Glossary
Every word on a hardwood quote, in plain English.
If a contractor uses a term you have not met before and does not explain it, that is a choice. Here is the whole vocabulary — twenty-two terms, no jargon defended with more jargon.
Installation
How the floor meets the building.
- Nail-down#
Hidden-fastened solid hardwood into a wood subfloor.
The classic house assembly: solid boards blind-nailed or stapled to a wood subfloor. Correct on dry joists. Wrong on concrete.
See also: Glue-down, Acclimation
- Glue-down#
Hardwood set in adhesive over a slab or substrate.
Engineered — and sometimes solid — boards trowelled into a mill-listed adhesive. The default on condo slabs and radiant floors.
See also: Nail-down, Engineered hardwood
- Floating floor#
A click system that rides on underlayment.
Boards lock to each other, not to the subfloor. Allowed when the mill requires it. Not a disguise for an unflat floor.
See also: Glue-down, Engineered hardwood
- Engineered hardwood#
Real wood wear layer over a plywood or HDF core.
A hardwood floor with a sliced or sawn wear layer laminated to a stable core. Specify wear-layer thickness if you want a future sand.
See also: Solid hardwood, Wear layer
- Solid hardwood#
A board milled from a single piece of timber.
Typically 3/4-inch oak, maple, or walnut. Maximum refinishing life. Moves with Ontario humidity. Belongs on a dry wood subfloor.
See also: Engineered hardwood, Acclimation
- Wear layer#
The real-wood thickness you can sand.
On engineered boards, the top wood layer. Under about 3 mm, a future full sand is a maybe. Photographic films are not wear layers.
See also: Engineered hardwood
- Acclimation#
Letting boards reach the room's moisture content.
Material staged in the finished HVAC condition until wood moisture and room moisture agree. Closed cartons in a garage do not count.
See also: Nail-down
- Moisture survey#
Metered readings of slab or wood before install.
A grid of moisture readings that decides whether we install, wait, change the spec, or walk. One number in the middle of the room is not a survey.
See also: Acclimation, Glue-down
- Janka hardness#
A laboratory dent-resistance number.
Useful for comparing species. Not a substitute for the right finish in a house with dogs and winter grit.
See also: Solid hardwood
- Expansion gap#
The space left at walls so the floor can move.
Covered by baseboard. Omitted by rushed installs. Ontario seasonal humidity makes this non-optional.
See also: Acclimation, Solid hardwood
Stairs
The parts of a flight, and what they are called on a drawing.
- Tread#
The horizontal board you step on.
On a hardwood stair, a solid or thick-capped board. Leftover 3/4-inch flooring glued to a thin plywood tread is not a tread.
- Riser#
The vertical board between treads.
Closed-riser stairs hide the structure. Open-riser stairs omit it and must still meet opening-size rules in Ontario.
See also: Tread, Open riser
- Stringer#
The sawn or housed carriage that carries the treads.
If the stringer flexes, a retread is the wrong job. Sistering or a rebuild comes first.
- Nosing#
The projecting edge of a tread or landing.
Code limits projection and requires uniformity. A floor thickness that does not match the tread becomes a trip at the landing.
See also: Tread, Rise and run
- Retread#
Capping an existing stair with new solid treads.
The standard carpet-to-oak conversion when stringers are sound. Not the same as a rebuild.
- Open riser#
A stair with no riser board.
Legal in Ontario only when openings and guards pass. Many feature stairs drawn from social media do not.
See also: Riser, Rise and run
- Newel#
The post a handrail lands on.
Must be fastened to structure. A hollow box trimmed onto drywall will fail in use even if it photographs well on handover day.
See also: Graspable handrail
Finish
What goes on top, and how long it lasts.
- Site-finished#
Sand and finish after the floor or stair is installed.
Allows one stain formula across floor, treads, and rail. Needs dust containment and a cure window.
See also: Screen and recoat
- Screen and recoat#
Abrading the existing finish and adding a new coat.
The high-ROI maintenance job when wear layer remains. Not a full sand. Not a colour change.
See also: Site-finished, Wear layer
Code & measurement
The words an inspector uses.
- Rise and run#
The height and depth of each step.
Must be uniform on a flight. Ontario Part 9 sets limits. Squeezing an extra step to make a stair 'float' is how inspections fail.
See also: Nosing, Open riser
These words in context: methods shows the assemblies, the stair studio runs the Ontario code checks, and answers covers the questions that usually come next.