The ABC’s of Flooring: The Most Important Flooring Terms

You know your traditional ABC’s, but do you know your flooring ABC’s? Expand your flooring knowledge by adding these fundamental flooring terms to your vocabulary. 

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Let’s Dive into the Main Flooring Terms!

A – Adhesive: A floor’s adhesive is what adheres it to the underlayment or subfloor. It also can assist in easy cleaning along with sound reduction and moisture control.

B – Baseboard: A type of moulding which connects the wall and floor. It also protects the wall from damage as well as serves as decoration. 

C – Construction: What your flooring is composed of. For example, this could mean solid or engineered for hardwood or stone plastic composite (SPC) for vinyl. 

D – Deep Embossed: The textured face treatment for most WPC and SPC floors. 

E – Engineered: Engineered hardwood flooring is composed of two main layers; a top layer of wood veneer and a lower layer of substrate. This floor is just as durable and long-lasting as solid hardwood floors, but with the added benefit of withstanding the elements better. 

F – Finishes: One of the most important flooring key terms! For hardwood flooring, we offer two finishes; urethane and oil. Both are known for their durability and longevity. You can read more about that here.

G – Grade: For our hardwood, the grade is what characteristics define the floor. This could range from a floor with little to no knots to a floor with a more rustic appearance which is speckled with rich graining and an artisanal color variation. 

H – Hardwood: Produced in two main types, solid and engineered, hardwood is an excellent, long-lasting flooring choice known for its beauty, durability, and timelessness. 

I – Installation: This describes how your flooring can be installed. Common methods include nail, staple, glue, or float. 

J – Janka Rating: Limited to floors with hardwood in them, this rating describes how much force is needed to induce wear and dents. 

K – Knot: Darker than the surrounding area, knots are unique flooring designs that are created when a tree branch intersects with a tree’s trunk. This convergence causes the wood grain pattern to drift around the branch, rather than in its typical straight flowing pattern. 

L – Length: The distance a flooring board extends out to. Flooring is typically measured for its thickness, length, and width. 

M – Moulding: A typically wooden board that connects the floor to the wall, different types of flooring, or flooring between rooms. It also protects the wall from damage as well as serves as decoration. 

N – Natural: Natural flooring can refer to unfinished flooring such as our Contractor’s Choice Collection. Unfinished flooring can be stained by your contractor to match an existing floor, create a customized color, and much more. 

O – Oil: One of two of the most common finishes, an oil finished floor is low-maintenance and high-quality. One benefit of an oil finish is the ease and flexibility of repairing slight damage such as small scratches and nicks. 

P – Parquet: Wood flooring can be arranged in repeating patterns that are often geometric. Common types of parquet include Herringbone, Chevron, and Versailles. 

Q – Quantity: Always order 10% minimum overage as recommended by industry standards. One of the must-know flooring terms!

R – Refinishing: If your flooring has a wear layer then you can likely refinish it! This process typically involves sanding imperfections out and then coating the floor with a protective coating of finish. 

S – Sustainable: All of our hardwood flooring is sourced from replenished forests as we are adamant to ensure that future generations are provided with a healthy planet. This dedication extends beyond just hardwood, as our laminate and vinyl collection are composed of recycled materials. 

T – Thickness: This refers to how thick the floor is and includes the top or wear layer. 

U – Underlayment: The material under your flooring that supports it and assists in minimizing wear while increasing sound absorption, insulation, and cushioning. 

V – VOC: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals emitted from certain materials that can cause adverse health effects in large quantities. However, Garrison Collection takes pride in offering a majority of our products, encompassing hundreds of selections, with ZERO VOC!

W – Waterproof vs. Water-Resistant: When discussing flooring, water-resistant means it won’t be penetrated by water to a certain extent. A spill would be okay, but submerging it would not be. On the other hand, waterproof means that no moisture or water can penetrate the flooring at all.