The Value of a Good Interior Trim

By Howell Baker, President, California Panel & Veneer Company

The culture of a people is the measure of a nation's spiritual growth. No cultural influence is so great as that of the homes in which people live.

For hundreds of years discriminating people have sought to express in their homes that striving for higher and better things by making them more beautiful, more comfortable, more livable. Architects and decorators have reflected this desire for more beautiful interiors in their most skillful work. Bearrtiful woodwork, of course, has been the inspiration, seeking always to develop new graces and charms, that to the atmosphere of home comfort may be added a real appreciation of the beautiful.

Almost every conceivable medium has been used to express this beauty. Yet, today, as yesterday, really fine interiors have been achieved largely through tl,re tuse of fine woods.

The modern tendency is tolvard plain paneled hardwood surfaces used widely in the past ages.and preferred today. This preference is due not alone to their economy of first cost and upkeep, but to improved methods of treating these fine rvoods to bring out their natural beauties of color, pattern and design.

Due to the ever increasing scarcity of American hardwoods in the commercial market the building industry has of later years effected economies by the use of plywood, and have found that better results and more pleasing effects are obtained by its use than were even possible with solid woocl.

Plywood is a term applied to any commercial hardwood which has been sawn, sliced or rotary cut into thin layers of from l/20th to I/I6th of an inch in thickness, and built up to the required body by plies cementecl together into one homogeneous panel or form. In this way thousands of feet of uniformly figured material can be secured from the same log, making it possible to carry out a wall treatment for rooms of large area in which the characteristic figure or pattern is continuous, duplicating itself around the entire wall.

Veneered panels, contrary to public opinion, are know to be substantial, beautiful, and as lasting as solid wood. A veneered panel, sanded smooJh, but unfinished, is a beautiful thing in itself, of dignified and aristocratic looking figure or grain of velvety smoothness, and in a great variety of shades. When finish is applied, the velvet becomes satin, the color is enriched, the warm tones in the natural wood brought out, and the effect produced appeals to lovers of beautiful interior woodwork by the luxury and sumptuousness of its appearance.

The most used form of built-up plywood is that in which five layers are used, known as five-ply veneer. The core, as it is termed, or center ply depends as to its thickness and construction upon the thickness desired in the finished panel, and the hanher of its preparation depends upon the purpose to which the finished panel is to be put. For ordinary wainscot or door panels a rotary veneer of some light tough wood, such as Basswood or Poplar is most frequently used. In a 3/8th inch panel this will run about l/4 ol an inch thick. When a table top is to be constructed sawn lumber is utilized. Narrow strips of 3/4 inch lumber are glued together on the edges until the desired width is secured. This, after proper seasoning, is surfaced to an even thickness. With the core prepared, rotary veneer usually l/2Oth of an inch thick, is glued to it on either side, the grain in this veneer, called the cross banding, running across the grain in the core. To this is glued the face veneer, th.e grain running across the grain in the cross banding and parallel with the grain in the core. The strength of a piece of ply wood is much greater than a solid piece of hardrvood of equal thickness; it cannot warp, crack or split, and its beauty is much greater due to the fact that only figured logs are cut into veneers, logs that are too valuable to be sawn into solid lumber.

These points in favor of plywood, in addition to its infinite variety of grain and figure, making possible perfectly matched surfaces, is fast becoming a recognized factor to those who build for permanent beauty.

Standardization has also brought the very choicest woods down within reach, so that the home builder, the architest and contractor no longer regard the panel interior as a luxury but a lasting economy in decorative walls.

Wherever possible it is advisable to so design a room that stock sizes of panels may be used. These sizes are easily obtained by applying to your local distributor, rvho endeavors at all times to keep a sufficient stock on hand. in the various kinds of commercial wood in sizes that can readily be adapted to your requirements. In this way the cost of paneling will be kept down to a minimum.

Another point in favpr of a good interior trim beside the sumptuousness of its appearance is its investment possibilities. Experience has proven that a panelecl room is not onlv economical in the long run but a distinct asset if the home is built for resale or for renting. This is important, as paneled rooms with plywood command a higher cash realization value, and will add much more to the sale value of a home. or even an apartment, and will mean an increased rental value far in excess of the investment it represents.

What we have said about homes and apartments applies with equal fqrce to hotels, office buildings and store display rooms. Year after year economy, with beauty, durability and low maintenance cost have been sought after in the interior trim of the larger and finer types of this kind of constrnction and many of their problems are today being successfully solved by the ttse of plyrvood panels.

WHEN WE SAY To THE sMAtt WE MEAN SOMETHING REAL

In fact, we are the genuine "Service Department" for the small dea_ler. Carrying in stock as we do everything for the building trade, and having these great stocks always ready for prompt moving by car or truck, we make it possible for the small dealer to give wondirful service to his trade, and yet keep down his investment, his insurance, and his overhead.