Key Flooring Terms Every Homeowner Should Know

You may come across new terms when managing home flooring tasks like installation or upkeep. Flooring contractors and installation guides can all spew out a lot of jargon. This also helps you choose the right words to describe your goal. Master new flooring vocabulary with our handy glossary, which is perfect for your upcoming project.

Abrasion

This explains how the finish of a hardwood floor wears away, damaging the wood.

Acclimation

Hardwood flooring must adjust or acclimate to the indoor environment of your building. The indoor environment includes humidity and moisture levels. For best results, acclimation should take approximately three days.

Aluminum Oxide

Aluminum oxide finish is a durable coating applied to some bamboo and hardwood floors.

Backing and Back Layer

The bottom-most layer of many flooring types is often known as backing. This layer of fiberglass or felt adheres to the subfloor and provides protection that helps extend your floor’s lifespan.

On the other hand, the back layer is another term used for the base or bottom later of certain flooring types, including laminate. This is usually made of a strong, moisture-resistant material such as melamine.

Berber and Baseboard

Berber is a type of thick, tufted yarn woven carpet. The yarn is woven in a loop pile connecting directly to its back. This is popularly known for its ability to withstand high foot traffic and easy cleaning. The Berber tribes of North Africa and Morocco commonly make it.

A baseboard is a molding installed at the base of a wall, providing a decorative, finished look. Common styles include quarter-round and beaded baseboards.

Carpet Pile

The pile is a carpeted surface formed by a top layer of fibers attached to the carpet backing. The pile can be low, medium, or high depending on its fibers’ length. High-pile carpets are softer but tricky to clean.

Coir and Cut and Loop

In some communities, rugs and mats are made from coconut husks, hence the coir. A carpet with a mix of cut fibers and loops for texture is known as cut and loop.

Density

This value shows how closely knit the carpet’s fibers are. Higher density means denser
carpet, which can withstand wear and tear and heavy traffic. To get the density, multiply the carpet’s pile by 36 and divide the results by the pile height.

Decorative Layer

The decorative laminate or vinyl flooring layer is between the inner foam core and the transparent top wear layer. This layer features a design resembling marble, wood, or ceramic tile.

Distressed Hardwood Flooring

This category features intentionally scraped, gouged, or scratched planks for an antique look. Some experts create unique, natural-looking distressed styles by hand scraping. However, you can also find machine-scraped styles in the market. The scraping helps to hide scratches and marks in high-traffic rooms.

Engineered Timber Flooring

This consists of three layers, and it is designed and manufactured specifically for flooring. Therefore, many people use it in place of solid timber floors. The top layer is hardwood with a vinyl backing, and the core is hardwood, plywood, or HDF. The three materials are compressed against each other from opposite sides, merging into a single piece of wood.

Expansion

This is a term used to describe the enlargement of wood-based floors due to moisture or humidity. Therefore, expansion gaps are an essential part of flooring installation.

Foot Traffic

Foot traffic is a term commonly used to describe the rate at which people or pets travel on a specific spot.

Glaze

The glaze is a tile coating made of silica, subjected to high temperatures to create a glassy surface.

Herringbone

Herringbone is a highly adaptable European floor design that can be installed using various methods. The most popular pattern is the French or Chevron herringbone.

Janka Rating

The industry standard measuring the hardness of bamboo or timber flooring is the Janka rating. It also measures the bamboo or timber’s ability to withstand denting. The higher the rating, the more complex the wood.

Linear Meter

This describes the width in which you produce a carpet. Generally, most people use 3.66 meters or four meters. Most of the time, the carpets are sold in linear meters. However, it is promoted in square-meter pricing to make the shopping process easier.

Understanding key flooring terms enhances your ability to enjoy various flooring options. However, working with flooring experts like Paragon Flooring makes all the difference. Contact us today for unique flooring solutions that turn your home into a haven!