Floors

Leo, the son of the maintenance man of the Whippet Hotel, opens a series of cryptic boxes which reveals hidden floors, strange puzzles, and unexpected alliances and leads him on an adventure to save the building and his future.

Down and dirty – a complete step-by-step guide to making, installing and living with beautiful, all-natural earthen floors For most of human history, people have lived in durable, comfortable buildings made from natural materials such as soil, sand, rocks and fiber. All over the globe, these ancient traditions persist; a quarter to a third of the world's population today lives in houses built partially or entirely of earth. Conventional Western building techniques using industrial materials may save time and create efficiencies, but these perceived savings come at considerable financial and environmental cost. As well as boasting a unique and beautiful aesthetic, natural building techniques are accessible, affordable and nontoxic. Earthen Floors: A Modern Approach to an Ancient Practice is the first comprehensive, fully illustrated manual covering the history, use and maintenance of this attractive, practical flooring option. This detailed, fully-illustrated guide explains every part of the process, including: Sourcing and harvesting materials Preparing the subfloor Pouring, finishing and sealing the floor Living with and maintaining your earthen floor. Because information on creating quality earthen floors was not previously widely available, there have been some negative experiences. Drawing on the combined knowledge of the most qualified earthen floor practitioners, as well their own substantial experience, the authors deliver the definitive resource for this exciting technique, perfect for everyone from the novice to veteran builder.

Concrete is a global material that underwrites commercial wellbeing and social development. There is no substitute that can be used on the same engineering scale and its sustainability, expolitation and further development are imperatives to creating and maintaing a healthy economy and environment worldwide. The pressure for change and improvement of performance is relentless and necessary. Concrete must keep evolving to satisfy the increasing demands of all its users.

This book really speaks for itself; it has plenty of action, adventure, and romance all mix up with horror, suspense, and mystery. The storyline itself is so hard to predict but yet so believable. But most of all, it is a general treat to read.

A brilliantly dark literary debut of death, destruction and interior decoration. "But for the floors, and the sofa, and the porn, and the dead and missing, the flat was restored to order." An old friend asks you to look after his two cats and his apartment. What could go wrong? Care of Wooden Floors is about how a tiny oversight can trip off a disastrous and farcical (fatal, even) chain of consequences. It's about a friendship between two men who don't know each other very well. It's about alienation and being alone in a foreign city. It's about the quest for perfection and the struggle against entropy. And it is, a little, about how to take care of wooden floors. Oskar is a Mittel-European minimalist composer best known for a piece called "Variations on Tram Timetables." He is married to a Californian art dealer named Laura and he lives with two cats, named after Russian composers, in an Eastern European city. But this book isn't really about Oskar. Oskar is in Los Angeles, having his marriage to Laura dismantled by lawyers. He has entrusted an old university friend with the task of looking after his cats, and taking care of his perfect, beautiful apartment. Despite the fact that Oskar has left dozens of surreally detailed notes covering every aspect of looking after the flat, things do not go well. Dark, funny and compelling, this novel takes your breath away with its extraordinarily distinctive writing. The voice is unexpected, constantly, but consistently conveys a universal human experience that pulls the reader right into the world of the narrator.