hard work. 
 
 Illustrated and printed ia 
 good readable <M OC 
 type.postpaid. ***) 
 
 American Lumberman 
 
 431 South Dearborn Street, CHICAGO 
 
House Plans That 
 Bring Results 
 
 We give you only the 
 very latest and most prac- 
 tical house plans. All are 
 especially designed for 
 our readers by America's 
 foremost architects. The 
 probable cost of these 
 houses range from $1600 
 to $2800. 
 
 Try them and watch 
 the results. 
 
 Clinch the House Bills 
 In Your Community 
 
 If you could talk with every prospective builder 
 in your county there's no question but that you 
 would have a mighty good opportunity of landing 
 their orders. You can do this very 
 thing for a very nominal sum 
 
 Advertise in Your 
 Home Paper 
 
 Lumber Ads That 
 Attract Attention 
 
 That's what you need 
 to increase your business 
 and profits. Six single 
 column and six double 
 column ads that are going 
 like hot cakes because 
 dealers find they're mon- 
 ey-makers. 
 
 Ask for Bulletin 
 Now. 
 
 We issue advertising bulletins 
 quarterly to help you advertise 
 lumber in an interesting way. 
 The above photo is from one of 
 the house plan ads in the last bul- 
 letin. The probable cost of this 
 attractive bungalow is $1950. 
 Besides this plan there are 4 other 
 house plans and 12 retail ads. If 
 you haven't received the last bul- 
 letin, ask for it now it's free. 
 
 American Lumberman 
 
 431 So. Dearborn St. 
 CHICAGO 
 
 A Roof to Last 
 Forty Years 
 
 That's what we claim for 
 the shingles we sell, but weonlf 
 got the nerve to come out in 
 the open and declare it since 
 we put in our stock of zinc 
 coated nails. We have proof 
 of these nails actually wearing 
 over 30 fears and good even 
 then for 10 rears longer. Let 
 u* show you the shingle* we 
 recommend to be used with 
 these nail*. Come in today. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 OGT 2 2 v. 
 
 21-95m-ll,'50(2877sl6)476 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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