230 



CANADIAN FARM YEAR BOOK. 



liable manufacturer, it provides an 

 economical and durable roof, and for 

 some buildings it is to be preferred to 

 any other form of roofing. 



Paints and Painting. 



For new exterior work, at least 

 three coats are necessary for a satis- 

 factory paint surface. The first, or 

 priming, coat is largely absora)ed by 

 the wood. Residences are usually 

 painted with a white lead base, which 

 Is sold as a paste containing 10 per 

 cent, of oil. White zinc is also an im- 

 portant base. Each has Its defects, 

 the white lead having a tendency to 

 powder, and the white zinc becoming 

 hard and scaly; lyy mixing the two to- 

 gether in the proportions of 1-3 white 

 zinc to 2-3 white lead, a product is 

 formed superior to each of its compon- 

 ents. 



QPainting may be facilitated if the 

 trim is painted first, leaving the body 

 color to be laid on neatly against It.. 

 The paint should he brushed on with 

 the grain, and each coat should be al- 

 lowed a week In which to harden be- 

 fore the succeeding coats are applied. 

 The priming coat will require about a 

 gallon of paint for each 300 square 

 feet of surface, the second and third 

 coats being much thinner, a gallon of 

 paint covering ahout SOO or 600 square 

 feet. The paint for roofs should con- 

 tain a large proportion of oil and little 

 OT no drier. 



The treatment of shingles may re- 

 sult in especially heautiful effects if 

 properly done. Special shingle stains 

 of almost every conceivable color and 

 tints an.d shades of color are made, 

 which consist of a pigment suspended 

 in creosote or some similar liquid, the 

 creosote having a definite preserving 

 effect. Objection is sometimes made 

 to the odor of the creosote, but this 

 soon passes away; should the rain 

 water collected from the roofs he used 

 for household purposes, it is better 

 that it be diverted from the cistern 

 for a time, until two or three good 

 rains have washed the roof. Creosote 

 is not poisonous, but it is more or less 

 disagreeable in odor. 



Interior Painting. 

 Doors and window frames are given 

 a priming coat before they leave the 

 mill, the priming being omitted on 

 those surfaces which will later be var- 

 nished or stained. As mentioned be- 

 fore, all resinous knots should be shel- 



lacked before any paint is applied. Fol- 

 lowing the priming coat should come 

 the puttying, which is done more sat- 

 isfactorily vsnth a wooden spatula than 

 with a steel putty knife, which cannot 

 be used without marring the surface. 

 The paint for the second coat should 

 have a vehicle which is half turpentine 

 so that it will dry with a dull, or "flat" 

 surface, to which the next coat will 

 adhere readily. The third coat is usu- 

 ally the final one, and may be an or- 

 dinary paint, drying with a gloss that 

 may he removed by a light nibbing 

 with pumice stone and water. 



Enamel paint, a harder and more ex- 

 pensive paint than oil paint, is made 

 with varnish as a vehicle. It is com- 

 monly applied over oil paint which 

 has been slightly roughened with sand- 

 paper when quite dry. When the first 

 enamel coat has hardened, it should 

 be sandpapered or cut with curled hair, 

 and then covered with the final coat, 

 which may 'be left iglossy or rubbed 

 flat as desired. 



Varnish. 



Varnishes are of two kinds, spirit 

 varnishes, made by dissolving a resin 

 in a volatile oil, of which type shellac 

 is a familiar example, and dl var- 

 nishes. In which the resin is mixed 

 with linseed oil and this compound 

 dissolved in turpentine or benzine. 



The gums principally used in mak- 

 ing oil varnishes are amber, anime 

 and copal, the last of -which Is used 

 the most extensively. It is not as 

 duraible as amber, and not so expen- 

 sive. Coach varnish is made from the 

 paler kinds of this gum. Of the softer 

 gums, mastic, gammar, and resin are 

 dissolved in the best grade of turpen- 

 tine, and make a light, quick-drying 

 varnish, which, however, is not very 

 tough nor durable. The softest gums, 

 lac, sandarac, etc., are dissolved in 

 alcohol to make a quick-drying varnish 

 harder and more glossy than the tur- 

 pentine varnishes, (but not nearly so 

 durable nor so resistant to exposure. 

 . Applying Varnish. 



The wood to he varnished first re- 

 ceives a coat of paste filler, which is 

 strongly nibbed in along the grain 

 with a stiff brush, and which, after a 

 half hour's drying, is rubbed off with 

 burlap or excelsior across the grain. 

 Following this, any necessary putty- 

 ing is done, and in two days the first 

 coat of varnish is applied; after five 



