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Show Homes in U.S. Found Better By British ! After six weeks of studying c?T "''"g in the United Mates, 17 leading British architects archi-tects and contractors decided that American houses are superior to those in Great Britain principally because of central heating and wood framed sidewalls, which are so common in America that most householders take them for granted. Robert Owen Lloyd, British idf and leader of the group, said. We were intrigued with the design and general construction of American homes. Most of the homes we saw have framed walls and basements. This is almost unknown in Britain. We were also glad to see that every home vovirlorl With own neating plant. Til!- .., PRSpnt)i for maximum c-iu. Solid brick sideways, wnno-framing, wnno-framing, are used in the vast majority ma-jority of British homes, Mr. Lloyd said. He explained that framing adds to rapid construction construc-tion and offers easy fixing for in-tenor in-tenor finishes and insulation." Homes in England usually are heated by a system of open fireplaces fire-places which, the British builder said, "is wasteful of fuel and creates cre-ates extra work for the housewife." house-wife." He added that he would like to see central heating plants installed in every British home. Referring to framed walls and heating plants, Mr. Lloyd emphasized empha-sized that "these two important items, together with the asphalt shingle roof covering, will excite our minds for many days." He explained that most roofs in England Eng-land are slate or tile and said he was impressed with the long life and ease of application of asphalt shingles and with the variety of solid and blended colors available. avail-able. He also pointed out that British builders do not provide "anything "any-thing like the etfttipment we found in American homes, primarily pri-marily because some of this equipment is too expensive in Britain." Members of the British building build-ing team were surprised to find that all external doors and windows, win-dows, even in low-cost homes, are fitted with weatherstripping which reduces heat loss, Mr. Lloyd said. The British group came to the united States under sponsorship of the Economic Cooperation Administration Ad-ministration and the Anglo-American Anglo-American Council. |