Honeywood Settlement

by Creswell, H. B.

  Yours faithfully,

  Grigblay’s proposal to supply an estimate is intended to make it clear to Spinlove what he is slow to discern for himself, namely, that the architect, and not the builder, is responsible for the architect’s mistakes. Having regard to the exposed situation and the extreme, though not exceptional, porosity of the facing bricks, Spinlove ought, as Grigblay says, to have put dampcourses through the stacks and piped the flues. He will, no doubt, on the next occasion when a similar conjunction of circumstances arises, benefit by this experience; but it was no part of the builder’s duty to foresee the trouble: a builder has preoccupations enough without thinking for the architect; and though he would, for his own credit and in a spirit of collaboration, warn the architect when he saw dangers ahead, he may have learnt that such interferences are not always welcomed and that when they are, and the precaution proves ineffective or for any reason is afterwards regretted, the trouble he puts himself to lands him in trouble he could do without.

  Perhaps this is Spinlove’s first experience of building with sand-faced bricks in an exposed position. In that case he will have good reason to appreciate the device of the hollow wall which he has apparently carried out with exact care. If the ties binding the 4 1/2-in. inner wall to the 9-in. outer wall were not of a particular pattern, the rain, which Grigblay discerned to stream down the inside of the outer wall when driven by heavy wind, would creep across to the inner, and if the clearing-battens, hung in the space between the walls when the bricks were being laid, had not been carefully maintained, droppings of mortar would have lodged on these ties with the same result. If, also, Spinlove had neglected to carry the hollow space down through the damp-course which stops water rising from the ground into the wall, or had mortar droppings been allowed to accumulate at the bottom of the hollow, the water flowing down the inner face of the outer wall would have soaked across into the lower part of the inner wall. We gather that none of these things has happened, for it is evident that the south front of Honeywood Grange is being severely tested and Grigblay noticed nothing wrong. How severe that test may be in an exposed situation is only fully known to architects of experience.

  Rain will drive right through a 14-in. wall of London Stocks laid in has lime mortar faced with the best sand-faced, hand-thrown bricks, and run from the under side of concrete lintels over window openings so as to collect in pools on the floor. It will penetrate 9-in. walls of impervious Fletton bricks laid in hydraulic mortar and cement stuccoed in two coats. It will even make a 14-in. wall, similarly stuccoed, so damp as to recommend renewal of the cement stucco with special waterproofed rendering. Stone and concrete walls present their special problems, but it will be seen that Spinlove has done well in dealing with a brick one, and in securing, under thoroughly bad conditions, that his client has a dry house.

  (PERSONAL) SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Mr. Grigblay, 13.3.26.

  I have duly received your letter. I am aware that you always objected to the use of Riddoppo, and I also advised against it so that Sir Leslie cannot very well hold us responsible. I certainly should say nothing on the subject unless Sir Leslie himself raised it.

  I note what you say of wet in the chimney, and have written instructions to-day.

  Yours truly,

  The tone of this letter suggests that Spinlove resents the implication that he needs guidance, so that it is a pity his attempt to show he is not such a fool as Grigblay thinks should make it clear that he is a much bigger one. The issue does not, as Spinlove implies, turn upon Brash’s holding the architect and the builder accountable, but upon whether the facts make them legally responsible; and if Spinlove is going to address himself to the subject as though the point were open and debatable, he will be certain to prejudice his own and Grigblay’s positions exactly as Grigblay fears, and lead Brash on to make claims which, though they may be untenable, will be likely to embroil everyone in the distresses preliminary to litigation. It will also be noticed that Spinlove brackets himself with Grigblay as though they were in the same boat. They are not. Their responsibilities are different.

  SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Sir, 13.3.26.

  I note that the damp in chimney-breasts is due to rain driving into, the stacks, and shall be glad if you will treat the whole of the. brickwork of all chimneys above roof with two coats of “Dessikex” damp-proofing, applied as directed by the manufacturers. I prefer this to treatment with soap. The work should be put in hand at once.

  Yours faithfully,

  A pound of soft soap in a bucket of boiling water, allowed to stand overnight and sprayed freely on to brickwork with a garden syringe, is a reliable damp-proofing which Grigblay seems to have confidence in; and soft soap is also effective in waterproofing mortar or concrete with which it is mixed. As Grigblay has had great experience of wet walls and Spinlove very little, it would be wise for Spinlove to use what Grigblay has practical experience of, rather than what recommends itself to him by report or by advertisement. There are proprietary remedies for damp walls, of proved worth; but the yearly increase in their numbers is rather a sign of the obstinacy of the complaint than of the efficacy of the cures.

  SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Sir, 15.3.26.

  I do not understand why there has been such delay in rendering your final Statement of Account. You now send me a summary showing extras £1,500. 1 was totally unprepared for this, and can only suppose there is some mistake. Have you taken the provision for contingencies into account, and the saving on the provision for well-sinking and pump, for instance? A considerable part of the variations will come into a measured account which the quantity surveyor must deal with; and the value of that work has still to be ascertained. I shall be glad to have a rough summary of the variations account on which you base your claim. I must prepare Sir Leslie Brash for what is ahead as I am sure he has no idea that extras have mounted up in this way, and I have no knowledge of their ever having been ordered.

  I enclose certificate for £2,500, which is as much as I feel entitled to certify at this time.

  Yours faithfully,

  We have no doubt that Grigblay’s estimate of extras is right, and when Spinlove says he is totally unprepared for such a figure he only tells us what we expected to hear. It is not surprising that he should lose touch with the account, as his careful contract arrangements were upset in various ways for which he was not responsible, but he ought to have been prepared for a heavy bill, and with greater experience he would have been. He might also have found opportunities to let his client know what was happening, but it is doubtful whether experience would have prompted him to do so. When the interferences of the client, or adventitious circumstances. make hay of the careful safeguards of the Conditions of Contract and of the detailed forethought of the drawings and specification, the whole position gets out of hand for the architect; and if the building-owner, after being warned (as Spinlove warned Brash) of the results of interferences and alterations, persists in following his own devices, his architect cannot, without risk of impertinence, make any gesture of checking him.

  SPINLOVE TO BRASH

  Dear Sir Leslie Brash, 15.3.26.

  Mr. Grigblay has asked for a further certificate on account. This was due to him, on completion of the work, in February. I find he is entitled to the sum of £2,500, and have to-day sent him a certificate for that amount. This makes the total of certificates £18,000. The contract amount, as you know, is £18,440, but there will be the cost of extra work-garage, alteration to kitchen and other variations and additions and so forth-to add, which will, I am afraid, run into several hundred pounds. I am pressing the builder for his Statement of Account giving particulars of these extras.

  Yours sincerely,

  P.S.—As this money was due to Mr. Grigblay more than a month ago, he will probably be glad of a cheque at once.

  Spinlove’s ideas of administering the gilded pill are raw, but promising. A degree of tact which may appear exce
ssive is allowable on these painful occasions. The owner has to be informed of—and reconciled to paying—a bill of extras for which he is unprepared, and the easier the gradations by which the revolting intelligence is imparted to him, the happier for him; the happier for the builder,- and the happier also for the architect, whose forethought for his employees peace of mind is not unusually prompted by a care for his own.

  Spinlove’s postscript is due to Brash’s habit, in the past, of holding back payments to the builder to the extreme limit allowed by the con tract.

  (CONFIDENTIAL) GRIGBLAY TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 15.3.26.

  In reply to your favour I take the liberty of writing to make clear, as there seems to be some confusion on the matter, that I painted with Riddoppo only on your statement that those were the orders of Sir Leslie Brash, and that he accepted responsibility for same; and I ask you to bear that fact in mind, as it is the position I take and hold to. I ought to have refused to touch the stuff, but I wished to oblige Sir Leslie so far as I was able; and as he would not take my advice he must settle the matter with the man whose advice he did take instead—and that, I suppose, is himself.

  I write very frank and open, sir, because this is a serious Matter for someone, if it isn’t for me. It’s not going to cost a hundred pounds, nor two hundred, nor yet three, with the cleaning of the stuff off the walls and joinery and the loss of to a hotel—for they can’t be expected to live in the house all those weeks it will be before the work is done. Therefore, I ask you, let Sir Leslie clearly understand that I have nothing more to say on this matter, as it will save a bit of trouble and be the best for everyone, including,

  Yours truly,

  This was evidently dictated by Grigblay.

  GRIGBLAY TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 16.3.26.

  We have to acknowledge certificate for £2,500, which we have sent on to Sir Leslie Brash, and hope we shall receive his cheque per return, as it is a long time since we had anything on account and we were entitled to 40 per cent more than this six weeks ago, which please note and oblige,

  Yours faithfully,

  This letter is curt to the point of being threatening. We have already seen that although Grigblay is lavish of good offices and kindly forethought, he is impatient of sloppiness. All he says is perfectly just, and Spinlove deserves to be told it. It is the architect’s duty to see that the builder, as well as the client, gets his dues. Spinlove has shown no consciousness of his remissness in holding back the certificate for so long, and has not in any adequate way apologized to Grigblay for so disobliging him. He is, further, not entitled to withhold £1,000 on the plea of his ignorance of the state of the account. It is his duty to inform himself.

  BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove, 18.3.26.

  I have duly received your communication anent certificate and will arrange for cheque to be transmitted in due course. I cannot, however, accept responsibility for Mr. Grigblay’s neglect to present his claim at an earlier date. I apprehend with satisfaction that these payments are now drawing to a final termination, but I am considerably astonished at your off-hand—if you will pardon the expression—intimation of additional extras running into the total amount of several hundreds of pounds. I am aware that accumulated additional extras have accrued, but the exact anticipated total of my eventual liability is a matter of more importance to me than you appear to divine; and though a matter of half a dozen hundred pounds one way or the other may seem of insignificant importance to you, it is, I may inform you, of considerable importance to me.

  I desire that you will be so good as to ascertain the exact figure forthwith and also clearly intimate to Mr. Grigblay that the accountancy is in your hands and that I am not prepared to acquiesce any inflated extortions. Surely it is not at Mr. Grigblay‘s discretion to decide what additional extras he shall demand?

  I have re-perused your communication to Lady Brash anent the surveyor’s certificate of sanitary efficiency a second time. Are you confident in your conviction that our sanitary provisions are entirely without blemish? In the concluding passage terminating your letter you surmise the possibility of a defect in the arrangements having eventuated subsequently to the previous tests. This I apprehend to be a matter for further imperative investigation.

  Yours sincerely,

  Brash’s avoidance of the low word “drain” marks a refinement that is rare.

  (PRIVATE) SPINLOVE TO GRIGBLAY

  Dear Mr Grigblay,18.3.26.

  I perfectly understand the position you take and it has my approval, I shall myself most certainly refuse to accept responsibility for Riddoppo.

  Yours truly,

  Spinlove’s assurance will further increase Grigblay’s doubts. The disparity may be subtle but it is vital. The point is not what Grigblay may in future take, but what his position, in fact, now is. Spinlove’s approval or disapproval cannot alter those Grigblay is in no way concerned with it. It is clear, also, Spinlove does not appreciate his own position, and Grigblay can have little confidence that he will not allow Brash to believe against both of them.

  SPINLOVE TO BRASH

  Dear Sir Leslie Brash,20.3.26.

  The delay with the, certificate was not Mr. Grigblay’s fault. He made his claim before the money was due, and in setting that matter aside I overlooked it. I should be obliged, therefore, if you will regard the certificate as dated 10th February, which is the day it fell due.

  I cannot yet say what the total of the account is, as much detailed measuring and pricing, and checking of the daywork accounts and merchants’ vouchers, etc., is necessary in order to arrive at it. Grigblay will duly render a Statement of Account which it will be necessary for me to check and certify. The actual “accountancy”—as you term it—will be done by the quantity surveyor, who ranks as auditor in ascertaining the exact sums due in respect of work which I find to be properly authenticated as extras. I shall hope, however, to be able to give you an approximate figure in the course of a week or two.

  I can assure you that the drains are all right. It is inconceivable that they have developed any defects since they were tested.

  I have discovered the cause of damp above the attic fireplaces, and have told Grigblay to put this right at once.

  Yours sincerely,

  P.S.—Will you please return the surveyor’s certificate?

  Spinlove has laid out the mechanism of settling builders’ accounts, so that Brash will have a right idea of it, quite neatly.

  He is, however, too emphatic in his pride of drain. The development of defects in Honeywood drains is not inconceivable. We heard of a clay subsoil at the time the cellars were dug, and the movements of clay in response to changes of temperature and humidity may lead to early cracking of cement pipe-joints such as would cause failure wider the water test; and the heavy lorries already referred to may have done similar damage. Such defects, however, do not ordinarily lead to insanitary drainage, as the conditions of the tests, which exact perfection, do not arise in use; and if by accident they did arise, the amount of pollution of the subsoil would be insignificant.

  GRIGBLAY TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Sir, 22.3.26.

  We note your instructions re waterproofing to chimneys. Our price for this work, which includes the necessary ladders and scaffolding, is £42 12s. We will use “Dessikex” if you wish, but know what this stuff is made of, and we should happen to prefer to apply two coats of either Sorrellming or Flutate, both of which are colourless and can, in our experience, be relied on. The work, however, cannot be put in hand till the summer as, whatever we use, the brickwork must be quite dry and ought to be warm when the application is made.

  Yours faithfully,

  BRASH ON DRAINS

  BRASH TO SPINLOVE

  Dear Mr. Spinlove,24.3.26.

  I am gratified to know that the cause of damp in the domestics’ domain has been ascertained and that immediate renovations will at once be accomplished; and I have noted you
r arrangements for checking Mr. Grigblay’s charges.

  I am however, unpleasantly disconcerted by your reference question of the sanitary purity of Honeywood, which is—if you will pardon me for so expressing myself—somewhat peremptory and offhand. Of course, where domestic effluents are concerned, obnoxious exhalations are in a limited degree unavoidably to be anticipated, and I should be the last person unnecessarily discriminating in such a matter; but where delicate ladies are concerned—and Lady Brash’s mucous membrane is peculiarly sensitive to olfactory aggression—[we were told something like-this once before]—it is most desirably expedient that the odoriferous emanations of which I speak—and which I need not more particularly define—should be the exterior atmosphere, and not permitted to invade the interior of the domicile. Lady Brash increasingly complains that Honeywood is a stuffy house, and one of our domestic staff—the cook, to be precise—has described her sleeping quarters as “fuggy”—I use the word as reported to me, and may therefore repeat the expression without apology. I also understand that whiffs of a repulsive nature are from time to time encountered in various parts of the house, but though Lady Brash has on a number of occasions hurried me to the seat of an unsavoury effluvium newly discovered, I have not yet been so fortunate as to arrive on the scene of offence before dissipation has eventuated; and accordingly I am not, I regret to say, in a position to indicate a precise description of the quality of the various noxious emanations which are proving incompatible with Lady Brash’s joie de vivre and, I fear, prejudicial to her good health. I anticipate, however, that I have, in this lengthy communication, sufficiently indicated the seriousness of the situation, and I shall be gratified to be informed that its prompt amelioration has your immediate attention.