CHAPTEE VII 



wooden floors and ceilings 

 Wooden Floors 



Ground Floors.— The flooring boards, which form the surface of the floor, 

 are carried by joists consisting of quarter-deals, i.e. 4£" by 1^" scantlings. 

 These joists are carried on wall-plates and sleepers (see Fig. 68), the 

 former resting on offsets from the walls of the building, the latter on 

 sleeper walls. The sleeper walls should be spaced not more than 6 feet 

 apart from centre to centre ; they are generally of rough rubble masonry 

 with their upper surface finished off level and surmounted by a damp 

 course on which the 3" by 3" (or 4£" by 3") sleepers rest. The 3" by 3" 

 (or 4^" by 3") wall-plates, which support the ends of the joists, are placed 

 on top of the damp-course of the walls, which damp-course should be 

 wide enough to cover the width of the offset. 



The flooring joists of ordinary floors are 4r} 2 " by 1^" in cross section, 

 but when a superior, extra-stiff floor is required 6" by 1£" joists are 

 used. The joists should be spaced not more than 18 inches apart from 

 centre to centre ; if, however, they are spaced only 15 inches apart a 

 much better floor results. In farm buildings in this country the flooring 

 joists are frequently spaced too far apart, producing a weak and unsatis- 

 factory floor. 



In setting the flooring joists in position the one nearest to the out- 

 side door should be put down first, with its top edge 1£ inches below 

 the door sill. When the 1-inch flooring boards are laid their surface 

 will therefore be £ inch below the door sill. This allows for a floor- 

 covering such as linoleum. If no floor-covering is to be used the joist 

 in question should, of course, be set with its top edge 1 inch below the 

 door sill, with which the surface of the flooring boards, when they are 

 laid, will consequently be level. 



Floors are sometimes laid level with the door sill, even when a floor- 

 covering is to be used, the consequence being that the bottom edge of the 



