A painted floor can be made quite ornamental by the use of a stenciled border, which should be put on before the varnish coats. The most ap propriate designs are those which resemble mosaic work in their effects, or interlacing strapwork. When the colors are properly chosen, care being taken to avoid glaring con trasts, a painted and stenciled floor is fully as effective as a hardwood floor; and it possesses one distinct advantage in that it can be adapted to any decorative color scheme desired for the room.
A floor that is grained, especially one grained in oak, has one of the most durable finishes that can be given, requiring very little attention other than wiping up with a damp cloth or mop. If well done, it is fully as effective as a hardwood floor.
Care of Floors and Other Hardwood Finish. More floors are ruined from lack of proper care than from any other cause. Most people have very little idea of the method of cleaning a painted or varnished surface; and it is no un common thing for the housewife to have her woodwork scrubbed with a strong soap or soap powder, or—which is still worse—with scouring soap, and then wonder why it is that her painted and varnished surfaces do not last. The ordi nary household soaps and soap powders contain strong alkalies which are active paint and var nish solvents, while scouring soaps remove paint by friction. If soap must be used, then a mild or neutral soap should be chosen; but it is far better to clean a painted or varnished surface by means of warm water to which a small quan tity of household ammonia has been added, say a tablespoonful to a pail of water. If the dirt can be removed by water alone, it is better not to use anything else, and to wipe the surface dry with a chamois skin.
Outside varnish is often damaged by neglect. Take a hardwood door for example. Dust gathers on the mouldings, and rain converts the dust into mud, which is particularly destruc tive to varnish. Frequent careful washing is necessary.
Exterior Painting; Finishing Coats. It should be well understood that no coat of paint should be applied over another until the under coat has become thoroughly dry. Nor should any painting be done while the carpenter has any scaffolds nailed fast to the house or resting against it. Wherever there is a brace nailed against the siding, the paint will form a little ridge, and no matter how many coats of paint may be applied over this spot, the outline of the brace will always show. If the priming is done
before all the woodwork is completed, the car penter should first remove his scaffold, allowing all the painting to be done from ladders. The best plan, however, from the standpoint of the durability of the paint as well as the securing of good lumber and workmanship, is to allow the woodwork to remain unpainted until the car penters have entirely finished their work.
Many architects specify two coats of paint on new work, generally calling for heavy coats. Where only two coats of paint are to be given, necessity compels the painter to mix his coat very stout and to apply it without much rub bing out, in order to make it cover. No greater mistake could be made. If economy compels the use of but two coats, the second coat should be mixed of such a consistency as to spread well, and should be thoroughly brushed out, regard less of the fact that the surface will be poorly covered; and this should be considered as the basis for a subsequent painting of not less than two coats, which should be given to the house the following spring. Indeed, this is by no means a bad plan to pursue, even when economy is not the first consideration, because it permits the first two coats of paint to get thoroughly dry before the final coats are applied, and is in the end most economical. Where only two coats are used and the second coat is the usual heavy one, there is an unavoidable tendency to blister.
For a first-class house, and indeed in any case where economy rather than mere cheapness is the first consideration, three coats of paint should be given. For the best class of work, four coats are sometimes specified, but it is better practice to wait several months and then repaint. Too much paint is a detriment rather than an advantage and almost invariably pro duces blistering and peeling.
Requirements of Good Paint. There is no one paint that is best for all conditions. The composition of the paint should be adapted to the special circumstances under which it is ap plied and the conditions of weather and climate that it is compelled to meet. For example, a pure white lead and linseed oil paint, which is favored by painters in most sections of the coun try, does not give the best results when used in towns along the seacoast, nor does it seem well adapted to the peculiar climatic conditions and the yellow pine lumber of the South.