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Molyneaux of Pittsburgh's Wood Flooring Glossary
Base Shoe - A molding designed to be attached to base molding to cover expansion space. Similar to quarter round in profile.
Delamination - The separation of layers in a laminate, through failure within the adhesive, or at the bond between adhesive and laminate.
Dimensional Stability - The ability to maintain the original intended dimensions when influenced by a foreign substance. Wood is hygroscopic, and is not dimensionally stable with changes in moisture content below the fiber saturation point.
Distressed - A heavy artificial texture in which the floor has been scraped, scratched, or gouged to give it a timeworn antique look. (A common method of distressing is wirebrushing.)
Eased Edge - The chamfered or beveled edge of strip flooring, plank, block, and parquet at approximately 45-degree angle. Eased edge is considered to be less of an indentation than beveled edge flooring.
End-Joint - The place where two pieces of flooring are joined together end to end.
Feature Strip - A molding accessory for parquet floors utilized to separate squares into patterns larger than the individual parquet units. It is available in widths from 5/16" to 2", the same thickness as the parquet, and is available in various lengths. The strip is flat and may have grooves on both sides to match the tongues of adjacent plank or parquet.
Joist - One of a series of parallel beams used to support floor or ceiling loads and supported in turn by larger beams, girders, or bearing walls.
Kiln - (Pronounced "Kill") A chamber having controlled air flow, temperature, and relative humidity, for drying lumber, veneer and other wood products.
Kiln Dried - Dried in a kiln with the use of artificial heat.
Laminated Wood - An assembly made by bonding layers of veneer or lumber with an adhesive. May also refer to edge-glued lumber items such as treads, etc.
Mineral Streak - Wood containing an accumulation of mineral matter introduced by sap flow, causing an unnatural color ranging from greenish brown to black.
Moisture Content - The amount of moisture in wood expressed as a percentage of the weight of the oven dry wood.
Nosing - A hardwood molding used to cover the outside comer of a step, milled to meet the hardwood floor in the horizontal plane, to meet the riser in the vertical plane. (Usually used on landings.)
Parquet Floor Square - Basically a "tile" composed of individual slats held in place by a mechanical fastening (banding) or other means such as paper backing. A square may or may not possess tongues and grooves to interlock, and is not necessarily regular in dimension.
Pre-finished - Completely finished flooring that requires installation only.
Quarter-sawed - The annual growth rings form an angle of 45 - 90 degrees with the surface of the piece. In Quarter-sawed strips the medullar rays or pith rays in ring porous woods are exposed as flecks, which are reflective and produce a distinctive grain pattern.
Reducer Strip - A teardrop shaped molding accessory for hardwood flooring, normally used at doorways, but sometimes at fireplaces and as a room divider. It is grooved on one edge and tapered, or feathered, on the other edge. Various lengths are available.
Relative Humidity - Ratio of the amount of water vapor present in the air to that which the air would hold at saturation at the same temperature. It is usually considered on the basis of the weight of the vapor but, for accuracy, should be considered on the basis of vapor pressures.
Tongue & Groove (T&G) - In strip, plank, and parquet flooring made from strip, and some mosaic parquet; a tongue is milled on one edge and a groove on the opposite edge. As the flooring is installed, the tongue of each strip, slat, or unit is engaged with the groove of the adjacent strip or unit.
Trim - The finish materials in a building, such as moldings, applied around openings (window trim, door trim) or at the floor and ceiling of rooms (baseboard, shoemold, cornice, and other moldings)
Unfinished - A product that must be sanded and have stain and/or a finish applied after installation.
V-Joint - A term used in plank flooring to indicate that edges are eased or beveled to simulate cracks in floors of early Colonial American homes.
Vapor Barrier - A material with a high resistance to vapor movement, such as foil, plastic film, or specially coated paper, which is used to control condensation or prevent migration of moisture. | 
