Architects are often shown samples of the beautiful finishes which are possible with the use of this or that manufacturer’s stains and varnishes, and supplied with specifications by which they are told they can secure these finishes, but much to their sorrow the results are not like the samples, and probably never will be. All of these samples are made under ideal conditions by the most careful experts. Laboratory conditions and regularity and first-class skill can produce finishes on a small sample board which could not possibly be reproduced in a building except at enormous costs. In the first place, there is always more or less dust blowing around in a newly constructed building, and not the greatest care is taken in it to provide the exact control of humidity and temperature required for drying varnishes. And, as every one knows, the men who do the painting are generally far from being the most skilful artisans of their trade. It, too, is a big temptation to put on one or two heavy coats of varnish instead of three or four thin coats, and there is not an expert living who can tell how many coats of varnish are on a piece of wood after the work is done. Unless the architect has observed each step of the application, he cannot deny, when the painter shows him the finished woodwork, that there are not as many coats of varnish on it as he required in his specifications. Yet time will tell the tale, but then it is too late. However, the treatment of floors and stair treads is the worry of many an architect, although he ought to remember that in factories sheet steel is laid on the floors at the doorways, and even this wears through. Why should he be disheartened if after a year the stair treads and the patches of floors near the door-sills are scratched down to the wood through coats of varnish one-thousandth of an inch thick? Even the best varnish will break down under this abrasion, but only the best should be used. Cheap floor varnishes are not worth the labor of laying, and yet how many spend money on them. Some architects, and with good reasons, prefer finishing the floors with wax instead of varnish. As a base for this wax, a thin coat of varnish is excellent. Various manufacturers have different formulas for floor waxes, and they are more or less complex, but generally turpentine is the softening and drying material. The wax paste is rubbed into the floor and polished with weighted brushes—a tedious job. However, it is a job which any servant or housewife of ordinary intelligence can perform, so that whenever the floors become worn around the doors or the stair treads become shabby, the housekeeper is able to repair them easily, and there is no doubt that a waxed floor is more beautiful than a varnished one. But remember the slipping and sliding rugs on a wax floor and be sure to fasten them down.