Floor (building)

“ The level at which the floor was to be fixed was the next point {65}determined by the ordinary method of levelling, and stakes, with a piece at the top, called boning-sticks, were fixed in different parts of the building; by the aid of which the tops of the base-pieces for the columns were all afterwards fixed in one plane of the required slope. ”

“ The chamber floor is 9 feet high, above the ground, and may be used either for laying purposes by the fowls, or reserved as a storage-room for their feed. The roof is broadly drawn over the body of the building, to shelter it, and through the point of the roof, in the center, is a ventilator, with a covered top, and a vane significant of its purpose. ”

“ The third and top floors are taken up by two women photographers—their reception room on the third floor, their operating-room, and that sort of thing, on the top floor, with no less than two sky-lights and a transom opening directly on the roof. I arranged for a sitting with them. That is the floor we ought to have, but the building is full. Three doors below, though, there was a top, back studio to let, and I’ve taken it for a month. There we have a transom opening on the roof. ”

“ That the frame of the outer wall of a wooden building should be mainly vertical is evident, the outer studs, if possible, extending from the sill to the plates, and as many of the inner ones as may be reaching through both stories, especially those by the staircase, where the shrinking of the second-floor timbers will reveal ugly cracks and crooks. ”

“ In architectural design the character and requirements of the building must, of course, be the first consideration, but the basement may constitute the ground floor, the height occupied by the order may contain two stories and the attic may be an upper floor. ”

“ Below this came a second floor, composed of pilæ of millstone grit blocks and square tubular tiles, 16 inches high, resting on a cake of cement, 2 feet thick; this, again, lay on a third flooring of pure mortar, 3 inches thick, on which was erected a series of pilæ of flat square tiles and flags, and 3 feet high, the whole built on a subsoil of red sand. The exterior wall of Building I. had a thickness of 2 feet 3 inches, Building II. of 4 feet, formed of regularly dressed stones. The space between the pilæ of floor iii. was closely filled on every side with loose earth. ”

“ They are always so arranged that those who operate them face the middle of the room. The floor is simply a smoothly plastered dressing of clay of the same character as the usual external roof covering. It is, in fact, simply the roof of the room below smoothed and finished with special care. ”

“ A light railing runs round it, and a cool resting-place is thus made. The house-floor is a raised platform, as in Japan, a small portion of which is cut away just within the door, to form a cavity in which, on entering, the shoes or sandals are deposited. ”

“ Picture a bare, plank-ceiled loft, some forty feet long by twenty feet broad, divided in the exact center [70] by a partition of half-inch matched boards and lighted by five windows. Imagine the walls and ceiling painted a pea-green, mentally hang two big oil-lamps—one in the middle of each room—from the latter, and spread half a dozen skins—bear, coyote, antelope, and cougar—over the discolored floor, and you have Pete’s apartments. ”

“ Other drift-wood, split in rough slabs, forms the floor, leaving an entrance space about two feet square. From this hole in the floor, which is always several feet below the level of the surrounding ground, an entrance passage has been dug out large enough for a man to crawl through it into the main earth-floored room. ”

“ The floor of most rooms, being permanently covered with the mats already described in previous chapters, has no special attention bestowed upon it; at all events, the floor is often of rough boards laid in such a way that irregular spaces occur between them. When the house has a proper hall or vestibule, the floor is composed of wide planks ”

“ Imagine an exquisite room long and narrow. The walls are painted white or light gray—a warm golden gray for the relief and pleasing of the eye. The floor is comfortable to the feet, sanitary, easily cleansed and durable. There is an iron ring in the floor where the cover to the chute is lifted down which the dust is to be thrown. There is another for the ash chute, lined with metal for protection from fire by [Pg 138] means of the hot coals that may sometimes be left in the ashes. ”

“ It can therefore be only the floor. It is not clear at first sight how a floor, which is a horizontal plane, can thrust; for to thrust, we must suppose the floor to expand in one direction, which cannot be. But see what happens. Give me your best attention.... Formerly, to compose a floor, large beams were laid from wall to wall, and upon these beams lighter pieces of timber, called joists; then on these was laid a bed of earth, gravel, or sand, and upon that a surface of mortar to receive the tiling. ”

“ A large arch frames a graceful stair, which winds up to the third floor in a circular movement. Newel post and stair ends are carved. While woodwork throughout the house is elaborate, the difference between the first and second floors is marked. That of the first floor is massive, rather more dull than interesting, but the second floor, especially the large room, is startling in that mantel, door trim, chair rail, and baseboard are carved with the delicate lightness of Adam. ”

“ The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered light. The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white metal, not plates nor slabs—blocks, and it was so much worn, as I judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply channelled along the more frequented ways. ”

“ The earthen floor is covered with coarse mats, and sometimes the walls are lined with finer mats; in the roof an attic is often formed for a part of or the whole length of the house and is reached by a rude ladder. The floor of this upper chamber is frequently covered over with a layer of earth and is used as a cooking-place, with much advantage to the lower part of the house, which is thus kept comparatively free from smoke and soot. ”

“ Three or four pictures will adorn the clean white-washed walls, and two lamps, cased in silver, will be hanging from a roof in which all the naked beams are to be seen, with here and there a straggling cobweb. The floor, like that of all the rest of the rooms, will be paved with red tiles, its cleanliness depending upon the civilization of its owner. ”

“ Then comes the entre-sol, with low ceilings, short windows, and dwarf chambers; then succeed a succession of floors, or stories, rising one above the other, to the number of Mahomet’s heavens. Each floor is like a distinct mansion, complete in itself, with ante-chamber, saloons, dining and sleeping rooms, kitchen and other conveniences for the accommodation of a family. Some floors are divided into two or more suites of apartments. Each apartment has its main door of entrance, opening upon the staircase, or landing-places, and locked like a street door. ”

“ The windows give the clew to this evolution, for the wall has been plastered and whitewashed uniformly to the width of over a hundred feet, and there is only one entrance on the ground floor. Working out the staircases and floor levels is a puzzle for an architect. ”

“ Then, reducing the outside walls to 1 foot 8 inches on the first floor, we put a set-off course at C; window sills like those of the ground floor. The height of the first story from floor to floor has already been settled. The under member, D, of the cornice indicates the thickness of the second floor; lastly comes the cornice table of hard stone which receives the eaves-gutter. ”

“ If the existing floor in the house is of concrete or tiles, or any similar material, it must be removed, leaving the natural earth for the surface of the basement, and providing a wood-trellis for walking on in spaces between the stages. ”

“ Yes, one flat; not a pile of flats one above another, as they are built in cities, but one large flat raised high enough to be entirely removed from the moisture of the ground, to give a pleasant sense of security from outside intrusion and to afford convenient outlooks from the windows. One or two guest rooms, that are not often used, might be on a second floor, under the roof, if there was space enough. ”

“ In the inside of the house are set up posts, to which cross spars are fastened, and platforms made, for the conveniency of laying any thing on. Some houses have two floors, one above the other. The floor is laid with dry grass, and here and there mats are spread, for the principal people to sleep or sit on. ”

“ The walls of the well-staircase having a remarkably fine echo, and the wooden floor of the steps serving as a sounding board, the shouting, whistling, and quarrelling of the impatient young costers is increased tenfold. ”

“ The ground-floor is likewise formed of the prepared material, leaving hollow spaces between the supports beneath, for making fires, ventilated by side apertures, which are provided with numerous holes. When the floor is of considerable thickness, it will require the construction of furnaces, in every respect similar to those before described. ”

“ Should additional chambers be required, partitions may be set over those or the second story, duplicating that plan, with rooms having the same hight of ceilings. The stairs are placed immediately above those of the lower stories, are ceiled in, and have a door at the foot.... Construction.—The durability, general abundance, and substantial appearance of stone, make it the most desirable and appropriate material known for the exterior walls of any building. The cost of cutting and dressing such material ready for use is the principle barrier to its general adoption. ”

“ One floor much resembles another, but the basement and the top storey rooms are the worst of all. We look through the window of a second floor back room, and see the out premises, but one look is sufficient. ”

“ This edifice, detached from the walls, about twenty feet, is sunk so low, that the rampart of earth behind the wall is level with the highest part of the building, so that here the sun can never penetrate, neither does any pure air ever visit this habitation, on which descend drizzling damps and eternal fogs, to such excess, that not an article of furniture can be placed beneath the roof, but in four days it becomes covered with green mould. ”

“ When the floor is disconnected one may advance three or four steps, either from the window or door, and then that whole part turns on a hinge and slides you into a padded strong-room beneath, where you may kick your heels until you are released. ”

“ In nearly all the rooms there is an opening in the middle of the pavement towards which the rest of the floor has a gentle slope. It is a round hole cut through the centre of a square stone set among the bricks and leading to a circular brick conduit. ”

“ The objections to their common use is the first cost of good cement floors. Cheaply constructed floors will not last. Board floors are very common and are preferred by many poultrymen, but if close to the ground they harbor rats, while if open underneath they make the house cold. Covering wet ground by a board floor does not remedy the fault of dampness nearly so effectually as would a similar expenditure spent in raising the floor and surrounding ground by grading. ”

“ The floor is made like the walls and covered with large sheets of bark; in the middle of the floor is a square sunken box filled with sand or earth in which a fire is kept burning, and over the fire hanging from the roof is a simple rack, on which wood is placed to dry. ”

“ Paper sho ji, [19] or sliding doors, set loosely in grooves, took their place. They could be easily taken out, to allow fresh air. These grooves were so arranged that the whole floor could easily be changed into several apartments or rooms. ”

“ The floors of stalls may be of planking, fitting either tightly to the concrete floor or elevated not more than one-half inch from the stall floor, and so constructed as to be easily removable. Such removable planking shall be raised at least once a week, and the said planking and the concrete floor beneath thoroughly cleansed. ”

“ The principal floor is the storey which contains the chief apartments whether on the ground- or first-floor; in Italy they are always on the latter and known as the “piano nobile.” The storey below the ground-floor is called the “basement-floor,&rdqrdquo; even if only a little below the level of the pavement outside; the storey in a roof is known as the “attic-floor.” ”

“ An architect is necessary to determine this point.
The sides have twelve columns, not reckoning the corner ones; the back and front six, including them. The rollers on which the stones were moved along, still lie around you on the steps. They have been left, in order to indicate that the temple was unfinished. But the strongest evidence of this fact is the floor. In some spots (along the sides) the pavement is laid down. In the middle, however, the red limestone rock still projects higher than the level of the floor as partially laid ; the flooring, therefore, cannot ever have been finished. ”

“ Where they do not exist, the only means of entering the ground-floor rooms is by climbing a ladder from the courtyard to the first terrace, and thence descending by another ladder through a hole in the roof. ”

“ The floor is pitched above the ground as in the traditional house, but instead of a doorway there is a small square hole through which one must climb on his knees—a psychological design feature intended to ensure that all worldly dignity is left outside. ”