Glossary of Wood Floor Terms

ACCLIMATING  Allowing wood to adjust to the humidity in your home. This is important because wood expands and contracts based on the amount of moisture in the air.

AMBERING  A yellowish color change in a floor from certain finishes.

BASE SHOE  A molding designed to be attached to baseboard molding to cover the edge of a floor.

BLEACHED/WHITE WASHED FLOORS  Floors lightened in color by the application of either a wood bleach, or a white stain, or both.

BORDERS  Simple or intricate designs which frame and customize a flooring installation.

CUPPING  A concave or dished appearance of individual strips, with the edges raised above the center.

DISTRESSING  A heavy, artificial texture in which the floor has been scraped, scratched, or gouged to give it an antique look.

ENGINEERED FLOORING  A wood flooring product that is made of layers of wood pressed together, with the grains running in different directions.

FILLER  Material which fills cracks or nail holes in a floor. It is tinted the color of the floor.

FINISH  Protective coating applied to a wood floor. See Surface Finishes.

HARDWOOD  A botanical group of trees that has broad leaves as opposed to needles. The wood of these trees is normally harder than needle bearing trees.

HEARTWOOD  Slightly harder and darker wood at the center of a tree.

JOB FINISHED  Floors that are sanded, stained and finished in your home. See also "Prefinished".

MILL  To cut wood into a desired shape, e.g., strip or plank flooring, etc.

NOSING  A hardwood molding used to cover the outside corner of a step.

PARQUET  A wood tile composed of individual slats assembled together, forming a pattern.

PLANK  Wood flooring boards 3" and wider designed to be installed in parallel rows. In random width plank, the boards vary in width from 3" to 8".

PLAIN SAWN  The usual way of cutting a log. It gives a random mix of grain patterns.

PREFINISHED  Factory-finished flooring that requires only installation. (Also see "Job Finished".)

QUARTERSAWN  Wood which has a grain that runs parallel to the length of the board (sometimes called "vertical grain"). In oak, the boards have ray-like markings running diagonally across them.

REDUCER  A strip of wood used to join two floors of different heights.

REFINISHING  Sanding about 1/32" - 1/16" off the surface of a wood floor and then applying new finish in order to revitalize the look of a floor. Color can be changed in this process.

SAPWOOD  Wood near the outside of a tree. It is usually lighter in color than heartwood.

SEALER  Any finishing material that seals the wood.

SCREEN AND COAT  A light scuff sanding of the existing urethane finish, followed by application of a coat (or coats) of urethane. Also referred to as "Recoat".

SOLID FLOORING  Made from boards which are single pieces of wood from top to bottom.

STAINING  The act of changing the color of wood without disturbing the texture of markings, through the application of transparent pigmented liquids.

STRIP FLOORING  Solid or engineered boards, 1"-2" wide, installed in parallel rows.

SUBFLOOR  A foundation for a floor in a building. It can be concrete, plywood, or in older homes, pine planking.

TONGUE AND GROOVE  In strip, plank and parquet flooring, a tongue is cut on one edge and a groove cut on the opposite edge. As the flooring is installed, the tongue of each strip or unit is interlocked with the groove of the adjacent strip or unit.

TRIM  The finish moldings, such as baseboards or base shoe.

VAPOR RETARDER  A material, such as foil, plastic film or specially coated paper, with a high resistance to vapor movement, used to control condensation or prevent migration of moisture.

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