In many of the old farmhouses built in early days, there still remain the old-fashioned kitchen floors of broad boards laid loosely, great cracks gaping at every joint.  If these floors have ever been painted, it has long since worn away, excepting at the corners and sides of the room.

The mistress of such a kitchen often wishes for a new floor, but a kitchen floor in a farmhouse is not easily spared for even one day in the year, to say nothing of a number of days in which to remove the old floor and lay a new one.

Could this be done, there are still many struggling farmers who would find it an expense which they could not easily bear, and for such, the following suggestions may prove helpful:

Procure the quantity of paint required to cover the floor, also a quantity of putty.  Work up this latter with a little of the paint, and with a putty-knife, fill every crack and hole.  This may be done at odd times while the room is in use.

When this work is finished, begin and paint each alternate board.  By using a little care the painted boards need not be stepped upon until dried, when the unpainted boards may be painted.

In this way as many coats as are required may be put on without vacating the room; furthermore, it is work which any woman may do for herself without calling in extra help, for woman’s fingers are very deft in using the putty-knife and paint-brush.

The Household – June, 1896

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