November, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



437 



The Interior Woodwork for the House 



By George Ethelbert Walsh 



'*^=^:i'^^'^=^>!S^j,='^P^llj7 remarkable advance in the price of lum- 

 ber — about fifty per cent, in ten years — has 



had a most important effect upon house- 

 building, and the home of the average fam- 

 ily is undergoing radical changes that are 

 almost revolutionary. Good lumber for 

 house construction is becoming more diffi- 

 cult to find, and very costly at that, but bricks, concrete, terra 

 cotta and stucco are not only cheaper than formerly, but much 

 better in quality. Their substitution in the walls and frame- 

 work of our houses for wood is developing a new line of 

 architecture, and assuring for the owners more substantial 

 and durable homes. Architects do not hesitate to say that 

 within a few years wood will be too expensive a material for 

 house construction, except in favorable sections of the coun- 

 try, and the number of homes built of this material must 

 steadily decrease annually. 



But whatever material may ultimately be chosen for build- 

 ing the walls, roofs, and sides of the houses of the future, 

 wood must continue to dominate the finish of the interior. 

 There is no apparent substitution for this work. Tile floors 

 and walls may be adopted for bathrooms and kitchens for 

 sanitary reasons, and marble, concrete, and composition of in- 

 combustible materials may even be used for floors; but the 

 interior trim — the doors, windows, mantelpieces, base-boards, 

 closets, wainscot, and stairways — must be of wood for many 

 years to come. The increasing price of lumber has had an 

 equally marked effect upon the interior finish of our homes in 

 wood as on the construction of the exteriors. This is ap- 

 parent both In the greater cost and the inferior woods 

 employed. 



The beauty of our magnificent old Colonial houses is due 

 as much to the careful selection of the wood used and to the 

 details of the workmanship as to the excellence of their style. 

 The white oak sills of many of these houses are as sound 

 to-day as when first laid, and the solid beams of hackmatack 

 oak have not rotted or weakened during the century or two 

 they have been doing service. A Colonial housebuilder would 

 often select his trees in the woods for the important part of 

 his structure, and the very choicest lumber thus found its 

 way Into the homes. The same is true of the Interior finish 

 and the cabinet work and furniture that went in the houses. 



The average modern lumber Is decreasing in quality as 

 well as Increasing in price. This is due to the fact that the 

 choicest trees have been cut down, and in many cases second- 

 growth lumber Is substituted. Good clear pine of best quality, 

 free from knots and fractures, is very expensive and difficult 

 to get in some sections, and whitewood, which for the past 

 ten years has been used so largely in place of pine for in- 

 terior finish, Is growing more Imperfect in color and quality 

 every year. Even oak comes In a much lower grade than It 

 did a few years ago. Thus three of our standard woods for 

 household purposes do not yield the same effects that they 

 did five years ago, and a house "finished off with oak" may 

 prove somewhat deceptive. It may not take the bright polish 

 and grain effects which most of us are accustomed to associate 

 with oak, and the cost will be greater. 



The use of cypress for interior finish has grown greatly in 

 recent years for the reason that It Is no dearer than white- 

 wood, and does not shrink so much In use, while it is easily 

 treated by stain or natural finish. In selected cypress the 

 grain effect is almost as striking as inferior oak, and the cost 

 much less. The cypress should be stained, varnished, and 



rubbed down to give the best results, and then all effects of 

 cheapness are removed. But the drain upon our cypress 

 forests is already tremendous, and it is not unlikely that the 

 cost of this will advance rapidly In a few years. 



For floors, selected yellow pine in narrow widths is 

 probably as good as any wood, except for very expensive 

 hardwood floors laid in patterns. The yellow pine floor 

 chosen without a knowledge of the difference in quality of 

 this lumber will not give satisfaction. Each lot of lumber 

 should be carefully selected, and when put down In work- 

 manlike manner will outlast an Inferior floor many years and 

 always give satisfaction. Unless the wood is chosen accord- 

 ing to quality wide spaces will appear between the strips, and 

 no amount of polishing and finishing can ever make it look 

 first class. Whitewood, cypress, and similar soft woods make 

 poor floors, and should never be used except where carpets 

 are to be spread over them. A painted floor of cypress or 

 whitewood gives poor satisfaction, for the wood is too soft 

 to withstand the wear and tear, and paint, after all, is to 

 protect from weather rather than from friction. Oak, plain 

 or quartered, ash, and birch are woods that should never be 

 painted. Their grain Is too beautiful to be concealed from 

 view underneath a coat of paint. 



Birch for interior finish Is one of the woods that has not 

 been properly appreciated by all housebullders, and from 

 an architectural point of view it is a wood that has great 

 possibilities, but few of which have been realized. It is not 

 so expensive as oak, ash, and walnut, and Its use outside of 

 the cabinet trade has always been more or less limited. There 

 are three kinds of birch which can be used successfully for 

 Interior finish — plain white birch, curly birch, and plain red 

 birch. For interior decorative effects the red birch has almost 

 as great a value as some grades of mahogany. It Is rich of 

 tone and figure, and at the same time so firm of texture that 

 It requires no filler to make It produce a lustrous polish. It 

 Is a wood that Is easily worked by carpenter's tools, and 

 when properly dried it does not warp or crack. A good deal 

 of the birch cut, however, shows cracks in the tree, and there- 

 fore selection is essential to success. Birch lumber Is very 

 plentiful in New England and the Eastern States, and also 

 in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Consequently birch 

 Is cheaper than plain oak or ash, and about as costly as maple. 

 Curly birch, on the other hand, is scarce and Its price high. 

 Curly birch has a rich chocolate brown finish, and is often 

 as effective as mahogany, but white birch has a light finish, 

 and plain red birch a darker shade. The white and red used 

 in combination produces a quiet and dignified finish that is 

 very attractive in a home where mahogany would be out of 

 place. The decorative effect of these two shades of the wood 

 Is as striking as the cheerfulness of the tone. In durability 

 birch will hold Itself with any wood, often outlasting oak and 

 mahogany, and always retaining its colors. In birch panel- 

 ing, wainscoting, and doors the effect is always rich and soft. 

 When the cost of birch Is considered, along with its other 

 qualities, it will be acknowledged to possess a degree of use- 

 fulness not well appreciated to-day. 



Spruce and hemlock for interior finish are woods that for 

 years have been neglected, but owing to the increasing cost 

 of hard pine and oak they are being employed more and 

 more for this purpose. Spruce Is susceptible of a very high 

 and beautiful finish, either In natural color or stains. Wash- 

 ington spruce in particular has been found In recent years to 

 yield desirable results when properly handled. Piano and 



