The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-01-09
How to Make a Good Floor.
From The Builders Gazette.

From the Builders Gazette.
Nothing attracts the attention of per-
son wishing to rent or purchases dwelling,
store, or office quickly as handsome,
well-laid floor, and a few suggestions on
the subject. though not new, may not be
ont Of place. The best floor for the least
money can be made of yellow pine, if the
material Is carefully selected and properly
laid
First, select edge grain yellow pine, not
too ''fat," clear of pitch, knots, sap, and
splits. See that it is thoroughly seasoned,
and that the tongues and grooves exactly
match, so that, when laid, the upper sur
faces of each board are on level. This
is an important feature often overlooked,
and planning. mill operatives frequently get
careless in adjusting the tonguing aud
growing bits. If the edge of flooring
board especially the grooved edge, is higher
than the edge Of the next board, no amount
of mechanical ingenuity can make neat
floor of them. The upper part of the
groove will continue to curl upward as long
as the floor lasts.
Surprising, of course, the sleepers, or
ioists are properly placed the right distance
apart, aud their upper edges precisely on
level and securely braced, the most i'm
portant part of the job is to Clay the
flooring correctly. This part Of the work
is never, or very rarely ever, done nova
days. The system in vogue with carpen-
tiers of this day, of laying one board at a
time, and 'blind nailing,' is the most g lar
ing fraud practiced in any trade. They
drive the tongue of the board into the
groove of the preceding one, by pounding
on the grooved edge with naked ham
mer, making indentations that let in the
cold air or noxious gases, if it is bottom
floor, and then nail it in place by driving
a six-penny nail at an angle of about 500
in the groove. An awkward blow or two
chips off the upper part of the groove, and
the last blow, designed to sink the nail
head out of the way of the next tongue,
splits the lower part of the groove to splin-
tiers, leaving au unsightly opening. Such
mailing does not fasten the flooring to the
sleepers, and the slanting nails very often
wedge the board up so that it does not bear
on the sleeper We would rather have our
flooring in the tree standing in the woods
than put down that way.
The proper plan is to begin on one side
of the room, lay one course of boards with
the tongue next to, and neatly fitted to,
the wall Cor studding, if a frame house,,
and be sure the boards are laid perfectly
straight from end to end of the room and
square with the wall. Then nail this course
firmly to the sleepers, through and through,
one nail near each edge Of the board on
every sleeper, and you are ready to begin
to lay floor Next, fit the ends and lay
down four or six courses Of boards lowing
to their width. If the boards differ wide
ly in color, as is often the case in pine, do
not lay two of widely different color side
by side, but arrange them so that the deep
colors will tone off into the lighter ones
gradually. Push the tongues into the
grooves as close as possible, without pound
ing with hammer, or, if pounding is ne
cessary, take narrow, short piece of floor
ing, put the tongue in the groove Of the
outer board, and pound gently on the piece,
never on the flooring board. Next, adjust
your clamps on every third sleeper and at
every end joint, and drive the floor firmly
together by means of wedges. Drive the
wedges gently at the start, and each one
equally till the joints all fill up snugly, and
then stop, for, if driven too tight, the floor
will spring up. Never wedge directly
against the edge of the flooring board, but
have short strip with tongue on it be-
tween the wedge and the board, so as to
leave no bruises Then fasten the floor to
the sleepers by driving a hat-headed steel
wire nail of suitable size, one inch from
either edge of every board, straight down
into each sleeper At the end joints small
er nails may be used, two nails in board
near the edges, and as far from the ends as
the thickness of the sleeper will permit
Proceed in this manner until the floor Is
completed, and you will have floor that
will remain tight and look well until worn
out.
Such minute directions, for so common
and simple job, sound silly, but are justi-
fable from the fact that there are so many
alleged carpenters who either do not know
how or are too lazy to lay floor properly.