Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-08-17
HARD WOOD FLOORS.
INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR con-
STaUCT,oN AND CARE.

SttON AoOOI THEM CON-
STHUcTiON AND CARE.
0uartcred White Oak Said to Be the Very
Best Alatefial-How to Wax and Polish.
They DO These Things Better In England
Than We Do In America.
1t is only few years since advocates
of tho house beautiful began to preach
in favor of hard floors, and there is now
hardly village in the country where
this doctrine of health and beauty has
not penetrated. Yet every one 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 shellacked, 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 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 floor of parquetry.
1t is made by gluing together thick
nesses of hard wood OH a pine backing,
method by which they obtain q
stronger and more durable floor than
when n 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
over o 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 q perfectly level floor
Of pine.
Builders recommend quartered white
oak as the very best material for floors.
This is western wood and costs about
500 200 feet in this state. Maple
and birch, which arc 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 q
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 joint is visi-
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.
It should be thoroughly trustworthy
wood filler, purchased from q dealer
whose name is guarantee for his goods.
These filters usually come by the pound,
often in paste fern, and may be thinned
to proper consistency with turpentine.
1t is applied to the wood with brush,
and all that remains ON the surface is
polished off with hardwood shavings or
excelsior. This filler is allowed to dry
about IL hours, when coat of wax is
applied, or of prepared oil if you prefer
it. Where oil is used it should be thinned
with q 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 mako is to apply this wax too
generously. An expert in this matter
says that pound of wax ought to cover
800 feet of surface After the wax is
applied and rubbed in with a weighted
brush it should be allowed to stand for
awhile and second coat applied before
the floor is used.
A great many American families at
tempt to take care Of a hardwood floor
without a brush. This is a waste of
much laborious energy. The work can
be accomplished by the use of a brick
wrapped in flannel and then in cotton,
but it cannot be properly accomplished
except by q strong man, while an ordi-
nary servant can readily WELD the %
pound brush, which sells in our shops at
from s.. so to 81 and with care will last
many years. 1t should be passed first
across the grain Of the wood. Then the
floor should be vigorously polished with
the grain Of the wood.
Finally a piece Of old carpet is laid
down and the floor is polished under
this. A properly cared for floor should
be polished with the brush once week.
1t should not be rewaxed oftener than
once n month or once in two or three
months, according to the amount Of
wear ON it. After certain period Of
time it may be necessary to scrape the
floor and apply some kind Of restorer,
though this should be hardly required
unless the floor has been improperly
dressed.
OF course the best way Of polishing
such a floor is in the foreign fashion,
with brush attached to one foot Of q
robust man, who goes skating about
until the surface CLEANS like marble.
But this method is not often possible in
this country except in those households