The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Interior Decorating

Floors

AT first it may be thought that staining a floor is so simple a process that any detailed instruction would be superfluous. But there are many people who have never tackled this particular type of decorating and who will require the necessary information before starting on a floor. If a wood floor is well prepared, then carefully stained and polished, it will yield good results and wear well.

The first step towards a well finished floor is to examine the boards. This must be a really critical examination, covering every inch of the floor. In all probability the floor will previously have been covered with linoleum, so the first stage of the job is to remove all tacks. This is not as easy as it may sound. The tacks should never merely be hammered into the floor, as the heads will show as bright or rusty spots on the polished floor always. Remove each tack with pincers, or if this proves really impossible, drive it below the surface with hammer and nail punch. Then the small resulting hole can be filled in.

After the tacks have all been cleared, go over the boards one at a time driving below the surface all the floor fixing nails with a nail punch. At the same time note carefully any defects there may be in the surface of the floor. Loose, or badly worn boards, raised or hollow spots—any signs of woodworm or rot—and in an old floor the edges of some of the boards may be found to have curled, and will need planing level. There may also be gaps between the boards. Mark every defect with a chalk ring, so that none will be overlooked.

Commence remedying the faults by replacing any rotten or worm-eaten boards. Any loose boards should be nailed down firmly, ensuring that the nails are below the surface. It may be found in some rooms that one or two short boards have purposely been left loose, to give access to a water stop-cock or gas pipe. Should this prove the case, do not leave the boards loose, but fix the boards down with fine screws. These will hardly show, and are easily taken out when access to the trap is required.