Talk like a flooring pro to feel like flooring pro
Whether you’re buying, installing, maintaining, or repairing flooring in your home, you may come across unfamiliar terms along the way. Retailer websites, installation guides, and flooring contractors can all spout a lot of jargon, and it helps to know the right words to describe what you want to accomplish. Use our handy glossary of flooring terminology to look up and learn new words in time for your next project.
The act of wearing away at the finish of a hardwood floor, thereby damaging the wood, is called abrasion.
Hardwood flooring must acclimate, or adjust, to the indoor environment of the building in which it’s being installed to prevent expansion. This includes moisture level and humidity. The process takes about three days.
Aluminum oxide finish is a strong material used as a hard protective coating for certain species of hardwood and bamboo flooring.
The bottom-most layer of many types of flooring, including vinyl, is often called the backing. This layer of felt or fiberglass adheres to the subfloor and provides protection that helps extend the life of the floors.
Another term for the bottom or base layer of certain types of flooring, including laminate, the back layer is typically made of a sturdy, moisture-resistant material such as melamine.
Molding, also called a baseboard, is installed at the base of a wall to provide a decorative, finished look. Common styles include beaded and quarter-round baseboard.
Named for the woolen, textured carpet made by the Berber tribes of Morocco and North Africa, Berber is a type of carpet made from thick, tufted yarns woven into a loop pile that connects directly to the backing. It is known for being easy to clean and for its ability to withstand heavy foot traffic.
Hardwood flooring with a beveled edge features a distinct, deep “V” shape groove between planks. This type of edge style is commonly used for informal room designs or in spaces where subfloor imperfections or slight differences in plank thicknesses need to be concealed.
The backing of carpeting is formed by yarns and fabrics that help to preserve the appearance and longevity of the carpet’s surface.
The surface of a carpet, called the pile, is formed by a top layer of fibers that are attached to the carpet backing. A carpet’s pile can be low (fibers less than ¼-inch), medium (¼ to ½-inch fibers), or high (fibers more than ½-inch) depending on the length of its fibers. High-pile carpets tend to be softer but also more difficult to clean.
Ceramic floor tile is made from clay which is pressed or molded into a variety of shapes and sizes and then fired at high temperatures. This process makes the tiles relatively resistant to moisture and heat. Ceramic tiles are often glazed with different colors and patterns, both for aesthetic reasons and for improved moisture resistance.
The bark of the cork oak tree is used to make floor coverings and underlayment for hardwood floors. Cork is also used as a backing for vinyl flooring products because of its softness.
Cove molding is a type of decorative trim used to create a finished appearance between either the floor and a wall or a wall and the ceiling.
Cut pile carpet features fibers that are cut, rather than looped into the backing, for a much softer feel than loop pile carpets such as Berber. Different types of cut pile include plush and shag carpet.
The decorative layer of vinyl or laminate flooring is situated between the transparent surface wear layer and the foam inner core. It contains a printed or photographic design that often imitates the look of wood grain, marble, or ceramic tile.
Density is a value that refers to how close together the fibers of a carpet are. If a density number is higher, the carpet is denser, which means it can withstand heavy foot traffic and wear. This is calculated by multiplying the weight of a carpet’s pile by 36, then dividing the result by the pile height.
Distressed hardwood refers to a broad category of plank styles with intentional scratching, scraping, or gouging of the surface to create an antique look. Unique, natural-looking distressed styles are created by hand scraping, although machine-scraped styles are also available. This style is useful for hiding marks and scratches in high-traffic rooms.
Sometimes referred to as cross-ply or multi-ply construction, this type of wood flooring consists of multiple layers of wood pressed together. Compared to solid wood, engineered hardwood flooring costs less and can better resist moisture damage.
Gaps called an expansion space are left to allow the wood or laminate flooring room to expand safety as humidity levels change. Without this space, the floorboards could shift and push one another out of position.
The middle layer of a laminate floor is the fiberboard core, which is made from softwood fibers. This layer gives laminate greater stability and impact resistance.
Often used as a backing for vinyl floors, fiberglass is a thicker, durable loose-lay backing. It can be installed with non-permanent adhesive, making it easy to replace tiles should they become wet or damaged.
Hardwood, laminate, tile, and vinyl floors are coated with a decorative finish designed to protect the surface from scuffs and wear.
A floating installation is when the floor covering material (boards, planks, or tiles) does not attach to an underlayment or subfloor. Instead, these floors are snapped or glued together at the edges and end joints. This type of floor is typically quicker and easier to install than an attached floor.
A floor covering is the layer of material such as carpet or tile that covers the floor of a room. It usually sits on top of the underlayment or subfloor.
Layered products such as vinyl may have a foam inner core between the backing and the decorative layer. Its thickness determines the product’s resiliency and cushion levels.
Pronounced “free-ZAY,” frieze is a cut pile carpet with high-pile fibers. These fibers are twisted multiple times to give them a distinctive texture and better resistance to heavy foot traffic.
A type of finish, Glaze is a clear, glass-like substance applied to the surface of tile to add color, smoothness, and shine.
A floor’s gloss level refers to the reflection from its finish. Standard gloss levels include satin or matte—which have little or no reflection—semi-gloss, and high gloss.
Several types of engineered hardwood, vinyl, and laminate flooring can be installed as glueless click-lock floors. No glue is required for these installations, as the edges of planks simply click and lock together. This type of installation is easy for do-it-yourselfers.
Grade level refers to the level of construction in comparison to the ground surrounding it. On-grade flooring installation is at ground level. Below-grade is below ground level, and above-grade is above ground. Certain types of flooring have limitations on which grade they can be installed. For example, solid hardwood should not be installed below grade.
The visible, vertical patterns on a wood plank are known as its wood grain.
Grout is a paste or mortar called used to fill the gaps and crevices between tiles to hold them in place on a wall or floor.
A wood floor’s hardness is its ability to withstand the pressure that would result in visible denting, marks, and wear.
Hardwood flooring is the wood harvested from broad-leaved deciduous trees. Common species used to make flooring include cherry, poplar, oak, maple, beech, walnut, and ash.
Impact resistance measures how well a flooring material can withstand the force of dropped items. Floors with high impact resistance can withstand regular dropped or dragged items and continue to remain intact.
Under many floors or ceilings are parallel lengths of timber or steel called joists. These help support the building’s structure. You can often see them exposed in the ceilings of unfinished basements.
Lacquer is a very shiny type of finish used on hardwood flooring.
Laminate flooring is a synthetic, hard surface material designed to mimic the look and feel of ceramic tile, stone, or wood floors at a lower price point. They feature a medium or high-density fiber core that varies in thickness.
Also called lino, linoleum flooring is fully recyclable and made from 100% natural materials such as linseed oil and powdered cork, wood, or stone. It has a very similar appearance to vinyl flooring.
Uncut carpet fibers that attach to the backing on both ends create a loop pile. One popular style of loop pile carpet is Berber.
Sometimes used as a flooring material, marble stone is a natural stone with a distinct swirl or colored vein appearance. Marble tends to be a higher-budget, high-maintenance flooring material.
Melamine is a resin used to form part of the back layer of laminate flooring. This helps support and reinforce the laminate tiles or planks. It can also provide a tough and durable finish as part of the floor’s wear layer.
A pattern or picture created from small pieces of glass, stone, marble, tile, or another hard substance form a mosaic.
Sometimes simply called the reducer, this provides a transition to another floor with a lower height. For example, an overlap reducer would be used to transition from a hardwood floor to bare concrete in a doorway leading to a garage.
Fitted on the edge of the top stair, an overlap stair nose is a piece of molding that transitions the material used on a set of stairs to the one on the floor below.
Parquet floors are a type of hardwood flooring installation involving an angular geometric mosaic of wood small wood pieces. Parquet patterns can consist of squares, triangles, herringbone layouts, and more. This style became popular in the United States in the 1960s and is now experiencing a resurgence in popularity.
When vinyl sheet floors are installed with only the outer edges glued to the subfloor, this is called perimeter adhered flooring.
Plush carpet features a very soft, high-cut pile in which all fibers are the same height and arranged very close together. This popular carpet type is also sometimes called velvet carpet.
Porcelain tile is a harder, more moisture-resistant type of ceramic tile. It’s prized for being stain resistant and easy to clean. Due to its smoother surface, porcelain tends to be more brittle and fragile under pressure and more slippery.
In-floor radiant heating is a heating system installed below flooring designed to keep floors at a comfortable temperature while also improving a home’s energy efficiency—especially during colder months.
You can minimize the appearance of scratches, scuff marks, and other signs of wear or damage on your hardwood floors by refinishing, which involves adding a new topcoat of finish.
When you purchase carpet, it is cut from rolls into the size you need for your space. The end of a roll is called a carpet remnant, and can be used as a throw rug or to carpet a small portion of a room.
If a hardwood flooring plank is made from a single, solid piece of wood, it is referred to as solid hardwood. This type of floor is one of the most durable options as well as one of the most expensive. Solid hardwood is also more susceptible to moisture damage than engineered hardwood flooring.
Subflooring is the structural foundation made from cement or plywood that provides support beneath a floor covering such as hardwood, tile, or laminate.
Substrate is a material that provides a smooth surface under a floor covering. It can refer to subfloors, underlayment, or an existing floor covering beneath a floating floor installation.
This hard, durable flooring is produced using marble chips that’s set into mortar and polished into a smooth surface. Terrazzo flooring is often available in tile form.
Tile is a floor, wall, countertop, and shower covering made from ceramic clay or stone and then cut into squares or other geometric shapes.Tile is often treated to provide resistance to moisture, stains, and slipping.
Laminate or hardwood planks manufactured with this type of edge protrude in a tongue on one side and a groove on the other. Here, the tongue of one plank fits into the groove of the next for a seamless installation that offers flexibility and movement.
The thin layer of material installed between a finished floor covering and the subfloor below is called the underlayment. It facilitates better adhesion, helps to level the new floor, and provides additional support, cushioning, and insulation.
Coarse hardwood floors often receive a thin application fine wood covering called a veneer for decorative purposes. A veneer of a luxury wood species can enhance the appearance of a less expensive wood plank without sacrificing quality.
Vinyl flooring consists of multiple layers of synthetic materials, which provide resilience and resistance to scratches, stains, and other wear. You’ll find vinyl plank that imitates wood, vinyl tile that mimics ceramic or stone, and vinyl sheet that can cover wide areas of the floor. Sheet vinyl can feature solid colors, patterns, or wood and stone looks.
Many types of flooring tend to warp, bend, and distort their shape due to drastic changes in temperature or humidity.
Waterproof floors are treated or sealed to be completely resistant to damage from water. Certain tile, laminate, and vinyl products are waterproof.
The top layer of vinyl flooring is a clear surface finish called the wear layer, which protects the decorative layer below from damage. Wear layers are made from urethane and aluminum oxide and vary in their ability to resist fading, moisture, stains, foot traffic, scuffing, and wear. The wear layer can also help make a floor waterproof.
