Flooring

“ The increasing use of polished hard wood and yellow pine floors and mosaic work, even in buildings of moderate cost, is displacing the use of cheap flooring, which could be covered satisfactorily only with carpets or matting. ”

“ Floors in the better houses were generally either of stone or of tile, The floors above ground were generally of wood, the flooring often set edgewise for the purpose of producing extreme rigidity and durability. ”

“ Seven feet in from the ends of the raft lay cross-stringers, three by six inches, at distances of eighteen inches apart, on which to place the floor of the house. This flooring may be of narrow spruce boards, planed on one side and having matched edges.
The uprights for the house construction are placed on the flooring beams and sills, and securely pinned to them, and the cross-beams at top of house should be placed the same distance apart as the floor beams to sustain the weight above, as the top of the house or upper deck will be the open-air living-room. ”

“ If you erect a balloon frame yourself, which you can easily do without the aid of a mechanic, it costs the price of the materials and whatever value you put upon your own time.
Fig. 121 shows the manner of attaching the flooring to gable end studding, and in those buildings in which the thrust of the rafters is in the direction of the flooring—if every third stud be bolted to the joist [165] in the manner shown, it makes the tie equal if not superior to that in the direction of the joists. ”

“ This type of flooring is nailed to the joists in the ordinary manner, no attempt being made to conceal the nails used.
Fig. 94 is a section of flooring which is generally made of hardwood, such as maple, oak, or jarrah. It is used in positions such as ballroom and skating rink floors, etc., the tongue and groove being worked in such a manner that the joint covers the nails as shown. Each nail is driven into its position at one edge of the board, the groove holding the next board and hiding the nail (Fig. 95) . ”

“ The planks employed for the flooring of the houses and platforms are often immense, and must represent a tremendous amount of labour, especially in the old days of stone implements; many of them are cut out of the slab-like buttresses of great forest trees that grow inland. The wood employed for the great flooring planks is so hard that the boards are handed down from father to son as heirlooms, and the house piles last for generations. ”

“ In single under-flooring, a common strong lath of oak or fir, about one-fourth of an inch thick, should be nailed against each side of every joist, and of every main timber, supporting the floor which is to be secured. Other similar laths are then to be nailed along the whole length of the joists, with their ends butting against each other. ”

“ The best plan for flooring is to place an impervious flooring resting on the solid ground. This is more secure against rot than the boarded floor, and affords no space for dirt and vermin to lodge. Such an impervious floor may be formed of concrete over a layer of asphalte, as in the well-known terrazzo flooring. This is very suitable for corridors, pantries, etc. For living-rooms wood-block flooring is placed over the cement, molten pitch connecting the two. The blocks are 2 to 3 inches thick. If the wood is soft, as deal, it must be kept clean by washing ”

“ Every one of those you have made is wrong, and they are useless. Not one of your doors is properly put together. There is not an ounce of glue about them. The flooring-boards are short in length, short in number, full of knot-holes, and wholly unseasoned. ”

“ The workmanship of the rooms being all good, the joints of the flooring-boards and of the wainscot panels are all true and tight, the more so as the walls, perhaps, not yet thoroughly dry, preserve a dampness in the air of the room, which keeps the wood-work swelled and close. ”

“ Flooring is formed by joists or strong beams of timber reaching from wall to wall, where they rest upon other beams, called wall plates, which are built into the [38] walls themselves. The floor boards are nailed over the upper edges of the joists, and the lower edges receive the laths and plaster, which form the ceilings of the rooms beneath. Large buildings are sometimes fitted with double framed floors, with two sets of joists, and building joists resting on girders ”

“ The requisite strength and construction of this flooring necessarily raise it nearly two feet from the flooring of the other part of the menagerie, which, though amazingly stable, and capable of bearing any other beast in perfect safety, would have immediately given way beneath the tread of the elephant ”

“ Flooring should wear well, hold its shape, and be of good appearance. In providing lumber for inside finish, care should be used that it has good grain and color, is not too soft, and that it will hold its shape well. Almost any wood may be used as far as strength is concerned, but lumber which shrinks and warps badly is unfit for finishing. ”

“ At this third flooring there was a fresh disappointment, just as there had been at the other two; but the very fact that there was this flooring encouraged them to go on, and so they continued to dig. ”

“ The floor of the Rotunda is composed of inlaid woods, disposed{89} in form of a mariner’s compass, within a border of Greek fret. The flooring consists of upwards of 4000 pieces of wood, of various kinds. The varieties of wood employed comprise black ebony, black oak, common and red English oak, wainscott, white holly, mahogany, American elm, red and white walnut, and mulberry. The appearance of this floor is beautiful in the extreme. ”

“ The flooring is broken in countless places, the walls are sadly in need of cleansing and distempering, and they also need cementing externally to keep out the draught. The seats and benches and the chairs are also in a most unseemly condition and need varnishing. ”

“ This flooring should be dressed on both sides. The outside cellar-way should have dressed treads and risers one and three-fourths inch thick. The wall should be capped, preferably with stone, and the outside cellar door should be of iron. Where economy is necessary, one-and-three-fourths-inch oak coping and doors may be used. ”

“ For upper floors the ordinary flooring is of floor-boards supported on wood joists, beneath which are wood laths and plaster. The floor-boards should be thoroughly seasoned, otherwise they will shrink, and the joints be filled with dirt. This dirt may accumulate for years between the floor and the ceiling of the room below, vitiating the air and helping to increase the stuffiness characteristic of dirty houses. ”

“ Encaustic tiles make very good flooring for a hall, and are very easily cleansed with a mop or a damp cloth wrapped round a broom. A good thick door-mat is a great temptation to people to rub their boots well. ”

“ We will take, first, a short, general view of the connection of these members, and then examine them in detail: endeavoring always to keep the simplicity of our first arrangement in view; for protective architecture has indeed no other members than these, unless flooring and paving be considered architecture, which it is only when the flooring is also a roof ”

“ Here are four sorts of Flooring, some are upon the Superficies of the Ground, others between two Stories, others make the Roof of the House in Plat-form, and the last is Plat-Fond.
To make those Floors that are upon the Ground, you must first make the Earth smooth and plain, if it be firm and solid, if not, it must be beaten with a Rammer with which they ram down their Piles; and after having cover'd the Earth with the first Lay or Bed, call'd Statumen by the Ancients, which was of Flinty Stones about the bigness of ones Fist, among which was mixed Mortar made of Lime and Sand. ”

“ The sashes, frames, doors, shutters, linings and soffits are all framed and put together, i.e. wedged up and cleaned off at the shop; the flooring is planed and prepared with rebated or grooved edges ready for laying, and the moulded work—the picture and dado rails, architraves, skirtings and panelling—is all got out at the shop. On a new building the joiner fits up a temporary workshop with benches, sawing stools and a stove for his glue pot. ”

“ Vertical grain and flat grain may be had in both softwood and hardwood, but the vertical grain shrinks and swells less than the flat, is more uniform in texture, wears more evenly, and the joints open much less. Finished flooring consists or tongue-and-groove material of various thicknesses and widths.
Despite a slight tendency to splinter and wear irregularly over a period of years, plain wide planking of random-width boards makes an appropriate floor for a log building. ”

“ For an American house, the best flooring, generally speaking, would be—for a vestibule—tiles of small pattern and modest color, such as yellow and brown, which would take no injury from muddy overshoes or dripping umbrellas ”

“ Where a very small vestibule is substituted for the reception hall a parquetry or tile flooring would be left uncovered. Over a cheap floor a good quality of linoleum, costing about 50 cents per square yard, may he placed. A small mat of neat design, if such can be found, will take care of those persons who have the foot-scraping habit, regardless of what they scrape upon, though the mat outside should do the important work. Serviceable mats are seldom things of beauty. ”

“ The Floor-Supports
must be of sufficient length to reach from the front sill-log to the back sill-log. Nail each joist at each end to the sill-logs, and place them about two feet apart. If it is thought that the flooring of the cabin makes too much work, you may build one with a “mud-sill,” by using the hard earth for floor and foundation. Abraham Lincoln [121] lived in a “mud-sill” house, and there are hundreds of such houses in the Southern States. ”

“ The strict jointing-up of trough flooring, new to old, at right angles to the troughs, cannot be contemplated, but may be dealt with by treating each part independently, the ends being near together, separated by the space of an inch or so. ”

“ All planing and moulding is here done by hand at great expense. Planed and matched flooring would have large and lucrative sale. We say this to indicate only one of a large number of favourable openings that might be entered by enterprising people. ”

“ For difference between slash- and comb-grain flooring, see Fig. 55, p. 42. 14. BUILDING PAPER. 15. SIDING OR CLAPBOARDS, (See Fig. 301.) may either overlap without a joint or be rabbeted to fit. The best siding is rabbeted. 16. WATER-TABLE. 17. CORNER-BOARD. 18. FURRING. 19. SHINGLES. 20. LATHING. 21. CEILING, Fig. 301, consists of matched boards having a "bead" to disguise the joint and give a decorative effect.
Fig. 301. Siding, Ceiling, Flooring.
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TYPES OF WOODEN STRUCTURES
References*
Simple Joined Structures. ”

“ Rate of Work.—“In one single day three courses of about 3 ft. each may be laid one over the other; so that a wall of earth of about 8 or 9 ft., or one story high, may be safely raised in one day. Experience has proved that as soon as the builders have raised their walls to a proper height for flooring, the heaviest beams and rafters may without danger be placed on the walls thus newly made; and that the thickest timber of a roof may be laid on the gables of pisé the very instant they are completed.” ”

“ Runs uneven in quality. Makes a fair subfloor or sheathing.
Yellow Pine Flooring, Ceiling, Partition, and Drop Siding
Clear Grade.—The best grade manufactured. Practically free from defects and the grade used upon first class jobs. Is strong, sound, and will lay without waste due to cutting out of imperfections. Should be used when a natural finish is desired. No. 1 Common. This grade will contain small, sound knots, sap stains, pitch or pitch pockets. It is sound and durable, and a good grade for ordinary work or wherever covered with paint. ”

“ They are made by thrusting stakes into the earth, to which transverse beams are fastened with ropes made of fibre, and on these a flooring is laid of palm-leaves, trimmed and strongly intertwined one with another. ”

“ The work of laying should take place in warm dry weather. The joints of flooring laid in winter time or during wet weather are sure to open in the following summer, however tightly they may be cramped up during the process of laying. ”

“ The flooring of the platform must be securely nailed or lashed in place, otherwise there may be some serious accident caused by the boys or men falling through, a fall of about twenty and one half feet according to the last measurements given for the frame. ”

“ The medieval floor (fig. 27) consisted of the framed floor with wood girders, binding, bridging and ceiling joists; and the underside of all the timbers was usually wrought, the girders and binders being boldly moulded and the other timbers either square or stop chamfered.
Flooring is strengthened by the use of strutting, either herring-bone (fig. 28) or solid (fig. 29) . Herring-bone strutting consists of two pieces of timber, usually 2 in. × 2 in., fixed diagonally between each joist in continuous rows, the rows being about 6 ft. apart. ”

“ A good grade of pine ship-lap will do nicely for the hutches and floors, although some people seem to prefer to use flooring. There is no need to do this unless you have a pocket full of money to spend, as flooring is about three or four times as expensive as the ordinary ship-lap would be. ”

“ This platform was supported with joisting, well framed, and properly fixed to the principal beams; but the flooring or boarding, though two inches in thickness, was only slightly nailed to the joisting, so that when the sea rose, and struck it in bad weather, it might lift, without endangering the general frame of the fabric. ”