Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-21
Basement Floors
May Be Frightened
With New Preparation
New Rubber Coating
Is Formulated to
Waterproof Surface
BY DOROTHY DUCAS and
ELIZABETH GORDON.


The basement laundry, decorative
" speaking, is the most neglected
room in the house, however much
1t is priced for Its utility. Take
look at the floor of yours. Is 1t dull
gray cement or concrete. implanted
and uncovered? We thought so.
But it needn't be, you know. Cement
and concrete floors below grade cam
not be treated like wood floors up
stairs. but there is something you
can do about perking them up.
Why not give your laundry floor
color and protection against damp
ness with special synthetic rubber
coating? There is new coating on
the market, made in eight colors,
especially formulated to waterproof
while it decorates. 1t seals in the
dampness, offers resistance to al
kali and acid, prevents concrete
busting, and is durable, too. And
the colors-light gray. steel gray,
oak, chestnut. walnut, mahogany,
tile red and tile green-offer enough
variety for any taste.
This coating will adhere to any
concrete or cement surface which
is not grease or oil stained, wa1ed
or very dirty. Before applying It,
wash the floor thoroughly with a
solution Of strong alkali cleanser,
such as washing soda, flush it with
clear water, allow it to dry. Fill wide
cracks where necessary. as the coat
ing makes no claim to holding back
water that comes through cracks.
Then apply two coats of the syn
thetic rubber. the first thinned with
special reducing fluid in proper
ton of one quart of reducer to each
gallon of hoor coating, the second
coat reduced only to the extent
required to permit free brushing.
If the floor is very worn, you may
need three coats. Allow six hours
drying time between coats.
The concrete floor coating costs
S4.e5 a gallon or sl.35 a quarter
gallon. and one gallon covers from
400 to 700 square feet in one coat.
Low-Cost Installation
Remember that two-in-one insu-
latlon we told you about last week
mineral wool, wrapped in metallic
foil, backed by building paper which
acts as vapor barrier? Well, we
have just found out you can get the
metallic foil and vapor barrier with
out the mineral wool, If you want
really low-cost insulation.
The sboard-type insulation con-
eists of a corrugated, rigid, wood
pulp board faced with aluminium foil
on one side or on both sides. 1t is
installed with flanges, to create air
spaces on either side of the insula-
ton, just as the mineral wool bats
are The board itself, on which the
foil vapor barrier is mounted by an
asphaltum adhesive. is only three
eixteenths Of an inch thick.
This metal-covered board costs
only cents square foot with foil
on one side; u cents a square foot
with foil on both sides. If the two
sided foil wrapping Is used it works
both summer and winter, the foil
rejecting radiant heat outward in
summer and inward in winter.
If you have Thought of wallboard
walls as being somewhat on the
fimsy side, take look at the new
heavy duty wallboard just on the
market. 1t is made twice as thick
and twice as strong as 1t used to be
and that was strong enough for
practical purposes. The new version
Is a rigid, smooth-surfaced fiber