Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1889-08-09
THE HOUSES WE LIVE In.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ABOUT
ARCHITECTURE And BUILDING

What an Authority has to Say About
Methods of Laying FiOors-Advantag ge
OF Sound-E Boarding and Pugging--A
Reflection ON the Doings OF Some
Architects.
There are many methods of laying
floors. but the avera Re builder is con;ruL
with the old-fashioned plan. He does
not take into consideration the manifest
advantages of sound-boarding and pug
ging, the expense of which Is triiing
compared with the advantages il secures.
The coarse stuff or chOpped-straw NOR
tar used is cheap enough, the principal
labor being the illlets nailed TO the ioists
and the rough boarding which rest upon
them to receive the plugging. The adj
Vantages of using siieate cotton as o
non-conductor of heat and sound, great
as they are, have not as yet been con-
sidered important enough To induce
builders to employ il. 1t is the cost that
binders them Architects are 10 blame
for not specifying the material whenever
they have an opportunity. I'm houses
built in rows whore the walls adjOu and
the ioiSts are all but continuous, the uD-
sOlute value of nOn-conductiug material
is very obvious. What is required In
houses built in rows is a layer OF Stag
wool between the flooring and the party
wall on each side, so that the transmits
sion of sound or vibration may be checked
or deadened. The ioists of every floor
ought to rest on sheets of this material.
A. houses are built now the floors Of ad-
Joining rooms generally are in contact
with the wall, and there is no air space
between often the ioists run across and
rest on the party-walls---a very ob.ec-
tionable form OF construction, as tu"n
the sound can easily travel through The
ioists. 1t would be better to allow the
ioiSts to rest on girders of iron supported
ON the side walls.
The iointing of floors is another mat
ter which at present does not appear to
trouble the profession; the plain butt
side joint is preferred because it is the
cheapest; the rcbated and file ted joins,
or the ploughed and tongucd joint, are
quite exceptional, and are used only IN
the very best houses. There are many
inexpensive and useful joints that would
avoid the defects of shrinkage of boards.
The boards can be rebated, by which one
overlaps the other, and il the boards
shrink, there is not IN undesirable open
Joint which gets filled up with dccaying
matter. Another plan is to rebate ne
bottom edge Of the board, and to insert
u"Iein slip Of wood This is the re-
lated ami iilleted joint. The iillet stops
he aperture, though it leaves the upper
part OF the joint open. The grooved and
nsued joint, where tongue fits into
corresponding groove in the adjoining
GGe, is anoth well-known joint. The
rebaled, ginu3cd and tongued meth, is
more prr,nc. but costly plan. A good
and @ ective Joint is made by making
nauoN groove along the edge OF rssch
card and lnsertinsahoop-iron, techaI.-
FHlI N .FENn.. u
tongued" joint. Other Joints to conceal
the mailing, in which kind of rebate i
formed, and one edge OF board is screwed
Ia ;h' joist. are well known. The adj
vantages are that dust and dirt cannot
pass through the floor, and cleaner and
more sanitary floor is the res".-.-Car-
penter and Joiner.