Lifting : Staining : Waxing : Varnishing
LIFTING FLOOR BOARDS. It is sometimes necessary to life a floor board in order to put down electric wiring or gas piping. The method depends upon whether the boarding is tongued, and whether both ends are visible. Take first the case of square edged boarding in which both ends can be seen. Punch in the nails at one end, also those in the next two joists. Avoid heavy blows as these may crack the plaster in the ceiling beneath. Now force a thin instrument such as a stout chisel into the joint at the end of the board, and lever the latter up. Place a piece of wood beneath the raised end as in Fig. 1 to prevent it from dropping back, and lift the board a little at a time. It is often a help to force the piece of wood backwards. In some cases it may be necessary to punch in more nails, but generally the leverage in enough to enable it to be pulled up.
Perhaps only one end of the board is visible, the board passing beneath a partition, or whatever it may be. It is then necessary to raise the one end as before and cut off the board. Once again pass a block of wood beneath, rather thicker than before, and cut off the board at the centre of one of the joists, as in Fig. 2. Then there is a solid bearing for both ends of the board when it is replaced on the joist beneath.
When, possibly owing to wear, it is necessary to put down a new piece of boarding locally, cut the board at an angle immediately at one edge of the joist. It will be realized that it would be awkward to cut right over the joist, but to make a cut midway between joists would be a mistake because there would be two unsupported ends. Bore a hole at an angle and use the keyhole saw as shown in Fig. 3, A. When the new board is put in, the canted end will bed down on that beneath, though it is also necessary to screw a supporting batten to the joist as at B, Fig. 3 to provide a firm seating. Incidentally, this method is adopted when a board has to be raised, neither end of which is visible.
When several boards have to be replaced some means of cramping them is desirable. One simple way is to screw a block to the joist and knock a wedge between it and the edge of the board as in Fig. 4. Near the wall it may be necessary to put a protective block at the edge and use a spare length of wood as a lever between it and the wall.
TONGUED BOARDS. Before a tonged board can be raised it is necessary to cut away the tongue at one edge. Bore a hole to enable a keyhole saw to be started and work this along. Cutting is easy until the joists are reached, and here it is necessary to hold the saw over at an angle. A special flooring saw with curved end is made, and this is handy for the awkward parts. Having cut through the tongue, punch in the nails and prise up the board at the free edge as at A, Fig. 5. When just a section of a board is being cut, the ends should be sawn through at an angle in the way already described, and blocks screwed to the joists beneath to give support. If the same piece of board is being replaced there will necessarily be no tongue at one edge. When a new piece of board is available, however, the lower side of the groove can be planed away, this allowing the board to be lowered into place as at B, Fig. 5. The advantage of this is that the overlapping portion prevents dirt from getting through, and helps to stop draughts.
Boards which have shrunk and show openings at the joints should have slightly tapered slips of wood glued in as in Fig. 6. They should be a reasonable fit, but there is no need for them to be really tight. It is an advantage to let them stand proud of the surface so that they can be levelled with the plane after the glue has set. Glue at one side only.
STAINING A FLOOR. The common softwood floor is always a problem. There are four chief methods of treating it:
- Stain and wax polish
- Stain and varnish
- Varnish stain
- Paint
Apart from personal preference the choice depends on whether the floor is new or old, and on its condition.
First the floor must be prepared. Even a new one should be glass-papered because foot marks are inevitable, and there will probably be splashes of distemper or paint. An old one should be scrubbed with soap powder and hot water, wiped with clear water, and allowed to dry. If it is greasy it may be necessary to use soda in the water, but if this is done it must be well washed with clear water afterwards, as traces of soda left on the surface may attack the finish subsequently given.
Punch in all nails and make good any defects with slips of new wood for the larger places, and plastic wood for small holes, etc. If it is uneven the plane must be used, but this will probably necessitate going over the whole surface as otherwise the result will look patchy.
A cheap stain can be made from Vandyke crystals, obtainable from a colourman's store and many oil shops. It gives a rather cold brown shade. For a warmer colour use mahogany crystals, or a mixture of the two. Dissolve the crystals in warm water, and strain through muslin. The quantity depends upon the depth of colour required. Immediately before use a little ammonia (ask for "point eight-eighty") and apply at once with a brush. Deal with one board at a time, working right along its length. This avoids join marks. Take care when using the ammonia as it can be dangerous. Avoid standing over the container when it is opened because of the fumes.
Another stain is made from Vandyke brown or some other similar colour ground in oil, and thinned with turps. Alternatively use about 0.24 lb. asphaltum dissolved in a pint of turps with a tablespoonful of gold size added as a binder. If either of these is used allow a couple of days to dry out and rub ove with a coarse rag to get rid of surface grease. If it is intended to use wax afterwards it is essential that it is first sealed with a coat of french polish applied with a brush. This acts as a sealer. If omitted the wax polish will lift the stain in patches. This applies when any oil stain is used. There are also many proprietary stains, water and oil, that can be used.
WAX POLISH. Make this from beeswax dissolved in turps, and add a little rosin to harden it. Shred into the turps and leave until it has been absorbed. You can speed up the process by placing the vessel in a pan of hot water (do no use a naked flame). The mixture when cold should be of the consistency of butter in summer time. The stain having been sealed, apply the wax freely with a brush of the boot-brush type and allow to stand over-night. Polish with another similar brush and finish off with a clean duster. Note that no polish can be built up until all traces of the turps have evaporated. The polish improves with renewed applications, but a brilliant shine is never achieved. The polish is in the nature of an attractive egg-shell gloss.
VARNISH. Before any varnish is applied to a softwood floor a coat of glue size should be given. Otherwise it will sink rapidly - so much so that in case of spirit varnish (which dries quickly) it will be impossible to get a clean result. Make sure that the entire surface is covered, and allow at least 24 hours for it to dry out.
Oil varnish is more durable than spirit, but it takes a long time to harden. This has two disadvantages. It means that the room is out of use for a long time, and there is the danger of dust settling. it may need 48 hours or more to dry, though there are some special oil-floor varnishes which are quick-drying. Spirit varnish dries quickly and is better in both these respects, but is rather more difficult to apply. However, you soon get the knack of it. The rule is to work along one board at a time so that the join marks occur at the edges of the boards where they are not seen. Apply the varnish in fair body and brush it out evenly straightway. Do not worry it because the moment tackiness sets in the brush marks fail to flow. Assuming a coat of size to have been given it should not be necessary to give a second coat.
VARNISH STAIN. When a floor is badly marked neither clear varnish nor wax polish is likely to be of much use because the marks will show through. For instance, it may be that the floor has bad splashes of paint on it, or possibly the border only has been stained at some time, and the whole is now required to be exposed. In this case varnish stain is useful. This does the work in one operation, and, being opaque, it covers up all unsightly marks beneath. It dries quickly, being quite hard after an hour, and needs a deft touch. The application is similar to that outlined for spirit varnishing. The finish is quite suitable for boarders, but is liable to wear if subject to much treading.
PAINTING. The appearance is similar to that of other painted surfaces. The floor, if an old one, should be scrubbed thoroughly with soap powder and water and allowed to dry out. All nail holes, etc., should be filled in, and any knots treated with a coat of knotting. Begin painting with a coat of priming, and for a floor liable to much wear follow with an undercoat, then a final gloss coat. A cheaper but less durable finish is obtained by omitting the undercoat, giving just the priming followed by the gloss coat. Special floor paints are available and should be used.
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