Glossary
Flooring glossary
The flooring terms you'll come across when planning a job, explained in plain English. Tap any term for a fuller explanation and what to check.
- AC rating
- An abrasion-class rating for laminate that indicates how well the surface resists wear. A higher AC rating suits busier areas. It reflects surface durability better than board thickness does.
- Acclimatisation
- Leaving flooring (typically laminate or LVT) in the room where it will be fitted for a period before installation, so it adjusts to the room's temperature and humidity and is less likely to move afterwards.
- Click flooring
- Flooring whose planks lock together with a click mechanism to form a floating floor, without adhesive. Common for laminate and one of the two main LVT installation types.
- Damp-proof membrane (DPM)
- A moisture barrier used over concrete subfloors to stop residual or rising damp reaching a moisture-sensitive floor such as laminate or wood.
- Expansion gap
- A small gap left around the perimeter of a floating floor so it can expand and contract with temperature and humidity without buckling. It's covered by skirting, scotia or beading.
- Floating floor
- A floor that isn't glued or nailed down but 'floats' over an underlay, with the planks locked to each other. Laminate and click LVT are floating floors, and need expansion gaps around the edges.
- Glue-down
- An installation method where planks or tiles (typically LVT) are bonded directly to the subfloor with adhesive, giving a very stable, thin floor suited to large areas and underfloor heating.
- Gripper (carpet gripper)
- Thin strips fixed around the edge of a room with angled pins that grip and hold carpet taut. Sound gripper is essential for a carpet that stays flat and secure.
- Laminate
- A floating floor made from a dense core board topped with a printed wood or stone decor and a protective wear layer. It clicks together over an underlay rather than being glued down.
- LVT (luxury vinyl tile)
- A hard-wearing, water-resistant vinyl floor made as individual planks or tiles with a realistic printed wood or stone effect, fitted either as click (floating) or glue-down.
- Pile
- The visible surface fibres of a carpet. Pile can be cut (soft, plush), looped (hard-wearing, textured) or a mix. Pile type and density affect feel, appearance and durability.
- Scotia / beading
- A slim trim fixed at the base of the skirting to cover the expansion gap of a floating floor. It avoids having to remove and refit the existing skirting boards.
- Screed
- A layer of material, often sand and cement, laid over a concrete base to create a smooth, level surface. New screed holds construction moisture and must dry before moisture-sensitive floors are fitted.
- Self-levelling compound
- A liquid compound poured over a subfloor to create a smooth, flat surface. It's often needed before LVT, sheet vinyl or laminate so the finished floor sits and wears correctly.
- Sheet vinyl
- A continuous, water-resistant floor covering supplied in rolls and cut to fit a room, with few or no seams — commonly used in bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms.
- Subfloor
- The structural floor surface beneath your floor covering — usually concrete, timber floorboards or chipboard. Its condition and flatness strongly affect which floors suit and how much preparation is needed.
- Threshold (door bar)
- A trim fitted in a doorway where two floors meet or where a floor ends. It protects edges, bridges height differences and gives a neat, safe transition between rooms.
- Tog rating
- A measure of a material's thermal insulation. For flooring it's used with underlay: a lower tog lets more heat through (useful over underfloor heating), a higher tog insulates more.
- Underlay
- A cushioning layer fitted under carpet or a floating floor that adds comfort, warmth and sound insulation and can help the floor covering wear more evenly.
- Uplift
- Removing and taking up existing flooring (and often its underlay or gripper) before new flooring is fitted. Disposal of the old material can be included in a quotation if requested.
- Waste allowance
- The extra flooring ordered above the room area to cover cuts, trimming, pattern matching and mistakes — commonly around 10%, and more for diagonal layouts or large patterns.
- Wear layer
- The clear protective top layer on vinyl and LVT (and, differently, on laminate) that takes the traffic and scuffs. A thicker or tougher wear layer generally copes with heavier use.
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