ASPHALTE FLOORING, 83 
other, brush the joint clean, and see you press the 
hot asphalte well into the edge of the cold flag. 
The straight-edges should be three-fourths of an 
inch thick, and are better made of malleable or cast. 
iron. The cast iron ones are generally bevelled on the 
one side, so as to form the edge of channels when 
turned upside down. Wooden straight-edges will do, 
if rubbed over with chalk or clay, to prevent the 
asphalte adhering to them, In making a channel im 
the asphalte, the bottom must be first laid three- 
fourths of an inch below the finished surface. When 
cool, the bevelled irons can then be laid upon it up- 
side down, and the floor proceeded with as usual. 
Stir the bitumen occasionally while melting to pre- 
vent it burning, or clinkering to the bottom of the 
boiler; and see you prevent any great amount of rain 
from getting in, or the contents may chance to boil 
over. When the asphalte is about to be laid down, 
see thatitis hot enough, and the cans and ladle well 
heated before the fire. In emptying the cans, scrape 
them out every time, or they will get crusted up, and 
carry almost nothing. 
In all. cases where there is to be much traffic, such 
as at doors or door-steps, it is a good rule always 
to lay the asphalte a little thicker than over the 
rest of the floor—perhaps even to double-coat a square 
yard or twe there, You will do well to paint all iron- 
work and the edges of door-steps and other parts to 
which you wish the asphalte to adhere firmly with 
black varnish. When the varnish dries, the asphalte 
will etick far more firmly to the stone or iron-work. 
For kitehen floor, bakehouses, smithy-shops, and 
other fioors where there is to be always much heat, 
hard bitumen should be used, and made stiff with 
gravel, and spread het. 70 ecwt. of bitumen will do 
100 sqnare yards of good single, and 90 cwt. the same 
extent of double asphalte. The blocks of bitumen 
weigh about 2 cwt. each. A cubic yard of broken 
metal should serve 14 to 15 square yards of single, 
and 12 te 13 yards of double asphalte work. 
Pitch oil is used to soften the bitumen when too 
hard for the sort of work intended. It is added 
slowly to the mixture in the boiler immediately after 
the sand. In forming roads for cart traffic, a larger 
addition of this pitch oil is absolutely requisite. The 
metal should be dry and free from dirt, and spread 
three to four inches thick with a slight rise from 
side to centre. This is grouted full of hot balf-gray- 
elled asphalte—the stones left appearing on the surface 
so as to catch the horses’ feet. The surface should be 
well sanded, and firmly rammed as it cools. Where 
the cart traffic is great, a second coarse of this grouted 
metal is often necessary. 
