Cellizing---Vlfh at It Is Doing for Oak Floors

Although the +CELLizing process for treating oak flooring was introduced to the lrade only a few months ag'o, this chemical treatment has been given sufficient publicity so that architects, contractors and lumber dealeis and a part of the general public are familiar with its wood improvement qualities.

It is commonly understood that.all woods are subject to certain inherent defects, chief among which are: ft is commonly understood that the narrower the floor- ing, the less noticeable the changes in shape are, due to atmospheric moisfure, yet a rathe? damp condition in this house caused a very noticeable cupping in the I3/I6xIl face flooring, while:the same condition had no noticeable effect whatsoever upon the *CELLized Plank Flooring which remained as sinooth as a table top.

(1) Shrinkage and expansion.

(2) Tendency to decay.

(3) Damage by wood boring insects.

These three defects have a greater consequence in some finished wood products than in others.. In Oak Flooring, especially, are these defects noticeable and, therefore, harmful. It is, therefore, obvious that a treating process which does not add materially to the cost and that partially or cgmpletely eliminates such defects will be genirally used.

+CELLizing' possesses the combined chemical actions that will improve wood to prevent .the three defects just heretofore mentioned. It is a marked achievement in wood chemistry and has been aptly described by numerous authorities as the greatest advance step in the history of the lumber industry. It has the highest rating of all moisture proofing compounds which do not negatively affect the finishing qualities of the wood so treated. It is a fact, oftproven, that a piece of +CELLized Oak accepts a finer, higher toned finish than untreated Oak.

The moisture proofing quality of- *CELLized flooring is by far the most important. Everyone who is conneCted with the lumber industry in any way is familiar with the $reat inconvenience and expense which arises when a nicely laid floor cups, buckles or shrinks. Even the most exacfing and modern methods of kiln drying cannot defeat the conditions which exist in buildings where wood flooring is used. Neither can the manufacturer nor the lumber dealer effectively control thdse conditions. The only practical control is to trelt the material in such a warr that it is protected from atmospheric moisture and moisture in the building so that it will not be affected. *CELLizing ofiers this safeguard.

A typical instance is cited wherq l3/l6xll face plain flooring_ (un_treated) was laid in a home. In an adjoinirrg room *CELLized plain Plank Flooring with boards as wide as 1O inches was laid.

Instances of this sort are becoming more common every day and also are corrclusive proof, while heretofore user! of *CELLize9 products havC simply accepted the strong recommendations made by the manufacturer.

As important as the *CELLizing process is, in correcting the ordinary defects in wood products, even greater im-portance lies in the fact that it is reviving some of the business for the.lumber industry which hai, during the past few years, been absorbed by various substitutes in the fi-eld. We are speaking norv of the *CELLized Oak Floor Block which compares very favorably in price with the commonly ysed_.and perishable temporary floor coverings in largel buildings of concrete constru-ction. Wood -flooring fias given way to these substitutes primarily because wood flooring had to be nailed. This meant the setting of wooden screeds in the concrete, as well as often layirig a wooden sub-floor over the screeds to which the finaf top floor could be nailed. Substitute floor coverings, in many cases, c-an be laid directly-over the concrete and consequently, the demand has naturally been for them.

Howeveq about a year ago, experimentation was started to devise some means of laying hardwood flooring directly over the concrete. The development was a fabricated blocli, which is now knowri as the *CELLized Oak Floor Block. These blocks are made up of three or more pieces of regu- lar tongued and grooved strip flooring, joined rieidlv -bv steel splines through the backs of the pieces. fnev arl complete square units'(now made in 6%.,9 and llrl-inch squares) and are laid directly over concrete in Everbond, a-pl_astic _non-setting cement. In spite of the practicability of this idea, it was readily realized that the old strrinkini and swelling troubles, which have too often made desig; or parquetry floors unsightly. had not yet been correctJd. Fortunately, however. the *CEL[ izing process put in its appearance, which, of course, completely solves this problem.

The reader of this article may have been astonished to Iearn that as distinctive an Oak Floor as one which was laid of *CELLized Oak Floor Blocks could be had at a

"Close Up" of *CELLised oak Block Floor' cost which compared favorably rvith that of substitutes' This is neverthe-less the condition and it is all due to the fact that the *CELLized Oak Floor Blocks are laid infinitely faster than the old type of design or panquetry flooring where the floor was laid piece by piece. The great item ot labor cost has been measurably reduced, bringing this type of flooring within the range of any flooring estimate.

As a rdsult, wood can iompete on an equal basis with substitute floor coverings for concrete construction and there should be no doubi that the lumber industry will get back much of the business which has been lost.

*CELLized Oak Floor Blocks are also laid directly over a smooth and tight wooden sub-floor in Everbond without nailing. It might be well here to mention the importance of abandoning the use of nails. It is mechanically wrong to nail one tfpe of wood to another because the ratios of expansion in any tr,vo woods are difierent. There may be a tendency to shrink or expand in the sub-floor and the top floor either must go with it or the nails will become loose, causing squeaking. Everbond, because it is a plastic ce' ment, which never sets hard nor becomes brittle, will absorb any movement irr the sub-floor, thus leaving the top floor in its original position. Everbond is also sound deadening, which gives a *CELLized Block Floor the distinction of being the quietest wood floor possible.

The influence of Colonial and Old English architecture has in many cases demanded the uses of wide boards in random widths, commonly known as plank flooring. In order to obtain rvide Oak floors that would retain their shape, laminating and veneering have been resorted to. This additional expense has confined the use of plank flooring to only the most pretentious homes. Here again the *CELLizing process brings another type of Oak flooring rvithin the price range of the most modest flooiing estim21s-fsqzuse the moisture proofing advantage of the *CELLizing process rnakes it possible to use solid planks.

The volume of *CELLized Oak Flooring used has exceeded expectations and the rapidly increasing demand demonstrates the need of such a product and insures for it a marked future. The *CELLizing process, however, has only been advanced in connection with the treatment o{ Oak Flooring and we know that its field of usefulness is not so limited but that it might be employed with infinite advantages on many other products. Wooden house sash, for instance, if treated, will not stick due to expansion, or rattle because of shrinkage. Doors will no longer shrink or swell and interior trim will not open at the joints. These articles, like hardwood flooring, are at the same time preserved from decay. The high labor cost for rePlacement is a great item and this advantage alone would make the *CELLizing process invaluable.

Further information about *CEI-Lized Products may be obtained through *CELLized, Inc., 606 Union & Planters Bank Building, Memphis. Tenn. *CELLized, Inc., is an organization engaged in promoting and advertising *CELLized chemically. treated floorings, for the several manufacturers, who are:

E. L. Bruce Company, Memphis, Tenn.; Bradley Lumber Company of Arkansas, 'Warren, Ark.; Long-Bell Lumber Company, Kansas City; Arkansas Oak Flooring Co., Pine Bluff, Ark.; Tennessee Oak Flooring Company, Nashville; Nashville Hardwood Flooring Co., Nashville.

Congratulations

Dalton, .June 5, rs secreF.GetgerTruck Go. 3301 E" Shuron Ave. - fo. Angplcr Tclcphonc DElewarc llll5 LUMBER HAUTI]IG HARBOR-LOCAL lnd LONG DISTANCE