i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the older heart-wood being too red in color. 

 The sap-wood is perhaps the whitest wood ob- 

 tainable, except holly. It requires exceedingly 

 careful treatment and is very sensitive to 

 dampness, so that its use is necessarily spar- 

 ing. In fact, walnut, cherry and maple are 

 mostly used in working out pleasing designs 

 where small pieces and narrow lines are re- 

 quired to contrast with lighter fields. 



By far the most useful wood wrought into 

 parquetry in all countries is oak. Its color, 

 hardness, stiibility, beauty, and abundance, 

 all conspire to this end. There is a common 

 impression that quarter-sawed oak flooring 

 wears better iban plain sawed, but this is not 

 justified either by experience or reason. 



It is an important matter, in laying par- 



SPEei.ME.N r-AUQUETRY FLOOR FIELDS. 



quetry that the joints of the finishing floor 

 cros.s the joints of the foundation floor, so 

 that shrinjting on the part of the latter may 

 not cause open joints in the former. In most 

 cases therefore, a diagonal arrangement of 

 p.'irquetry squares better fits the conditions. 

 I'or large rooms large squares are generally 

 preferred. This is particularly true in Eu- 

 rope, where blocks five feet on a side are 

 sometimes seen, though the demand in this 

 country run.s to smaller sizes and more deli- 

 cate patterns. lu very irregular rooms, nar- 

 low borders should always be chosen. Where 

 many angles are encountered, and where 

 straight lines between these angles are short, 

 it is extremely difficult to get a good effect 

 with a wide border. In a large and almost 



rectangular room, possibly some one part will 

 be narrow, — a bay window, or a cozy corner. 

 Even in such cases, the small border is pre- 

 ferable, unless the odd corner be left out of 

 the general design and treated separately, 

 which, however, is not as pleasing an ef- 

 fect as a border carried into the bay, and 

 around it. 



Small rooms, no matter how regular in con- 

 tour, should never be fitted with wide borders, 

 nor with patterns in strongly contrasting col- 

 ors, for such combinations, like large pictures 

 and clumsy furniture, diminish the apparent 

 size of the room. 



The cuts show various designs which have 

 what may be called a ' ' square frame ' ' around 

 the center. Experienced manufacturers say 

 that such figures have better standing qual- 

 ities than patterns equally complicated, con- 

 .structed on different lines. Of course, in cases 

 where the parquetry is of the highest grade, 

 the uudcrljiug floor perfect in condition, and 

 the temperature of the room reasonably con- 

 stant, the choice of design may be merel}' a 

 matter of taste. But where the conditions are 

 not ideal, and where no special etfect is 

 sought, it is best to choose one of these 

 ' ' square frames. ' ' 



Thin borders and thiu fields were formerly 

 made by gluing the pieces together and then 

 backing the whole with cotton cloth. In faucy 

 borders the pieces were cemented. The 

 changes which wood undergoes from varying 

 temperature and usage frequently caused the 

 glue between pieces to break and allow' those 

 unfastened by nails to become so loose that 

 they could be easily extracted. To nail each 

 liny piece of a complicated border or field is 

 manifestly absurd, and manufacturers finally 

 remedied the defect by substituting wood 

 veneer for cloth backing. The advantages of 

 this method have been demonstrated by expe- 

 rience, until today it is the common practice. 

 Fine flooring must be made of the most 

 carefully selected lumber, but thorough sea- 

 soning is the essential point. An expert 

 knowledge of various woods and various qual- 

 ities of the same wood, an up-to-date and com- 

 plete drying plant, long experience and con- 

 sequent skill are the necessary' requirements. 

 Laying and smoothing a parquetry floor so 

 that the design is perfectly carried out, the 

 work absolutely solid, and the finish brilliant, 

 is not a simple proposition. 



All loose boards in the foundation should 

 be firmly nailed to the joists, and all boards 

 more than three inches wide should lie split, 

 otherwise they will probably shrink or curve, 

 and displace the parquetry. All the inequal- 

 ities of the lower floor must be planed off', 

 for unless the top be in even contact with 

 the underlying body a blow or strain may 

 cause a break. 



There is great difTerenco of opinion as to 

 the order in which a fancy floor should be 

 laid, and no exact rule can be laid down in 

 this respect. Most mechanics prefer to lay 

 the wall strips first, the border next, and 

 lastly the field. Another favorite method is 

 to lay the wall strips and border along one 



side and one end of a room, next the field, 

 and then the border and strips on the other 

 end and side. Nailing is done as the floor 

 is laid, steel brads being used, longer or 

 shorter according as the body floor is of soft 

 or hard wood. Fifteen or more nails should 

 be used to each square foot of thin parquetry, 

 and they should be set nearly a sixteenth 

 of an inch below the surface with a small 

 punch. Flooring should be laid as quickly as 

 possible, and should be well protected until 

 down. 



Smoothing is one of the most important 

 parts of the work, and it is especially difficult. 

 It requires a skilled artisan to accomplish a 

 satisfactory result. The final appearance of 

 the floor depends largely on the surface being 



-A' 



V{ 







SOME CIIOirE COMBINATIONS. 



even and smooth, for it is impossible to get 

 a durable finish or a line polish on a rough 

 ground. Because of the hard wear to which 

 floors are subjected, their finishing is a mat- 

 ter quite different from the perfecting of any 

 other kind of woodwork. A thiu floor is 

 usually finished with paste filler and two coats 

 of the finest white shellac, and polished with 

 wax. The wax will, of course, make the floor 

 slippery, and if this is an objection, it may 

 bo dispensed with and the shellac rubbed u|). 

 Wax gives the better polish and wears longer, 

 however. If the floor is to be subjected to 

 exceedingly hard usage, the filler may bo dark- 

 ened and sandpaper used thoroughly before 

 the rest of the finish is applied. This treat- 

 ment brings oul the grain plainly and does 



