A

Acclimation: The act of allowing wood moisture content to become at equalibrium with the environment in which it will perform.

Annual Growth Ring: The layer of wood growth, including spring-and summerwood, formed on a tree during a single growing season.  

ASTM: American Standard Testing Methods

B

Base Shoe: A moulding designed to be attached to baseboard moulding to cover expansion space. It is the alternative to a quarter-round in profile.

Bastard Sawn: Lumber (primarily hardwoods) in which the annual make angles of 30 degrees to 60 degrees with the surface of the piece. (also known as rift sawn)

Beveled Edge: The chamfered or beveled edge of strip flooring, plank, block & parquet. (see eased edge)

Board Foot:  A unit of measurement of lumber represented by a board 1 foot long, by 12 inches wide, and 1 inch thick or it's cubic equivalent. In practice, the board foot calculation for lumber 1 inch or more in thickness is based on it's nominal thickness & width and the actual length. Lumber with a nominal thickness of less than 1 inch is calculated as 1 inch.

Bow: The distortion of lumber in which there is a deviation , in a direction perpendicular to the flat face, from a straight line from end to end of a piece.

 Burl: A swirl or twist of the grain of the wood which usually occurs near a knot, but does not contain a knot.

C

Crowning: A "convex" or "crowned" condition or appearance of individual strips, with the center of the strip higher than the edges.

Color Change: Visual changes in the color of the wood species caused by exposure to light, deprivation of light and air, or some chemical reaction. 

Cut: To sand a floor. As a noun, cut refers to one pass over an area of floor with sanding equipment. Usually, a mechanic will make two or more cuts with progressively finer grits of sandpaper. 

Custom Floors: Wood floors that are made to order. Complete flexibility is allowed for design, species, grade, etc. 

D

Dimensional Stability: The ability to maintain the original intended dimensions when influenced by a foreign substance. Wood is hygroscopic (readily takes up moisture) and isn't dimensionally stable with changes in moisture content below the fiber saturation point.

Dry Tack-Free: The stage of solidification of a film of finishing material when it doesn't feel sticky or tacky when a finger is drawn lightly across it in a quick continous motion.

Dry To Sand: The stage of solidification  of an applied film of finishing material when it can be sanded without undue softening, sticking or clogging of the sandpaper.

Dry To Touch: The stage of drying of a film of finishing material when it has solidified sufficiently that it can be touched lightly without any of the finishing material adhering to the fingers. 

Durability: The ability of the wood species or finish to withstand the conditions or destructive agents with which it comes in contact in actual usage., without an appreciable change in appearance or other important properties.  

Dust-Free: The stage of solidification of an applied film of finishing material when dust that settles on the coated surface won't penetrate or stick to the film.

E

End Joint: The place where two pieces of flooring are joined together end to end. In our case, with "square ends".

Equalibrium Moisture Content: EMC The moisture content at which wood neither gains nor loses moisture when surrounded by air at a given relative humidity & temperature.

F

Figure: Inherant markings, designs or configurations on the surface of the wood produced by the annual growth rings, rays, knots and deviations from regular grain.