Glossary

  • Base Shoe – A molding designed to be attached to base molding to cover expansion space. Similar to quarter round in profile.
  • Beveled Edge – Usually found on prefinished, and presanded flooring. Basically defined as a small cut along the length of all four edges, at a 45 degree angle. This helps ensure that there will be no sharp or rough edges on the finished floor.
  • Board-Foot – A unit of measurement of lumber represented by a board 1 foot long, 12 inches wide, and 1 inch thick or its cubic equivalent. In practice, the board foot calculation for lumber 1 inch or more in thickness is based on its nominal thickness and width and the actual length. Lumber with a nominal thickness of less than 1 inch is calculated as 1 inch.
  • Crack – Anywhere there is a gap between two boards. Usually on the entire length of a seam.
  • CreaseSee Seam
  • Crowning – A “convex” or “crowned” condition or appearance of individual strips, with the center of the strip higher than the edges. (Opposite of cupping.)
  • Cupping – A “concave” or “dished” appearance of individual strips, with the edges raised above the center. (Opposite of crowning.)
  • FillerSee Wood Filler
  • Finish – A substance put onto wood floors to preserve them and protect them from moisture
  • Lace In – The process of adding on to an old floor by ripping out some of the boards so that it appears as if the whole floor was installed at one time. Very labor intensive.
  • Prefinished – Refers to wood that comes from the factory with finish already applied. See What to expect from Prefinished floors
  • PuttySee Wood Putty
  • Quarter Round – A type of baseboard/trim that can be most easily described as one quarter of a wooden dowel. It is usually about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch tall and wide.
  • Seam – Where two boards come together, either on the long side or short side of the boards.
  • Site Finished – Refers to a wood floor that is sanded and finished after it is installed. See What to expect from Site Finished floors
  • Wood Filler – A substance used to fill cracks or holes in wood. Designed to look and behave like wood once it is dry
  • Wood Putty – Like wood filler, but not sandable or stainable. Wood putty never dries completely, but remains flexible in order to deal with the expansion and contraction of the wood.

2 Responses to “Glossary”

  1. Casey Box Says:
    October 6th, 2006 at 11:12 am

    What are the width tolerence’s for unfinished and prefinished flooring from a manufacturing perspective. Alot of our product is 1/32 to 1/16 varience short in width. Most are like that throughout the whole board. IS this acceptable. Example: I have 2000 sqft unfinished flooring at 5.5″ width. Most is right on the money at 5.5″ some is 1/32 or a 1/16 short in width. What is the best way to approch the problem>Casey

  2. Stevish Says:
    October 7th, 2006 at 1:02 pm

    Hey Casey,

    I’m not exactly sure on how acceptable the shorter boards are. We have had that problem before, and I think it’s more common in number 2 wood, but if you’re using number 1 or select, I think you should talk to the distributer. 1/32 isn’t too bad, but 1/16 sounds like a lot to me.

    I can check with my boss on all this, but when it comes right down to it, 1/16th variance is just going to mean you use more filler and, depending on how many rows of wood you lay down, you could run into problems if you want it to be square with the walls on both ends. And if there is one wall that has to be square (ie: one with kitchen cabinets), you should start on that end, because it will probably be off a little when you get to the other side (It’s usually not a big deal if you have baseboard to cover it up).

    Let me know if that answers your question.

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