Floor

“ I have seen such a hollow, glazed life as on a painted floor,—which some couples lead; with their basement, parlor with folding doors, a few visitors cards and the latest Annual; such life only as there is in the shells on the mantelpiece. ”

“ In the adjoining room gapes an abyss twenty fathoms wide. Every day we walk over it. The floor on which we walk turns downwards on a hinge, which is in the centre of it, and on the withdrawal of a bolt is ready to yawn open from end to end. ”

“ The house itself is of almost bewildering extent, insomuch that we might each of us have a suite of rooms individually. I have established myself on the ground-floor, where I have a dressing-room, a large vaulted saloon, hung with yellow damask, and a square writing-study, the walls and ceilings of the two latter apartments being ornamented with angels and cherubs aloft in fresco, and with temples, statues, vases, broken columns, peacocks, parrots, vines, and sunflowers below. ”

“ No sooner were we in this vast place than we saw a strange and startling thing—a man, sitting or crouching on the floor, his hands before him, the wrists tied together, his body bound with thongs of raw hide to a big post which stood in the centre of the floor and supported the beam of the loft above. ”

“ The very bareness of the room—its open rafters, plastered walls, primitive settees, and red-brick floor, on which a dog sits waiting for a bone—enhances the impression of artistic delicacy in the table. ”

“ On the floor beneath is a sitting-room where, even when the sea is stormy, you hear the roar and thunder only in subdued and dying murmurs. It looks out upon the exercise ground, which runs round the garden. ”

“ A frail, thin floor and roof which soon melted into the clouds, and was more like a shadowy prism, such as we see through coloured glass, than a strong, firm foundation, and we might well distrust the feeble rampart which kept back that fearful weight of waters. ”

“ The first floor is let to a lady, and one of the girls is chosen to wait upon her; the second floor is where they sleep, in fresh light rooms with open windows and sweet spring breezes blowing in across gardens and courtyards. ”

“ Easy to see the marks; the floor is deep in dust, and the walls are thick with it. On floor, mark of several feet—confused in struggle, may articulate separately later on—one woman's—also trailing of long skirt. On walls marks of hands, fingers outspread, as if trying to grasp. Some of the long marks down the wall others across. ”

“ Reeling, glide at you, we dance it:
‘Tip us nicely for the gloss!’
It’s no putty that we daubs
On your ashen-wooden floors
It’s the bloody sweat we daubs
Over all your pretty floors
We polish it hard! ”

“ This upper floor is what you nowadays see when you enter the Pyramid,—and no one imagines that under it is an open space with room to walk in, and yet another floor below, where everything of value is secreted. ”

“ Imagine a tiny room on the ground floor, badly paved, whitewashed, furnished with a table and four chairs, and an armchair padded with straw, with a little flat cake of a cushion in it, stuffed, I should think, with peachstones, and covered with small pieces of white and red cotton. ”

“ The floor is paved with square red tiles, as in all the houses here, but we have little mats to protect our feet from the chill. Each novice has her table and writing-desk, at which she studies or sews. ”

“ In country inns the floor in the front [pg 195] of the house is often of plank. Matted floors are, however, universal from the extreme north to the extreme south of the Empire.
Fig. 175.—The best fireplace. In houses of traders bordering the street the matted floor properly terminates a few feet within the sill, the space between being of earth. The floor being raised, the space between the edge of the floor and the earth is generally filled with plain panels of wood, though sometimes designs of flowers or conventional figures are cut in the panel. ”

“ She moved forward quickly, and knelt down on the floor. Then a shudder went through her, and she sat back with a low cry.
Once more bending down, she raised the inert mass from the floor, turned the limp head, stared down into the ghastly face. ”

“ Upon this earthen floor, with nothing but its hard damp surface beneath him, no covering but a tattered shirt and trowsers, and a few sticks under his head for a pillow, lay an old man of upwards of seventy, dying. ”

“ There is generally something like a ground floor that is more public, a half-floor or gallery above that is more private, and above that the bulk of the block of bedrooms, the huge hive with its innumerable and identical cells. ”

“ Opening one of these doors at the rear—the quietest part of the house—we find ourselves in a large room, the stone floor of which is covered with rich rugs, while tiles ornamented with bright pictorial designs, or mottoes, cover the walls. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The floor is raised a foot and a half or more from the ground, and is covered with thick straw mats, rectangular in shape, of uniform size, with sharp, square edges, and so closely fitted that the floor upon which they rest is completely hidden. ”

“ It was the pattern of room always to be found in such a house. Cool, dull, and dark. Waxed floor very slippery. A room not large enough to skate in; nor adapted to the easy pursuit of any other occupation. ”

“ With the larger ones we make islands and archipelagos on our floor while the floor is a sea, or we make a large island or a couple on the Venice pattern, or we pile the smaller on the larger to make hills when the floor is a level plain, or they roof in railway stations or serve as bridges, in such manner as I will presently illustrate. And these boards of ours pass into our next most important possession, which is our box of bricks. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.—ENGLAND. ANALYSIS OF BUILDINGS.—FLOOR, WALLS, TOWERS, GABLES, COLUMNS. Floor, or Plan.
THE excellences or defects of a building are more due to the shape and size of its floor and, incidentally, of the walls and columns or piers which inclose and subdivide its floor than to anything else whatever. ”

“ If one enters a room in which true proportion has been observed, where the openings, the doors, windows and fireplace, balance perfectly, where the wall spaces are well planned and the height of the ceiling is in keeping with the floor-space, one is immediately convinced that here is a beautiful and satisfactory room, before a stick of furniture has been placed in it. ”

“ After visiting the ground floor and the garden, we went up stairs. The room which we first entered seemed to have been a dining-room, and had not been entered for many years, if one could judge from the musty smell which pervaded the apartment. ”

“ The white-washed wall, the nicely sanded floor,
The varnished clock that clicked behind the door;
The chest contrived a double debt to pay,
A bed by night, a chest of drawers by day; ”

“ The floor of the room is magically transformed into a prairie, a sea, or other locality, the hidden space under the table becomes a robber's cave, a chair serves as horse, ship, or other vehicle, to suit the exigencies of the particular play. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is a battered old place enough; walls, books, floor, and chairs are the one as disreputable as the other. A little passage runs out of this room into another of the same size, formerly a place of resort for old books, lumber, and sulky or ill-used people ”

“ 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. ”

“ If there be not floor-room, then perhaps there is wall-room, and every possible article must be made to hang, from the boot-bag and umbrella behind the curtain to the pretty market-basket, so toy-like, in the corner. ”

“ 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 ground floor of the building, where money is exchanged and where letters of credit are cashed, is roomy and has a solid and business-like appearance, while the upper floors are furnished with an eye to convenience, comfort and beauty. ”

“ Under the favourable circumstances, on the other hand, floor, stairs, wall, furniture, utensils, and the persons of the women and children are kept in such a style that one of the women from the Yorkshire cottage would not like to pass a night in the place. ”

“ We looked into the rooms, but we did not search under the beds or in the cupboards."
"Are all the rooms in the house in use as living or sleeping rooms?"
"No; there is one room on the second floor that is used as a store and lumber-room, and one on the first floor that Mr. Hurst uses to store trunks and things that he is not using." ”

“ I must mention that the floor is so uneven that no article of furniture gifted with four legs pretends to stand upon but three at once, so that the chairs, tables, etc., remind you constantly of a dog with a sore foot. ”

“ The street floor composed of cave-like shops, the people doing their work on chairs in the street for the sake of light, and in the black inside, beds and a stove visible among the implements of trade. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”