CHAPTER XXVI

FLAWS OR FLOORS IN YOUR KITCHEN

The question of the kitchen flooring in the home is of course, a very profound and serious subject. Those who build away from cities are hard put to it to know exactly what there is on the market and those who live in cities are confused by the variety of floorings and the attractive attributes as their salesmen recite their eulogies. In order to help the prospective buyer we have set down a few basic facts.

FLOOR REQUIREMENTS

Of course, you realize that every kitchen flooring should, as nearly as possible, be:--

Attractive, Easy to keep clean, Noiseless, Odorless, Vermin and dust proof, Comfortable to feet and back, Non-slippery whether dry or wet, Durable (no upkeep but washing and polishing), Fire proof or fire retardent, Impervious to changes in temperature, Laid over any kind of floor base, Lightweight enough to be suitable to any structure, Seamless or joined so as to be virtually seamless, Non-warping, non-expansive or non-contracting.

Before enumerating the kinds of floors that you will have laid before you in this chapter, it would be well to realize that a floor will sometimes keep a maid or lose her, and you will not know the “why.” But the fact is that a floor can tire you if it be not a good kind for the purpose and can reduce fatigue and make for general well being if it be a good type.

[Illustration:

_Courtesy of Janes & Kirtland_

AN IDEAL KITCHEN WITH LINOTILE FLOOR (ARMSTRONG CORK CO.), BUILT-IN STEEL KITCHEN CABINET UNITS (JANES & KIRTLAND), AND COOK’S TABLE, WITH POT HANGER COMFORT]

Here is a list of the most important kinds of flooring in use:--

Marble, Wood and wood block, Linoleum, Linotile, Cork, Composition and concrete, (laid in paste or blocks) Tile, Terrazzo.

Marble can be dismissed as being too expensive, too beautiful and too resisting to the feet. It is also too cold under foot.

Wood is very popular because in the commoner varieties it is the cheapest flooring. In whatever grade a wooden floor is used, it has the disadvantage of needing attention. It always needs refinishing. The better the floor the more attention it will need. It will splinter eventually and show marks if things are dragged over it. Although the scraping down and refinishing always make the floor look like new, the wooden floor is better in any room in the house than the kitchen, laundry or pantry. There are some housekeepers who wouldn’t have anything else but the hard wood floors in their kitchens--oak, maple or Georgia pine, etc.

LAYING THE FLOOR

The wooden floor must be carefully laid or else the cracks become traps for germs and dust. Of course, this applies to all flooring. And while on the subject of laying floors, let me say that even though you order the best kind of flooring in the world, if it is laid badly, you might as well have bought the worst sort of material. It is imperative that you have the manufacturer or the manufacturer’s delegated dealer lay your floor. Don’t go to your village builder or carpet man. It won’t pay; in fact, it will cost you dearly, as in such case the maker of these products has developed a way to lay flooring which is inseparable from the life of the flooring itself.

Many a householder knows a good floor, but few know what to look for in the laying of it.

THE LINOLEUM FAMILY

Among the best known floorings for kitchen use is linoleum. It is so well known and so popular that purchasers in their ignorance often accept, unwittingly, substitutes and lay felt paper instead of the real thing!

If you decide to buy linoleum, go to the best maker or his dealer. Follow their gospel _Buy the Best_. If you heed this you make an investment. If you do not, you make an expenditure.

So when you decide to buy linoleum first look on the wrong side of it, and if it has burlap on the back and if it is very difficult to tear, it is pretty definitely linoleum. It also carries the name of the maker.

It is well for the prospective buyer to know something of the manufacture of a popular article. It makes you appreciate and understand how to take care of it better.

Women should not buy unless they know exactly what they are buying.

Linoleum is made of burlap, linseed oil and cork, as the main ingredients. The oil is first boiled to thicken it. When it is cooled it is poured down over suspended sheets or scrim and by coming in contact with the oxygen of the air, becomes oxidized and solidified. Then these oil-impregnated skins are ground up and mixed with gums to give the fabric elasticity and it is then mixed with ground cork or cork flour, the coloring matter, and the rosin, (to harden it). This mixture is fed into a machine which distributes it evenly over the burlap. It later passes through a series of finely adjusted rollers weighing about 27 tons each and adjustable to space of ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of an inch between rolls which, of course, give any required thickness to the linoleum. This is plain linoleum and it is many weeks in the making.

The printed linoleum is made by passing the plain over print drums.

The straight line or inlay is done by a still more involved process, but the patterns never wear out as they are an integral part of the linoleum, going through from back to front of the material.

Highly paid designers are engaged in this work and many craftsmen of great skill are employed for stencil work, etc.

You don’t always realize the time, work, and expense of the ordinary things that you see about you.

When the linoleum is being laid, look out for these things. (They apply pretty generally to the laying of any flooring of this kind.) If over wood--the nails must be hammered in below the surface, the wood laid too to avoid dampness and cracking. If over concrete--it must have dried a month or two and be filled in with plaster of paris if it has any cracks. It should be laid over felt in both cases to insure long life to the linoleum and the comfortable resiliency to the foot and consequent ease to the back. The felt acts as a cushion, makes the linoleum fit better, and obviates later refitting and trimmings. See too, that the workmen are careful to force the strips close together and cement closely. These things if it is absolutely impossible to get the linoleum people themselves to lay the floor. It would be wise then, to get their

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It is easily kept in condition if you:

Use only mild soaps, never caustic powder, with warm water. Rinse immediately with clear water and dry immediately. Wash and dry about a square yard at a time; do not flood the whole room at once. Strong soaps will eat the pattern in the printed linoleum and wear the inlay.

Use elbow grease!

Use glass casters on heavy furniture as the linoleum will show marks.

Store linoleum, when necessary, away from excessive heat and moisture.

Waxing occasionally is good. But an oil mop does very well.

The numberless designs and coloring to be had in this fabric add to its value and pleasure, and the kitchen can be in lovely accord with the decorations of the house.

The ordinary dripping will not effect linoleum, nor the ordinary moisture. It requires no extra mats as foot resters, is not a substitute but a flooring, and in every way deserves its great popularity.

THE CORK FAMILY

Another attractive, useful and popular flooring is what is called the corks. It is made of clean cork shavings compressed in closed steel molds about an inch thick for five hours under high pressure and high temperature. All the moisture is thus driven out and it is pressed together into a waterproof mass. No foreign substance is introduced to bind it together as this is done by its own gums. Inferior cork tile is mixed with foreign substances and this often makes it break down and detracts from the resiliency and wearing power. After this process is completed it is cut into the desired sizes.

Cork tile comes in shades of brown and there is an excellent cork compound tile that comes in many designs and colors.

It is not absolutely fireproof but is what is called a fire retardent in that it takes a flame of 1500 degrees F. one hour to burn a hole in a tile 6″ × 6″ × ¹⁄₂″.

The cork tile floor of the best make will last as long as the building. It is of the loveliest coloring, delightful in tone, noiseless and soothing to the feet and back, warm to the touch and altogether psychologically comforting to the nerves.

It requires but soap and water and elbow grease to keep it in condition forever. It is never slippery, is non-absorbent of dust and moisture and when laid correctly needs no effort nor money for its upkeep. This is why the initial investment though larger than for some other flooring is a wise one, as it is positively the ultimate expenditure.

There is much inferior cork tile on the market and it is very hard to tell it from the best quality. It looks attractive until it has been used a little while, then it will begin to “pit” and “sap” (become dark, and emit a pungent odor), due to inferior manufacture.

Heavy tracking does not effect cork tile as it is so elastic that is springs back into place. This is proven by the restaurants, banks, libraries and hospitals that use it so generously.

In laying this, the same general things should be observed as in the case of linoleum. It is laid over felt, the base must be free from moisture, cracks and nails. If the cork is put over nailable material, small headless sunken brads are used. If not, it is pasted on the base. All joints are pressed together by a special compressing machine, and are sealed with a preparation virtually making the cork tile into one large seamless covering under which no dust, moisture, germs or vermin can collect.

The velvety quiet of these floors imparts a tranquillity to the kitchen, contagious to mistress and to maid.

It is needless to say much for the tile as you know its beauties. It may be cold to the feet, non-resistant and tiring to the back and slippery when wet, but this is overcome by mats of matting, cork or linoleum. Tile is made in every design and color to fit any desire or design. All corners and joints at the base of walls can be curved. It makes a unit of the whole room in design and intention as no other thing does. It can be cleaned out with a small hose. Of course, poor tile cracks.

Needless to say, it takes real skill to lay these floors as the under bed of cement has to be very perfect to protect the tile upon it. However, it looks royal, it wears, and is a favorite with great kitchen builders.

COMPOSITIONS

The floorings of composition, cements and mineral mixtures are innumerable. Some are excellent, embodying nearly all the good points enumerated in this latter. They are a little warmer than tile and not quite so expensive. They have probably a little more foot comfort but not much more. They are fire proof, do not weigh too much for a lightly constructed house, and are kept clean with the usual elbow grease and water.

These floors for the most part are made in various colors and designs.

In tile and composition the joint at the base of walls can be made practically one with the wall in a curving connection. In the case of linoleum and cork, this joint is either accomplished by a curving connection or more generally by a highly compressed and sealed joint, allowing for absolutely no trapping of foreign matter and rendering the floor easily swept and washed.

Many great institutions and some private homes have found these to be practical, so if you observe the “Buy the Best from the Best” rule you cannot go wrong.

LINOTILE

A newer kind of floor is a cross between a cement and a linoleum. It wears indefinitely and can be highly recommended, as handsome as it comes in tile form, and silent, easily kept clean, resilient and all the good points of cement as well as linoleum.

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