Flooring Informations » Glossary
No we have the list and definitions some entries related to the production and to the wood flooring:

Important
The definitions described in the glossary are under evaluation and can be altered. If you have any suggestion of definition or comments on our glossary please contact the ANPM office.

Entries
Bleak: The same as white wood, it is between the bark and heartwood, usually lighter than the later and made of active cell elements (when it is in the alive tree)

Growth ring: One layer of tree growth, seen in a transversal section of the xylem.

Incipient decay: Initial phase of the rot, it has usually an alteration of the natural color of the lumber: red stain, stain.

Spring: Longitudinal curling of edges; curling along the length of the piece of lumber, on a parallel plan to the face.

Burls: Distortion of the lumber grain usually next to the knot(s) which can cause the shivering or fiber extraction.

Plank and strip: Pieces with tongue and groove in 2 or 4 sides. It usually has a fixed width and variable length (from 30 to 214 cm).

Edge: Each of the two lateral, parallel surfaces to the grain of a piece of lumber.

Bark: The outermost covering of a tree. Cover that is on the tree xylem, it usually has two distinct parts: an internal and an external one.

Heartwood: Internal part of the xylem, evolved by the bleak, made of cell elements with no vegetative activity; it is usually darker than the bleak.

Breakable heartwood: Heartwood with some feature that become it less resistant than the normal heartwood.

Length: Bigger dimension of the longitudinal section of a piece of lumber.

Shrinkage: Reduction in the dimensions of the piece of lumber due to the drop of its moisture content.

Contrary face: Denomination of the side of the piece that is hidden, after the flooring assembly.

Decking: Lumber used primarily and roofing and flooring applications. Most common sizes of decking are: 5/4 X 6, 2 X 6, 2 X 8, 3 X 6, and 4 X 6. Decking is often sawn with tongues and grooves and in various patterns (double tongue–and–groove and single tongue–and–groove). Patterns are sometimes sawn on the face to be exposed. These patterns are often grooves or various shapes, depths and sizes. They are often used for flooring around swimming pools and because of that they are called swimming pool decks. It can also used on balconies, verandahs, kitchens, restrooms, sports courts, handrails, etc.

Defect: Imperfection that affects the properties, the appearance or the use of the piece of lumber.
Drying defect: Imperfection resulting of the tensions developed during the drying process that occurs inside or on the surface of a piece of lumber, it may limit its usage.

Moisture distribution: Variation of the moisture content of lumber along the radial tangential or longitudinal directions.

Warp: A lumber defect referring to any combination of bow, crook, cut, or twists. A general term related to the defects on the initial shapes of the pieces of lumber.

Groove: Channel produced on the edge or top of a piece of lumber.

Tongue: profile produced on the edge or top of a piece of lumber to fit the groove.

Cup: A lumber defect referring to a deviation from a straight line drawn edge to edge across the face of a piece of lumber. Transversal curling of the face; curving along the width of a piece of lumber.

Bow: Longitudinal curling of the face; curving along the length of the piece of lumber on a perpendicular plan to the face.

Casehardening: Condition that a piece of lumber has when, due to the drying process, the superficial layers are under compression tensions, while the inner layers are under traction tensions.

Reverse casehardening: Condition that a piece of lumber has when, due to long periods of conditioning, the superficial layers are under traction tensions, while the inner layers are under compression tensions.

Wane: Bark or the lack of wood from any cause, on the edge or corner of a piece of lumber. In plywood, thin to open areas in veneer sheets that result from outer log surface irregularities.

Thickness: Smaller dimension of transversal section of a piece of lumber.

Stability, dimensional stability: It’s the property of a piece of lumber to keep its dimensions and shape when exposed to several conditions of temperature and moisture.

Kiln, dry kiln: Chamber equipped with control of temperature, relative moisture and air speed, used to dry lumber.

Face: denomination of a piece that will be exposed, after the flooring assembly. It is often the side of the piece that has a finishing.

Moisture range: Difference between the moisture content of drier and more moisture pieces or lumber samples of a pre-determined volume.

Face defect: Failures that happen laterally on the corners of pieces (faces with grooves) being a consequence of problems of handling or processing. These defects can cause future problems of finishing.

Seasoning check, superficial drying check: Small superficial cracks, usually aligned parallel to the grain, hat appear during the lumber drying.

Compression failure: The same as transversal rupture or break; it is a fracture of the xylem that appears on the surface of the piece, as a broken line or a zone of lighter color, places perpendicularly to the longitudinal axle of the piece.

Diamonding, diamond shape: Curling in which the square transversal section of a piece of lumber assumes the shape of a parallelogram or trapeze.

Insect hole: Hole in the lumber caused by an insect.

Grub hole: Tunnels in the piece; continuous perforation in the lumber caused by some insects.

Grain: A general term referring to the arrangement, appearance, and direction of wood fibers. Among the many types of grain are fine, coarse, straight, curly, open, flat, vertical, and spiral.

Process defects: Alterations on the appearance or dimensions of the pieces resulting of a bad processing operation. It can be cutting stains, roll, track, chain, burn stain, cracks, steps, spaces, among others.

Swelling: Increase of the dimensions of a piece of lumber , in the longitudinal, tangential and radial directions, due to the consequence of an increase of the moisture content in the hygroscopic lane, that is, from zero to the point of saturation of fibers.
Lamparquet: They are shims of reduced dimensions. Thickness range form 8 to 10 mm; width range from 45 to 60 mm; and length range from 230 to 300 mm.

Width: Bigger dimensions of the transversal section of a lumber piece, not considering the grooves.

Listone: Variable of boards. It has tongue and groove finishing in four sides to fit each other.

Lot: Portion of pieces of the same type, species, thickness, width that were submitted to the same phases of manufacturing process. The same as production lot.

Air-dried wood: Wood that, submitted to natural drying, shows moisture content up the average of local equilibrium.

Kiln-dried wood: Wood submitted to an artificial process of drying in kiln machine up to determined moisture content.

Green wood: That lumber whose moisture content is the maximum or completed saturated of water.

Mold stain: Alteration of the natural color of lumber due to the biological degradation.

Silica stain: Stain that occurs with the presence of silica in the lumber that can affect the flooring finishing. It is also called flour or rice.
Sticker stain: Stains that occur along the piece, in the region of contact between the lumber and the partition, they can come from biological or chemical origin.

Moisture meter: Electric device used for a fast determination of the moisture content. It can be dielectric or of conducting.
Pith: The small, soft core in the structural center of a log.

Mini Strip: Variable of the Listone, but with reduced dimensions. It has tongue and groove in four sides to fit, it is sanded with sweeten corners. Thickness of 10 mm; Width of 60 or 70 mm; and length 300 to 900 mm.

Knot: Areas of the main stem of a tree in which the base of a branch has been overgrown through diameter growth of the main stem are called knots. Knots in lumber or veneer are cross sections of tree branches. A hard place or lump, especially on a tree, at a point from which a stem or branch grows. The round, often darker cross section of such a lump as it appears on a piece of cut lumber.
Vigh knot: Knot that is steady inside the dried lumber. The same as live knot.
Broken knot: Knot that isn’t partial or totally inside the lumber, it can be deteriorated by a biological agent,; the same as dead knot.
Mosaic Parquet: Plaque made of several small pieces of lumber that can be assembled in different directions making drawings like mosaics.

Parquetoni: They are shims of medium dimensions. Thickness of 10 mm; width range from 60 to 75 mm; and length range from 360 to 450 mm.

Micro bevel: They have beveled edges.

Prefinished flooring: Flooring already varnished, ready to be assembled.
Flooring without micro bevel: The edges of the pieces are straight with an angle of 90º.
Hand-scraped flooring: It is a kind of flooring made of pieces with irregular surfaces. The flooring has a rustic appearance.
Unfinished flooring: Flooring that is varnished after the assembly.

Decking Tiles: They are tiles assembled with lumber rulers and screws. They can be used for gardens, swimming pools borders and verandahs. The can have anti sliding surfaces. They often have thickness of 30 mm; width of 500 or 1,000 mm; and length of 500 or 1,000 mm.

Fiber saturation point: Moisture content of the lumber in which all the free water inside de cell cavities was eliminated, only the cell walls are saturated.

Split: Parallel separation to the grain of the constituent elements of the lumber.

Shake, ring check: Separation of the constituent elements of the lumber in the longitudinal way to the grain and parallel to the growth rings, it can occur among and inside the rings.

End split: Separation of the constituent elements of the lumber on the top of the piece.

Diametrical check: Separation of the constituent elements of the lumber in the longitudinal way to the grain, usually perpendicular to the growth rings and parallel to the rays.

Honeycomb, internal check: Typical defect of artificial drying, characterized by openings that occur in the inner part of a piece of lumber, usually along the rays. It is usually associated to the collapse and the superficial hardening.

Surface check: Separation of the constituent elements of the lumber that begins in one of the faces of the piece, it can extend until its interior.

Drying, seasoning: Process of remove water inside the lumber.
Square Edges Flooring: It consists of the traditional shim. Thickness of 20 mm; width of 70 to 100 mm; and length ranges from 360 to 420 mm.

Long plank: Flooring with pieces of big dimensions. It has tongue and groove finishing in two sides, for the lateral groove. Thickness of 20 mm; width ranges from 70 to 200 mm; and length is more than 1,800 mm.
Parquet block or shorts: Pieces of fixed dimensions and, usually, multiple dimensions of length related to the width. They can have tongue and groove in the four sides.

Moisture content: Weight of the water within a piece of lumber measured as a percentage of the weight of the dry wood. Typical moisture content for kiln dried construction lumber is 15%. Wood absorbs or gives off moisture depending on the ambient moisture in the air. The percentage of wood that is not moisture is referred to as "dry solids," that is, dried construction lumber would be 85% dry solids. It is expressed as a percentage of mass of water to the mass of the dried lumber: