HOUSE AND GARDEN 
September, 1911 
needed under ordinary conditions to finish the work satisfactorily. 
But this quick method of computation is misleading unless the 
condition of the wood is considered. Some very porous, knotty 
wood will absorb paint to an alarming extent. In order to prepare 
such a surface properly all 
knots, cracks, and nail holes 
must be puttied up. A painter 
who intends to skimp on his 
job can easily spread good 
paint over a much wider sur¬ 
face by thinning it with tur¬ 
pentine or benzine. It is in 
this work that the use of these 
two ingredients can be made 
harmful and injurious. While 
they do not dry in the paint, 
they spread it over so thinly 
that the wood has little pro¬ 
tection. 
Parts, if not all, of the ex¬ 
teriors of many modern 
houses are stained or finished 
off in the natural woods to¬ 
day, and this naturally in¬ 
creases the difficulty of mak¬ 
ing proper estimates on the 
cost. Most woods need some 
treatment to alter the color, 
and the process of deepening 
the grain or changing the color without injuring the grain or 
raising the surface is a somewhat delicate one. There are many 
kinds of stains used for exterior and interior work — oil stains, 
water stains, alcohol or spirit stains, acid and alkali stains, pig¬ 
ment or wiped stains, wood 
dyes and the fuming process. 
Most of these stains are for 
interior work alone, but many 
of them are used for piazzas 
and porches. Oil stains are 
really nothing more than thin 
paints mixed from colors that 
have a transparent nature 
such as sienna, umber, ochre, 
A andyke brown or the lake 
colors, which are of vege¬ 
table or aniline origin pre¬ 
cipitated on a base of whit¬ 
ing. Many varnish stains 
consist simply of varnish 
mixed with ground dry pig¬ 
ments, and they are entirely 
unsuitable for the finish of 
houses inside or out. They 
may do for touching up fur¬ 
niture, but not for house trim. 
Another class of stains con¬ 
sists of varnish colored with 
aniline dyes. They may have 
their usefulness, but not for house painting or staining, 
colors soon lose their brilliant tone. 
Exterior stains and varnishes must all be of a durable nature, 
and the best are none too good. For porch columns, outside door, 
window sash and the like only good spar varnish should be used. 
A good spar varnish costs from four to five dollars a gallon, 
while interior varnishes may be had for two or three dollars a 
gallon. To use the latter for exterior work is waste of time and 
labor. It is economy in the end to use only the best spar varnish 
With a good white paint upon the walls and a good green on the 
blinds, this house is not only kept in good condition but it reflects 
a cheery, welcoming atmosphere 
In contrast to the similarly built house above the stained and 
weathered walls with bleached blinds here give the impression of 
desolation and poverty. Painting has been put off too long 
The 
for all woodwork exposed in any way to the weather. In the 
carriage trade they have evolved what they call coach varnish, 
and sometimes this is recommended for exterior house work; but 
while superior to the cheaper inside varnishes it is not nearly 
as satisfactory as a fine grade 
of spar varnish. This coach 
varnish applied to porch col¬ 
umns will begin to check and 
crack within a few months. 
No matter how good the 
varnish is, it cannot be ex¬ 
pected to last on an exposed 
piazza, except on the ceiling 
or protected sides, much 
longer than eighteen months 
or two years without renewal. 
A good many property 
owners appear to be ignorant 
of this fact, and when the 
varnished surface begins to 
wear off after a year and a 
half they blame the painter. 
One should face this fact at 
the beginning. A varnished 
exterior surface will need re¬ 
touching after eighteen 
months as a rule, no matter 
how good the material origi¬ 
nally applied. Most var¬ 
nishes dry too quickly for permanence. They dry by the oxida¬ 
tion of the oil in them, but they also perish by rapid oxidation 
and lose their lasting qualities. 
Wherever varnish is left exposed to the weather it should not 
be rubbed down to deaden the 
gloss. Tt must be left bright, 
for rubbing down cuts 
through the varnish film and 
permits the air to get inside 
and disintegrate it rapidly. 
The dead effect of varnish in 
exterior work is obtained 
quickly enough by the action 
of the weather and it should 
never be artificially hastened. 
■ Where several coats are ap¬ 
plied, the first two may be 
slightly rubbed down to se¬ 
cure a smooth surface, but the 
last one should be left glossy 
and bright. 
One may make a rough es¬ 
timate of what it would cost 
to paint his own house or to 
have it done by a professional 
painter. Contractors gener¬ 
ally have their own way of 
figuring the amount of sur¬ 
face space to be covered and 
then set their prices per square yard for the work. Their esti¬ 
mate of surface area is based upon the general character of the 
house. Thus on clapboarded walls they estimate the number of 
square f^et and then add one square foot to each square yard to 
allow for under edges of boards. Cornices are measured by 
length and breadth, and then one-half more added to make al¬ 
lowances for the under surfaces of curves and edges. Outside 
blinds have their height multiplied by twice the girth for sta- 
(Continued on page 193) 
