The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-09-06
HARD WOOD FLOORS
INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR CON
STEJCTiON AND CARE.
CHARTERED White Oak Said to BE the verv
Best Material-How tn Wax and Polish.
They DO These Things Better In England
Than We do In America.

Ahan VIZ Ao III |
1t is only a few years since advocates
Of the house beautiful began to preach
in favor Of hard floors, and there is now
hardly a village in the country where
this doctrine of health and beauty has
not penetrated. Yet every n who has
discarded carpets and adopted hard wood
floors has found some drawbacks in the
way. In nine cases out Of ten the floor
is simply shcllacked, often without pre-
vious filling, and every scratch of the
bootheel shows on its surface. The wood
is soon laid bare and permanently
stained, or perhaps the wood is oiled
with clear oil which has not been prop
erly rubbed in. The residue gums on
the surface and collects dust and debris,
and altogether the hard wood floor,
which has been we'll laid by the carpen-
ter, is a source of discomfort and disap-
pOintment.
European housekeepers suffer from
none of these disadvantages because
they try none of these experiments. The
European floor is a loor OF parquetry.
1t is made by gluing together thick
nesses of hard wood Oh a pine backing,
a method by which they obtain a
stronger and more durable floor han
when a thick floor of hard wood alone is
used, for every builder knows that the
best door is not one Of solid hard wood.
but one Of two thicknesses of hard wood
owe a pine core. These doors are natu-
rally more expensive, because they are
more trouble to make. So the veneered
floor is more durable, though a very ex-
cellent floor may be laid in hard wood
seven -eighths thick over a rough floor
Of pine, providing the wood has been
properly seasoned. Or a thinner floor
may be laid over a perfectly level floor
Of pine.
Builders recommend quartered white
oak as the very best material for floors.
This is a western wood and costs about
800 q 1000 feet in this state. Maple
and birch, which are much cheaper
woods, also make excellent floors. Ma
tive birch, which may be bought in this
state as low as $40 q 1000 feet, is a
very hard, smooth wood, and makes a
very durable kitchen floor which does
not silver up like Georgia pine. Narrow
boards, measuring about two inches or
less laid, make a most desirable floor.
The skillful carpenter matches his joints
with faultless precision, planes and
scrapes his floor and polishes it down
with hard wood shavings after it is laid,
as we'll as finishing it before. When this
is properly done, hardly a joint is visi-
J BILE, and it is then ready to be filed.
1t is this process that is so often neg
lected and upon which so much depends.
1t should be q thoroughly Trustworthy
{ wood filler, purchased from a dealer
whose name is a guarantee for his goods.
! These filters usually come by the pound,
often in paste form, and may be thinned
to a proper consistency with turpentine.
, It is applied to the wood with a brush,
and all that remains on the surface is
polished off with hardwood shavings OF
excelsior. This filler is allowed to dry
about ~ hours, when a coat Of wax is
applied, or of prepared oil if you prefe,
it. Where oil is used it should be thinned
? with a certain amount Of "drier."
The best wax is a preparation Of tur.
pentine and beeswax, properly melted
. together, and is kept by all dealers in
parquetry floors. The chief mistake that
amateurs make is to apply this wax toe
generously. An expert in this matter
says that a pound Of wax ought to cover
. 800 feet Of surface. After the wax il
applied and rubbed in with a weighted
brush it should be allowed to stand fol
awhile and a second coat applied before
t the floor is used. a
A great many American families at
t tempt to take care of a hardwood foo
without a brush. This is a waste o.
l much laborious energy. The work car
: be accomplished by the use Of a bricl
!. wrapped in flannel and then in cotton
but it cannot be properly accomplished
; except by a strong man, while an ordi
nary servant can readily WELD the Q:
pound brush, which sells in our shops a
. from So. so to 81 and with care will las
many years. 1t should be passed frs
, across the grain Of the wood. Then tn
floor should be vigorously polished will
the grain Of the wood
4 Finally a piece of old carpet is lait
down and the floor is polished undel
this. A properly cared for floor shouit
be polished with the brush once a week
$ 1t should not be rewaxed oftener thai
once a moath Or once in two or tire
months, according to the amount o
wear on it. After a certain period O
d time it may he necessary to scrape tn
g floor and APPLY some kind Of restorer
o though this should be hardly requires
unless the floor has been improperl
dressed.
OF course the best way Of polishing
such a floor is in the foreign fashion
with o brush attached to one foot Of
robust man, who goes skating abou
until the surface CLEANS like marble
n But this method is not often possible i
d this country except in those household
where there are foreign menservants.-
r New York Tribune.
~ In . Hurry.