Plank Floors-The Latest Hardwood Flooring Rage for Handsome Homes

It is variety that-keeps the world on its toes-the building world as lvell as the rest of the world.

Those who build beautiful homes are always on the qui vive for newer and more attractive ideas in home constrtic- tion, home improvement, home adornments, home beauti- figrs. And those rvho buikl beautiful homes are always willing to pay for attractive IDEAS.

One of the latest rages in beautiful home adofnment, is the plank hardwood floor. When completed it is a ,.pro- duction in appearance of the old time hirdwood floors ihat they used to make in the years gone by, before they learned to make narrow, fancy floor boalds. The plank floor swings right back to the antique idea, just as do-antique furnituie, and huge interior beam construction.

". There..are many varieties and methods of laying plank floors._ They make it either with plain o. quaiterid oak. They lay_it in random widths, and they lay'it in uniform widths. Some of it is laid with a groove cut between the planks, and some-.lay -it without the groove. Some lay the p.lanks.with a spline fitted in. Somi architects lay plank floors.leavilg al open- space between the planks, aira tney fill this with oakum like on a ship deck.

Practically all plank floors are fastened to the sub floors with brass s_crews, the heads of which aie plugged in and cove,red with wooden dowels. usually of wbod-; difierent color and kind from the planks, ro fhat the dowels stand out plainly in the floor.

Some floors are laid with wooden keys connecting the planks. In the accompanying close-up- photograph-of a plank floor, the dowels that cover the screwJ tdat hold the floor are of walnut, making considerable contrast to the oak planks, and the keys are of the same color as the plank. Sometimes the keys are made of different wood from the planks, giving the contrast. Sometimes the screws that hold the floor are set in under keys. instead of under round dowel plugs. It's all a matter oi taste.

For ordinary floors the dowels are used over the brass :cr_ew_s. For plugging', two /s-inch holes are bored fu- inch deep about two inches from the end of the plank, and about an inch from each side. Brass screws are set in to fasten down these ends, which are not matched.. The hole is plugged with dowels and glue. The top is then cut smooth and scraped, making the dowel a solid part of the floor apparently.

The under flbor for a plank flooring should be laid at right angles to the top floor, and should be tight and smooth.

The building merchant who has a finicky customer who wants something different from his neighbors, can furnish it in plank floors.