Glasgow tenements were generally built no taller than the width of the street on which they were located; therefore, most are about 3–5 storeys high. Virtually all Glasgow tenements were constructed using red or blonde sandstone, which has become distinctive.
What are tenement walls made of?
Tenements are characteristically of traditional construction, with stone outer walls and brick inner walls and party walls, typically four storeys high, but this can extend up to eight storeys.
How were Glasgow tenements built?
The Early Days. The earliest red, grey and beige stone tenements were built between 1850 and 1900 using locally sourced materials. Usually four stories tall, they were never taller than the width of the street and were built in blocks along streets inner-city areas creating the city’s distinctive ‘grid’ pattern.
How thick are tenement walls?
Most internal walls are built of a single skin of brick, 110mm wide, with lime plaster on both sides taking the walls to about 150mm thick. You may find thicker walls at ground level and where there are ducts or chimneys.
Why do Glasgow tenements have high ceilings?
They were built for wealth merchants and other business types who wanted high ceilings because it looked impressive.
How do I know if my wall is Brickboard or plasterboard UK?
Identifying the type of wall can sometimes be tricky. The simplest way to tell is to tap your wall with your fist; a stud wall will be hollow sounding, as will a lathe and plaster wall. Dot and dab and, unsurprisingly, solid walls, will sound solid to the ear.
What did they make walls out of before drywall?
Before drywall became widely used, building interiors were made of plaster. For hundreds of years, walls and ceilings have been constructed by placing layers of wet plaster over thousands of wooden strips called laths.
What Stone is Glasgow built from?
Traditionally seen as a city built from stone and slate; local quarried blonde sandstone and latterly red sandstone sourced from Dumfriesshire are synonymous with Glasgow and its tenements.
Why are buildings in Glasgow black?
The soot and smoke had a welcome host in the pores of the city’s buildings, most of which were constructed of native Scottish blond or red sandstone. Though beautiful to design with and easily cut, sandstone is subject to staining from both chemical pollution and acid-producing microbes that live within the stone.
What is the difference between a tenement and an apartment?
Legally, the term “tenement” refers to an apartment building with multiple dwellings, usually with a few apartments on each floor that all share an entry staircase. However, some people refer to tenements as a reference to low-income housing.
How high is a Glasgow tenement ceiling?
Edinburgh and Glasgow
Glasgow tenements were generally built no taller than the width of the street on which they were located; therefore, most are about 3–5 storeys high.
Are load-bearing walls brick?
Load-bearing walls are commonly constructed using concrete, blockwork and/or brick. The thickness of the load-bearing wall is gauged according to the building type, the number of floors requiring support, the materials used to construct the wall, and any other imposed loads.
How thick does a load-bearing wall have to be?
8 inches
The walls shall be laterally supported at intervals not exceeding 24 feet (7315 mm). The minimum thickness of interior load-bearing walls shall be 8 inches (203 mm). The unsupported height of any wall constructed of adobe units shall not exceed 10 times the thickness of such wall.
Did Glasgow tenements have bathrooms?
But this did not necessarily mean that every tenement house was given its own private bathroom. A shared privy was the reality for Glasgow’s working class, even into the 1970s. Indoor sanitation looked very different for the middle class. The Tenement House boasts its own private flushing toilet, complete with a bath.
Why did tenements have windows inside?
These windows have an appropriate name: tuberculosis windows. They were mandated by a 19th century city law requiring that tenements have cross ventilation to help reduce the spread of diseases like tuberculosis—the deadly “white plague” not uncommon in poor neighborhoods.
Are there any tenements left in Glasgow?
The city is known for its tenements, where a common stairwell is informally known as a close. These were the most popular form of housing in 19th- and 20th-century Glasgow and remain the most common form of dwelling in Glasgow today.
Can you mount a TV on plaster walls?
Plaster walls are very sturdy and durable. In terms of weight, they can easily have a TV mounted onto them.
How do you hang things on lath and plaster walls?
Plastic wall anchors don’t work with lath and plaster walls. Instead, use plaster anchors made of metal like a molly bolt or a toggle bolt. Be sure to use one that’s long enough to get behind the plaster and lath. When drilling into plaster, you’ll need to use a masonry bit.
Are my walls concrete or plaster?
If there’s no drywall, just knock on the wall. If the wall feels as hard as concrete, it probably is. If there is drywall, take a drill and a very small bit and drill a hole somewhere inconspicuous. If the bit stops going after an inch or two the wall is concrete.
When did plaster stop being used for walls?
From the 1700s all the way through the 1940s, lath and plaster was the interior wall construction method of choice.
What were interior walls made of in 1930s?
Most homes built from the early 1900s until the mid-1940s were constructed with lath and plaster interior walls. In this system, strips of wood (called laths) are nailed so that they span the distance between wall studs. The laths are then covered with several layers of wet plaster made from gypsum.