AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
March, 1906 
Art-Metal 
Ceilings 
Are Attractive 
Interiors 
ie) 
“CANTON” 
Metal Art Plates 
are famous for their architectural features. 
Will not burn, crack or peel. No falling plaster to contend with. Once in 
place needs no repairing. Sanitary, and saves time and trouble. Low cost, 
considering the lasting qualities. Let us tell you more about them. Our beau- 
tiful book, “‘Art in Metal Ceilings,’’ shows the designs. Tell us you’ re interested. 
@ie CANTON STEEL ROOFING CO., Canton, Ohio 
New York Agency, 525 West 23d Street 
Attract attention everywhere. 
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CUT OUT AND MAIL TO-DAY’ 
FIFTY SUGGESTIONS FOR 
THE HOUSE 
Roof Playgrounds for Apartment 
Houses 
2) |p 
THE size and shape for an apartment play- 
ground cannot be definitely stated, as the roofs 
are sometimes cut up by roof superstructures 
over elevators, doubled bulkheads, steam and 
vent pipes and other obstructions that would 
interfere with wide open spaces. 
It is possible, however, to erect a playground 
twenty by thirty feet in area on almost any 
apartment house and inclose it on all sides 
and top with the wire netting, which should 
be placed at the inside of the framework, so 
children will not climb on the structure by 
holding on with their fingers. Wire with 2- 
inch mesh is too fine for them to get their toes 
in, so it would be impossible for them to climb 
the wire without the aid of the timbers on 
which to get a footing. 
The apartment house playground can be 
provided with drop awnings and wind breaks, 
and a swing or two would lend an additional 
attraction to the children who are too often 
inclined to stay in the house after school or 
all day if they are not urged to go in the open 
air—New York Herald. 
32. Mahogany 
ALTHOUGH mahogany will make itself at 
home in different environments it is never so 
happy as when associated with golden browns; 
with the browns that have been made sunny 
with yellow and _ red.—Lillie Hamilton 
French. 
33. Shingle Stains 
SHINGLE stains not only offer a safe and 
convenient method of coloring shingles, but 
they are decidely artistic, by reason of their 
soft effect, and also from the fact that the 
stain does not act absolutely uniformly on 
every shingle, nor indeed on every portion 
of the same shingle; hence there is a very pleas- 
ing play of color upon the surface, although 
the general effect is uniform. 
The two principal varieties of shingle stains 
are oil stains and creosote stains. ‘The first 
consists of linseed oil with enough of the 
ordinary pigment tinting colors mixed with it 
to color the wood, and a certain amount of 
drier. In other words, oil stains are a very 
thin paint used for dipping purposes. Even 
if they are brushed on, the body of the stain 
is not sufficient to cause dams of paint. Any 
painter can mix a satisfactory oil stain. “The 
best colors to use are the non-fading earth pig- 
ments, such as umber and sienna, ochre, Van 
Dyke brown, Venetian red or lampblack. 
Although any one can mix a shingle stain 
using creosote as a vehicle, the term “creosote 
shingle stain ” is a trade mark and can be used 
only by the manufacturer who first introduced 
them. ‘The advantages which creosote stains 
possess over oil stains is that they penetrate 
more deeply into the wood, and being very 
slow to dry, last longer. For this reason they 
protect the shingle better against dry rot. 
Moreover, when shingles are dipped in creo- 
sote stain before laying, and are given another 
coat of the stain with a brush after being laid, 
mildew or fungus growth can not establish 
itself upon the surface of the shingles, as is 
the case with oil stains having pigments of a 
mineral or earthy base. 
A stain made from inert pigment, ground 
in oil, thinned with pine-tar, liquid drier and 
benzine or kerosene, have been recommended 
for shingle staining, but are not advisable, for 
although the color holds out well the shingles 
are apt to show evidence of dry rot.—The 
Builders’ Journal. 
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