HEARTH And HOME

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19544, 14 February 1929, Page 4

HEARTH And HOME

| (By "Bailder.") j "Builder" invitee contributions I from readers 011 su»y Matters of I interest which they might like to ; propose. Correspondence on varij out subjects pertaining to building j will also l>e accepted. notes. £ia;:« have been drawn Oat ta couvert the Normal School into * training centre. The work would cost ot £IS,COO. Tue Education Depaitme.'it 5 as ta2 work under coniidera.ion. Ike plan provide# for a removal of a wall in the. wicg whiefc runs along Kilmore street, and the eon version of t!ie drawing-room* to woodwork and cookery rooms. Work oa Fullers' new theatre at the <2ic>::k Totver is proceeding apace, and ( ihe contractors hope to have the build- ! i:sg completed within the specified time. ! Considerable excavations have been I made on the Manchester street front- | age, to provide a suitable foundation. Tenders for repairs and renovations I to the manager's house, Sockburn ab&tS toirs, close with the Town Clerk (Sir J. js. Neville) on Monday, February 18th. j The Public Works Department invites j tenders for the extension of living qparI ters at the Hororata sub-station. They I close on Tuesday, February 26th. t The Department has also called for tenders for the supply, delivery, sad erection of refrigerating plant at Seacliff Mental Hospital. They elo3e at 4 p.m. on March sth. Tenders addressed to the General i Manager New Zealand Railways will ibe received np to noon on Thursday, ! July 18th, for the supply of substation eqaipmefit at Auckland.

FLOORS.

THE VALUE OP STAINING. Every floor, whether laid in timber ranging from costly oak or parquetry to cheap pin*, oftft be unproved in appearance if properly taken care of and correctly treated. It is seldom, nowadays, that the whole floor space of a room is covered lrom wall to wall with carpet or linoleum, the usual method being to stain and varnish, or stain and polish, the whole floor and put down rugs, or . alternatively, to teavo a wood surround with a squar* of carpot in th* «ntre. In th« cm* of n room whioh has Won n*wly loernd, or has a «ur«mnd of pirquttr? or hardwood, such as oak or teak, the problem of kMptrtg saeh in good » stmpk UiV fioowbein* treat*! as dust should ftrat be removed with ft hard brush and the tMStor the* 0m two ooat* of oa. Ath* tatt*r is dry. the fioor is n«Kt polish*d with a «w*l»r* o* bMim and .tnrptntin* the consistency <rf a thick cream, tms ! composition being well rubbed into the wood until * (rood gloss is obtained. A floor finished in this manner only requires aji 066A*i<Xlfcl oollih with the beeswax and turpentine and going over daily with a mop to keep it m good condition. In treating a floor Or surround where the flooring i* n*w and the Joint* are not showing signs of opening, the boards are first washed and scrubbed and allowed to dry thoroughly, then, just previous to to* stain being ap- , plied, the floor is gone over with a ! dry duster, and ell the dust removed. : Two coat* of spirit stain—not a mi*ture of stain and varnish —to th* desired Colour ax* then pat on With a soft brush or pad, the second coat being applied after the first coat is thoroughly dry. The floor can be finished with beeswax and turpentine, as before described, or given two coat* of clear, hard, copal varnish. Where it is desired to treat an old j floor, it ia necessary first to fill up all open joints and cracks, fix down any loose boards, and to punch ia any protruding nail heads. If th* opening* between the board* are very wide, lath*, glued on both sides, should be driven into the Joints and planed down level with the existing floor boards. If, hftwtver, the joints are only slightly open, the openings may be filled in with patty, 'fh* staining and polishing prdcess may then bo proceeded with, aa previously mentioned. When a floor has been painted a»d it i* desirable to remove th* old paint previous to repainting or staining, this is belt don* by using a paint remover which can be purchased at any painter's or ironmonger's establishment. It is always better, in every instance. before commencing to treat a floor, to give the boarding a good rob down with sandpaper and another important point to remember is that if a water stain is preferred to a spirit Stain the boards should be given a cOat of sise first, a* this helps to fill the grain of th* wood and prevents th* stain from being soafeod in too amch.—"lllustrated Carpenter and Btfilder."

NEW ACCOMMODATION.

FOR MIL FORD TRACK TOURISTS.

There were no*; wanting those who were of the opinion that the old Glad* House, destroyed by fir'* on New Year's Day, had outlived its time in view of th* increasing popularity of the Milford fraek and it Will come as welcome news to those who have made the trip that the sew accommodation there will be more commodious and will offer more up-to-date facilities generally. At present the traffic on the track not being interrupted, tourists being accommodated under canvas, while the Public Works department is building a cook-house. Mr Collett, of the Tourist Department's head office, is at present at the site of Glade House superintending the arrangements. In the past the number of each party taking the walk was determined by the aseommOdation available, not only at Glade Boas* and at Milford, bat at th* Pompaloaa and Quinton Huts en r*ut«. With' new hostels, catering for larger numbers at both ends of th* trip, attention will probably be given to increasing the accommodation at th* hats also. Thi* could b* done with advantage at th* Quinton Hut particularly, as it is th* point of divergence tdt th* Sutherland rails. With a tittle «xtra accommodstiOi,. there would be I*** trouble in deve*taitiag is th* parti** arriving, a* they do not always adhere to their original plans, and in the past those etaying at Glade House, or wishing to put in more time at the rails, added to the congestion caused by the seheduled oar ties in ih* busy

| HOME BUILDERS' GUIDE.

j value of models. j I FOR THE MAN-IN-THE-STREET. i -- f I To the man-in-the-6tre«t plan* and ! elevations are ft little confusing. Ther« j are so many little point# that escape j him, and the finished house is ofteu i different in many respects from the idea j hj« has formed of it from the archi- | tzcz's plans. Many overseas arehiI Lectb realise this difficulty, and so that j & man can have an exact knowledge of how hie hoys* will look when it is I luilt a model is made which reproj duces every point faithfully. With one of these models in front of him j the prospective builder sees exactly j what the finished house will look like, | .:nd can suggest any alterations he j may wiih to be made. I To t>how .how this method of -i«placing houses has grown in popularity, juit over a year ago there was only" one exponent of this art in Australasia, Misi Rona Stephens, and now many or the draughtsmen in the various architects' offices include modelmaking among their tasks. The models are made to scale, and are finished with such meticulous attention to detail that the completed model is perfect, and the effect of tiles and woodwork can be fully judged. Card is the mam material used tor these models. It is cut to the exact size with a guillotine, And the various parts are joined together by strip* of brown paper pasted onderneatn. The windows are sometimes cut out of the actual side, but are more generally c-nt out separately and pasted on. Each pane is cut out with a sharp knife, and the panes are in most Cases of real glass. For the stained glass that is seen in so many modern houses, Mis» Stephens uses lantern slides, as they can easily be painted in any design. Corrugated iron is easily simulated !hy using corrugated cardboard «.nd painting it with aluminium paint, and most effective roofs and tanks rre made in this way. For a long time weatherboard was difficult to reproduce, and many experiments were made from cutting each board out separately in card to painting the card to represent boards. The most successful is Miss Stephens's method, in which she uses sheet tiit and grooves it and then paints it. This reproduction is perfect. Stucco effects are gained by mixing calcimine very thickly and painting it on in broad strobes, while brickwork, stone, shingles, and tiles hare to be drawn and painted on plain. Most models art finished with curtains at each window, and in com cases the interiors are fitted also. This is mostly for exhibition and show-room purposes, and much ingenuity is exercised. Scrap* of carpet cover the Soon of the main rooms, and in the kitchen Sanitas paper represents tile* and other patterns do excellently tor linoleum. In many eases the various firms supply tiny models of furniture, rooking stoves, and sinks. The whole effect gives an exftct picture of what the finished House wilt look like. The work dc*» not ahtAys tuba with the completion of the model house, for in many cases the surrounding land and garden are also reproduced. The effect of grass is gained by sprinkling sawdust, which has previously been dyed green, on to a paste-covered surface, or else Turkish towelling, also dyed green, is neatly stretched and pasted down. | This latter gives an excellent picture I of a trim, well-kept lawn. Trees are I made from loofah which has been dipped into the same green dye, and can then be cut out to represent (repress, gum, oak, or elm, aa you please. Flowers mostly come from the artificial flower counter, as they arc difficult to make. Water has either to be painted or else glass must be used, while coarse sand is an excellent substitute for gravel for drives and pathways. These are all, of course, non-eseen-tials, but they serve to make the model vary attractive. The chief satisfaction lies in the fact that the actual model is made to scale in every detail, and from it can be judged the exact proportions, line, design, and colouring of tin house to be built. Some model* are made so that the roof can be lifted off and the interior arrangement of the rooms shown. From the housewife's point of view this is an excellent plan, for not only does she get a good idea of the ex- [ terior of her future home, but the interior is finished with such detail that she can gauge how to adapt her prosent furnishings or plan her new ones so that they will show to beet advant4fTot only do the Australians and Americans use the models for this purpose ; man/ estate agents use them in their windows. Many big firms, too, ask for models of their new works and buildings. Miss Stephens made a jiost intricate model of some works at Broken Hill, and one Melbourne firm specialises in plaster models, and baa exhibited very realistically executed mdtiels of some of the large new buildings that are being erected in taat city. Planning these models is an accomplishment that caUs for clever Sngort and a great deal of patience. A certain amount of technical knowledge of the architects' craft is also a necessity, as the models must be accurate or they lose all value. One single model tjiay take anything from a few days to a little over a week, according to the size and amount of detail Meded, and the price paid for tbem in Australia ranges from a small figure to about £3O for the larger and more elaborate designs.