Flooring Terms and Definitions

Cork Flooring

One of the easiest of modern resilient floor coverings, the flooring is made from the bark of cork oak trees, a renewable material. Cork flooring is available in tiles and sheet goods in natural unfinished cork, waxed cork, resin-reinforced waxed and vinyl impregnated cork in many colors including natural shades.

Eased Edge

The chamfered, or beveled edge, of strip flooring, plank, block, and parquet at approximately 45 degree angle. Eased edge is considered to be less of a indentation than beveled edge flooring.

End Joint

The place where two pieces of flooring are joined together end to end.

Finish Floor

Second layer of flooring material placed over the rough flooring or flooring planks in a structure and is often a polished floor made of oak or other hardwoods.

Flooring

Material that is used to finish off a floor.

Hardwood Flooring

Flooring made from from broad leaf, deciduous trees such as oak, walnut, ash, maple or birch.

Jointed Flooring

Strip flooring, generally Birch, Beech & Hard Maple or Pecan, manufactured with Square Edges and no tongue or groove, usually end-matched. Used principally for factory floors where the square edges make replacement of strips easier.

Laminate Flooring

Laminates have a dense fiberboard core with a paper pattern layer sealed under high pressure both top and bottom with a plastic-like substance.

Lightwood Flooring

Flooring made from wood that is light in color such as pine.

Marble Flooring

Limestone flooring known for its elegant appearance created by polishing its very hard surface. Also available in tiles.

Parquet Flooring

Patterned wood flooring, inlaid in geometric forms of contrasting woods.

Plank Flooring

Flooring boards in random widths.

Refinished Flooring

Completely finished flooring that requires installation only.

Resilient Flooring

A durable floor cover that has the ability to resume its original shape.

Solid Vinyl Flooring

This smooth-surface plastic floor is a mixture of vinyl resins, plasticizer, fillers and stabilizers with color added throughout the product. Produced in either square tiles or sheet goods.

Square Edge

A flooring that is not tongue and grooved. Square edged strip flooring is face nailed when installed.

Square Joint

Tongue & Grooved strip or plank flooring with edges that are not eased or beveled.

Strip Flooring

Narrow stripped wood flooring.

Vinyl Flooring

A relatively inexpensive flooring product made from polyvinyl chloride and sold in large sheets or small tiles.

Wood Block Flooring

Preformed wood tiles, which may have tongue and groove edges and in which flooring is laid.

Wood Flooring

Most wood flooring is made of hardwoods, such as oak, maple, pecan, beech and birch. There is solid wood flooring and laminated, which combines wood layered in different directions for strength and to inhibit warping. Most wood flooring today is prefinished at the factory to ease of installation and uniformity of finish.

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