B
Bark: External part or envelope which protects the tree.

Bark pocket, bark streak: An area of encased bark generally caused by a wound around which normal wood has grown. Bark is deeper in this area.

Baseboard: Flat or shaped wood strip installed along the bottom of a wall.

Beam: See Joist

Bird’s eye: Small areas in wood with the fibres were naturally contorted to form round or elliptical figures remotely resembling a bird’s eye. Bird’s eyes are usually 1/8” (3 mm) to 1/4” (6 mm) in size and can be found mainly in maple, and sometimes in yellow birch. Whenever present, there are usually several on one piece. Bird’s eyes are a natural characteristic and are not a defect. They are often sought-after for their character.

Bird pecks: Very small mark or hole made by a bird’s beak that reaches the tree’s annual rings and distorts the fibre of the wood. This occurrence is fairly rare.

Bright, Unstained: This term applies to wood pieces with no discolouration of any kind.

Bright sapwood: Like regular sapwood but is distinguished by a very pale contrasting colour.

Brown streak: Brown, linear, and natural discolouration of the wood that generally runs along the grain.

Broken knot: Broken knot on the surface of the piece. This crack can be linear or star-shaped. However the knot must be sound. See also Knot, Spike Knot, Sound Knot and Tight Knot.

Bundle: A bundle contains enough material to cover a 20 ft2 (1858 m2) floor area.

Burl: Distortion in wood grain, normally near a knot. Burls are highly sought after for making ornamental veneer.


C
Check: Breaks in the wood’s fibre which generally cut across the growth rings. This occurs mainly during the drying process.

Close-grained wood: Structure of certain hardwoods, such as maple and yellow birch, whose annual rings are narrow and faint and whose pore size varies little between spring wood and summer wood.


E
End matching: Tenon at one end of the strip and mortise at the other end.

Equilibrium moisture content (EME): Rate of humidity where the wood neither absorbs nor loses moisture when located in an environment whose relative humidity and temperature are stable and constant over time.

Expansion gap: Space between a fixed structure, such as a wall or another type of flooring, and the hardwood floor, permitting free expansion and contraction of the strips according to the temperature and relative humidity in the room.


F
Finish: Gloss level.

Flag work hole: One or more worm holes surrounded by a mineral streak. These holes are always bunched together and shaped like a banner.


G
Grain: Direction, size, spacing, appearance or quality of the fibre of the wood or veneer.

Groove (or mortise): Groove along one side and at one end of flooring strips. During floor installation, the joiner fits the strip groove onto the tongue of the strip he’s just installed.

Grub worm hole: A 1/4” (6 mm) diameter or larger hole caused by a wood boring insect.

Gypsum board: Made up of a core of gypsum, which is extracted from quarries mainly for making plaster, gypsum boards make a durable, lightweight and economical construction material for interior walls and ceilings. Once primed, they can be painted, covered with wallpaper or texturized, depending on the desired look.


H
Heavy streak: Mineral spots and streaks of sufficient size and density to be prominent in appearance.

Heartwood: Centre section of tree. This section is always darker than the sapwood and annual growth rings are no longer visible.


I
Incipient decay: First stage of decay (rot) in wood. At this stage, decay is not yet advanced enough to reduce the hardness of the wood. Incipient decay is marked by clusters of white or grey stains.

J
Joist: Part of building frame resting on the beams and onto which are fixed, on top, the plywood that will be the subfloor to the hardwood strips, and on the bottom, one of a variety of materials that will make up the ceiling of the floor below.

K
Knot: Indicates the spot where a branch grew from a tree. See also Spike Knot, Broken Knot, Sound Knot and Tight Knot.

Knot hole: A hole previously occupied by a knot.


M
Machine burn: Brown or black mark caused by the sawmill’s rotating blades on a piece of wood that’s stuck. These marks are always perpendicular to the piece.

Manufacturing defect: Defect, imperfection or stain caused by equipment. It could be blades skipping on a piece (on the top and sides), size variations (width, thickness), machine burn, variations in tenons and mortises (height and size) or ripped wood grain or fibre.

Medium-density fibreboard (MDF): Recycled fibres from sawdust, shavings and woodchips, refined into individual fibres and mixed with resin, then compressed into panels.

Micro-V or V-Joint: Small bevel around the edge of a strip. When two strips are placed side by side, the two bevels form a V.

Mineral streak: Natural dark brown to blackish-green discolouration of the wood of undetermined cause, often found in the annual rings.

Moisture content: Quantity of water in the wood, expressed as a percentage.

Mould: Wood decay caused by microscopic fungi which produce white stains that are sometimes spongy.

Moulding: Narrow strip of wood with a round or patterned face used for decoration. With hardwood floors, matching mouldings make the transition to another type of floor, finish the edges of a staircase, etc.


N
Natural colour: Includes all variations in a wood species that are not the result of human intervention. The wood’s natural variation may be light, dark or variable.

Natural defect: Defects in tree caused by its natural habitat, growth, environment. Any cause related to human activity or product processing must not be considered a natural defect

O
Open-grained wood: Structure of certain hardwoods, such as oak and ash, whose pore size varies greatly between spring wood and summer wood.

Open defect: Natural characteristic of a species that leaves a hole or split on the surface of the strip. An open check or an incomplete or broken knot are examples of this.

Oriented Strand Board (OSB): Structural panel with precise strands oriented in cross directional layers for increased strength.

Overgrown protruding knot: See Burl.


P
Pin knot: Small sound knot with a maximum diameter of 1/8” (3 mm). This small knot is sound and tight.

Pin worm hole: A hole not over 1/16” (1.5 mm) in diameter.

Pith: Soft, tender part in the core of a tree, branch or shoot.

Plywood: Wood panel made up of thin layers (ply) of wood glued across the grain, or layers glued to a solid wood or reconstituted wood core.

Polyurethane: Varnish and paint resin which provides good resistance to wear. This resin is marketed under a variety of names: varethane, urethane and durathane


R
Relative humidity: Difference between the quantity of water vapour actually contained in the air and air absorption capacity at a given temperature.

Run: In a bundle, a single run is one or more strips end to end. If a bundle is made up of a height of 4 rows of strips by width of 3 rows of strips, then it has 12 runs. See also Bundle.

S
Sapwood: The part of the tree closest to the bark. This part is always lighter in colour than the heart of the tree. The tree’s growth rings are easy to see. In certain species, such as maple, it’s mainly the sapwood that makes up the Select and Better grade.

Scant stock: Piece of flooring untouched by sawmill blades on bottom side.

Shake: Cracks in wood grain. Most often occurs between annual rings.

Skid, Pallet, Unit: Unit containing a number of bundles or boxes or solid hardwood flooring. See also Bundle.

Sound Knot: Knot which is solidly attached to the piece and unlikely to fall off later. This knot must not fall apart or lose pieces, but it can nonetheless be broken.

Sound wood: Wood free of any mould, pith, bark, splits, checks, cracks, holes or delaminating. Sound wood can include a solid, healthy knot. Natural colour variations (including mineral streaks) have no impact on its soundness.

Species: Tree family with common distinctive characteristics.

Spike Knot: Knot cut through its core. These knots are often found on the side of a board and are subject to becoming unsound. See also Knot, Broken Knot, Sound Knot and Tight Knot.

Split: Breaks in the wood’s fibre which generally cut across the growth rings. Identical to cracks, but much bigger.

Spring wood: The most recently formed part of the ring. This wood is denser and its cells are smaller.

Stain: Pigment solution or suspension designed to penetrate wood surface to colour and protect it without concealing its surface characteristics.

Sticker: Strip of wood placed between stacks green wood. These 3/4” X 1” (19 mm X 25 mm) strips are arranged at right angles to the wood to allow air to circulate freely between the rows for pre-drying (in the open) and drying (in dryers). They are generally placed every 12” (30 cm) but some manufacturers place them at intervals of16” (41 cm), 20” (51 cm) or 24” (61 cm).

Sticker shadow: Slight, subtle stains caused by stickers. See also Sticker and Sticker stain.

Sticker stain: Discolouration varying from 1” (25 mm) to 2” (51 mm) wide across the width of the board. These stains occur at regular intervals and spaced corresponding to sticker placement. They are generally greyish in colour. See also Sticker and Sticker shadow.

Summer wood: The earliest formed part of the ring. This wood is not as dense and its cells are larger.

T
Tight check: Check with a very small, almost invisible opening.

Tongue (or tenon): Tongue protruding along one side and at one end of flooring strips. During floor installation, the joiner nails the strip over the tongue at a 45-degree angle with special nails.

U
Unsound defect: Defect such as an excessive hole, an excessive crack, a dead or loose knot, rotten wood, etc.

Unstained, Bright: This term applies to wood pieces with no discolouration of any kind.


V
Varnish: Unpigmented coating providing a clear or translucent finish which protects wood from dirt.

W
Wane: Missing wood or untrimmed bark along the edge of a board.

Weathering: Chemical or mechanical disintegration or discolouration of the surface of the wood caused by exposure to light, dust and expansion and contraction of surface grain as a result of continuous fluctuations in relative humidity.