HOW TO MAKE A CEMENT FLOOR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1354, 10 February 1898, Page 4

HOW TO MAKE A CEMENT FLOOR.

THE METHOD EXPLAINED. Farmers, as well as a great many others who have never seen cement prepared for making a floor, imagine that special knowledge is required in doing it. This is, perhaps, the principal reason why cement floors in barns, stables, piggeries, cowsheds, etc., are so seldom met with in this colony. Now there is no difficulty in making a good cement floor if a man is careful, if he has good material, and if he will follow the directions herewith given. The first rule to adopt is to be sure and use none but the very best cement. For stable floors and for cowsheds, where heavy stock will be continually moving about, Portland cement should

be used. For piggeries and for barns the cheaper kinds are often used, but the difference in the price is so slight that it is always a mistake to use the inferior article. When we hear of cement floors being a failure, we may depend upon it some cheap kind of cement has been used.

Although seeming to be cheap at the first cost, theTnferior cement is tlearer in tils end. Those Whose business it is to prepare cement for foundation, etc j will tell you that with the cheap cements only from two to three parts of gravel or broken stone can be Used in making concrete, and one of sand to one of cement for the finishing coatj while “front eight to- twelve of gravel or fttoile to one of cement can be used if the cement be good, and two of sand to one of cement in making the final coat.

Another point in favour of using Portland cement is that in ten to fourteen days the floor Will be set hard as a rock, and will carry any kind of stock, while with the cheap kinds it will take from two to three months before it is firm enough to carry a heavy horse.

Sharp sand and finely crushed stone are the best materials to mix with the cement. With these materials ten parts of stone can be used to one part of Portland cement in the lower four inches, and four parts of sand to one of cement in the upper four inches. A floor made in this way will give the highest satisfaction. Next in importance to good material is a thorough good mixing. In making the concrete measure the quantities either by counting the shovelfuls or by using a bucket. Then mi* thoroughly in the heaps by turning it over and over with a shovel. The mixing requires to be done quickly. At the last turn-over with the shovel it is a good plan to give it a final sprinkle with a watering-pot so as to have it well moistened, but still not moist enough to drip. You will now be ready to commence laying the floor, which should be done in sections, each about four feet wide, beginning at the end opposite the door. For the floor of a stable use five inches in depth of concrete and one of topping, but for a cowshed three and a half inches of concrete and half an inch of topping will be enough. In beginning the work stake down a scantling four or six inches wide, as the case may be, about four feet from the wall of the building you are flooring, and then finish this section before beginning to lay another. Put in the concrete an inch or two at a time, and ram it solid with a broad-facad rammer, and continue until about an inch-and a half of the top, using a straight-edge with a notch at each end, so that it will drop down an inch or a half-inch, as may be desired. When this has been done it is ready for tho finishing coat, which is made of two parts of clean, sharp sand and one part of cement. Mix the sand and the cement thoroughly while dry. Then moisten it to the consistency you would do if you were applying cement to the walls of an underground tank. When mixed to this consistency pour it in filling the mould up to the top. Turn the straight-edge over, notched side up, so that the cement will be exactly level with the top. For neatness of finish it will be necessary to use a trowel around the. edges and corners. In order to prevent horses from slipping on the cement floor, make grooves four inches apart and three-quarters of an inch deep for a distance of about two feet, at the rear of the stalls. Also make some grooves running the other way, at the door where tho horses are led in. The grooves are made by laying down a broom handle, tapping it until it beds itself over one-half its i diameter, then moving it four inches I and repeat, thus making parallel grooves four inches apart. When a section is finished carefully lift the stakes, move the edge piece over and stake it, and so continue until the floor is finished. In about twelve hours the Portland cement will have set hard enough for a man to walk over it, and for the next ten days it should be protected from the sun and sprinkled thoroughly twice a day. This prevents danger of cracking, and makes it harden more slowly, thus ensuring a better job. In a stable the floor is generally made perfectly level, and absorbents are used to take up the liquid. In a cowshed, on the other hand, it is well to make slight outward slope of, say, one inch to five feet. It will be necessary to secure your levels before putting down the concrete. In getting the level, use a spirit-level

and straight-edge. It will sometimes be found that a little filling will have to be done. To do this, use broken stone or gravel. The cost of making a cement floor does not run iuto much money. Wherever grain or chaff is stored, the floors of these buildings ought to be cemented, so as to make them mouse and rat-proof. The saving of the loss that usually occurs would in one season compensate for the cost of putting down theiiodr.