Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-06-10
WOOD FLOORS.
INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR CON-
srRucTIoN AND CARE.

Quartered White Oak Said to Ne the very
BEST Material-How to Wax and Polish.
They Do These Things Better In England
Thar We do In America.
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 ono who has
discarded carpets and adopted hard wood
floors has found some drawbacks in tho
way. In nine cases out Of ten the floor
is simply s~hollacked, often without pre-
vious filing, 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 q 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 floor of parquetry.
1t is made by gluing together thick
nesses of hard wood on a pine backing,
a method by which they obtain .
stronger and more durable floor than
when a thick floor Of hard wood alone is
used, for every builder knows that the
best door is not n of solid hard wood,
but one of two thicknesses of hard wood
owe q 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
en-eighths thick wei a rough floor
of pine, providing the wood has been
properly seasoned. Or a thinner floor
may be laid yer o 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
500 a l, 900 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
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. Marrow
boards, measuring about two inches or
less laid, make q most desirable floor.
The skillful carpenter matches his joints
with faultless precision, planes and
his floor and polishes it down
hard wood ~shavings after it is laid,
as well as finishing it before. When this
is properly done, hardly a joint is visi-
BILE, and it is then ready to be filed.
1t is this process that is so often neg
lected and rpon which SO much depends.
It should be a thoroughly trustworthy
wood filler, purchased from q dealer
whose name is a guarantee for his goods.
These filters usually come by the pound,
in paste form, and may be thinned
to a proper consistency with t~urpentine.
1t is applied to the wood with a brush,
and all that remains ON the surface is
polished off with hardwood shavings or
excelsior. This filler is allowed to dry
about 12 hours, when a coat Of wax is
applied, or Of prepared oil if you prefer
it. Where oil is used it should be thinned
with a certain amount Of "drier."
The best wax is a preparation Of tur-
pentino and beeswax, properly melted
together, and is kept by all dealers in
parquetry Fl 1ors. The chief mistake that
amateurs make is to apply this wax too
generously. An expert in this matter
says that q pound Of wax ought to cover
300 feet of surface. After the wax is
and rubbed in with a weighted
brush it should be allowed to stand for
awhile and a second coat applied before
the floor is used.
A great many American families at
to take care of q hardwood floor
without a brush. This is a waste Of
much laborious energy. The work a
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 20
pound brush, which sells in our shops at
from 50. SO to 81 and with care will last
many years. 1t should be passed first
the grain of the wood. Then the
floor should be vigorously polished with
he grain Of the wood.
Finally a piece of old carpet is laid
and the floor is polished under
his. A properly cared for floor should
be polished with the brush once q week.
Il should not be rewaxed oftener than
q month or once in two or three
months, according to the amount Of
wear on it. After a certain period Of
lime it ma be necessary to scrape the
ioor aud ( ply some kind Of r~estorer,
.hough this should be hardly required
lnless the floor has been improperly
OF course the best way of polishing
;uch a floor is in the foreign fashion,
With q brush attached to one foot of a
'obust man, VIII, goes skating about
Until the surface CLEANS like marble.
But this method is not often possible in
his country except in those households
where there are foreign m~enservants.-
New York Tribune.
Tn = Hurry.