The Building Industry

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19367, 25 July 1925, Page 14

The Building Industry

JOINTLESS FLOORING HYGIENIC METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION The use of ordinary boarded flooring has for a considerable time been regarded as quite unsuited to the requirements of many classes of buildings in which a specially high standard of hygiene is necessary, as, for example, in lhe case of hospitaals. schools, etc. When butt-jointed flooring is laid, ■wen with adequate cramping, open , Joints are almost, certain to develop in onsequenee. of the natural twisting and shrinkage of the boards. The uneven surface thus resulting is a continual source of trouble as regards floor covering, while the gaping cracks arc passages for draughts and facilitate thaccumulation of dirt, and dust. Such defects ear, of course, be Io m great extent prevented by the employ-; meat of more elaborate forms of joint- 1 ing such as ploughed and tongued or j filleted, grooved and tongued, •etc., but 1

such methods involve heavy expendi - ture, and cannot be deemed so satisfactory from a sanitary point of view as: a thoroughly good type of jointless, flooring material. DURABILITY The principal varieties of jointless floors are cement, asphalt, mosaic and those of patent composition of which ; there are numerous kinds. Concrete with a cement surface is the ‘ simplest and cheapest form of in situ flooring, and for a number of purposes, is quite effective. Floors constructed in such a manner arc eminently fire-resisting, but their wearing properties depend upon the. use of good quality materials with skill- i cd and careful workmanship in mixing I and laying the materials, ami also in i many cases upon the efficient treatment of the cement, surface. Cement surfaces are too hard ami !

cold for ordinary domestic purposes or j lor workrooms in which much standing | about is likely to occur. In order to I counteract the effects of grease, acids.! etc., some form of surface hardener is 1 necessary, otherwise rapid wear and ■ dusting will probably result, and even j to resist the damage caused by hears I traffic a surface treatment is advisable. | especially in industrial buildings. I Tn the surface of an ordinary cement- I finished floor then' are a great number of minute cells, the walls of which under the effect of cominuous ami heavy | traffic break away ami cause lhe surface to disintegrate with resultant i crumbling ami dusting. Then' are on the market various stir- ' face hardeners which have proved efli- | (•■..•nt in rendering the cement flooring I harder, denser, ami more homogeneous iu structure. These spe< ;al preparations are mostly in the form of powder which, incorporating with the icnient, sets up a chemical action ami increases the me I chanical strength of the material and | thereby provides a. non-absorbont and j impenetrable surface proof against ' acids, oils and greases. Patent composition flooring materials for laying in situ embrace a wide range ' of preparations. The general constituents of the vari- ! ous productions of specialist manufac- I tavers include such raw materials ami ’ chemicals as cement, asbestos, calcined magnesite. sawdust, cork dust, wood pulp, magnesium chloride, with different colouring ingredients. NONdSLIP SURFACE. The advantages claimed on behalf of a high-grade composition flooring are that it is hygienic, waterproof, dustless, fire-resisting, vermin-proof. durable, very resilient, and warm to the tread. It is laid in a plastic state, frequently in two layers, and can be finished in almost any required permanent, colour or pattern design. Floors of this description give a fion-slip surface which can bo easily cleaned with warm water or if desired be polished. They present a perfectly flat and even surface for the reception of floor carpets and linoleums. Many of these* patent floorings are capable of being applied to existing floors of concrete, flags, or timber finish. The fact that vast areas of factory floors have been successfifily laid with composition jointless flooring is very striking evidence of its general wearing properties. When jointless flooring is laid in dwelling-houses a great advantage to the interest of cleanliness is rendered possible if at the intersecting angles of all walls and floors a hollow coving is formed in the flooring material, which can be taken vertically up the walls for a few inches at the base, thus forming a skirting far better than with the usual timber member, and making it a simple matter to remove all accumulations of dust. KITCHEN EQUIPMENT. MODERN MECHANICAL APPLIANCES. (Says the London Daily Telegraph.) With the methods of mass production. now so common in engineering practice and the methods of standard- | ism both as regards quality and quantity which are equally common, the public is qow becoming quite familiar. These are designed as means of speed ing up production and of securing uni fortuity of product with, at the same time, the elimination cf waste. They have become the order of the day. Such methods, however, are not the monoply of engineering practice. They have permeated almost every phase of our social life. It is therefore not surprising to find that they have been widely applied in the catering trade for the provision of meals to large numbers of people. One illustration only need here be mentioned. We can call to mind the feeding of the millions who visited Wembley last summer. The public was often entertained with figures of a prodigious order in connection with the catering service. In order to cope effectively 'with, such numbers, and, indeed, with the usual numbers who of necessity frequent the numerous res t aura nt s and refreshment rooms, si mi lar quick and standardised methods can alone render efficient, service. The taste-fully-cut bread-and-butter and the correctly proportioned tea to produce the cup that refreshes would not be possible by hand operation whore meals are required in bulk. A particular brunch of engineering in which wonderful strides have been , made in recent years is that concern j ed with mechanical equipment of large , kitchens. Only a few years ago near j ly all lhe work in the kitchen of large j

public institutions and important cater ing establishments was accomplished by manual labour, whereas to-day nearly • very operation involved in the prepartition of food can be performed by efficient machinery which enables the exacting requirements of modern hotels . ■ nd restaurants, clubs, and establishments of a public nature to be success- j ully dealt with. Thus there are a number of engineer- I ing firms specialising in lhe design and ■ manufacture of mechanical applances • for kitchen service, and there is, at the ; I resent time, a comprehensive range of equipment, including machines for such I purposes , ns chopping, mashing, or ■ ■eling vegetables, cutting meat, I ’■fi ing bread and spreading if , • ith butter, crushing ice, wash ! ing and cleaning crockery, cut jury. and silver. The trade lists of i me of the firms which lead in this' I ranch of engineering contain interest * ing particulars of many clever inven- I

tions of great importance to those responsible for the organisation and management of kitchen services. In the majority of catering establishments much time and labour ran bo . saved by the installation of up-tn date I machines for cutting bread and spn-i<l- - it. with butter. The latest typ ( > s of j bread-cutters enables the thickness of I the slices to be regulated with romarklablc exactitude’, ami also make it p O >- isible to regulate the quantify nf j butter user! on each slice, S o that ; waste is easily prevented. Han dT--■entire!}' eliminated by these machines. I which are so constructed that the comiponcnt parts can be readily disconm . ; - |ed for cleaning purposes. In some i fypcs special provision is mad.' t<, r bringing the butter to the required | consistency according t<» the provt ilin'r I temperature. Mechanical bread and- [ butter cutters enn be operated bv hand or power, and their output iu certain cases reaches a high figure.