Surface glossary
The words that come up when choosing stone, wood, flooring, wall finishes, cladding and ceilings, explained in a line or two.
- AC ratingalso abrasion class, AC3, AC4, AC5
- A laminate floor's resistance to surface wear under the EN 13329 test. AC3 is made for homes, AC4 and AC5 for commercial traffic. It says nothing about water. Read more
- Acclimatisation
- Leaving wood or laminate planks in the room before laying them, so they settle to its temperature and humidity. Read more
- Accent wallalso feature wall, highlight wall
- One wall finished differently from the rest of a room, often in stone, panels or a textured coating, to draw the eye.
- Capped WPC
- Wood-plastic composite with an extra polymer layer over its surface, which helps it resist moisture and wear. Alfresco cladding is a capped composite. Read more
- Chevron
- A floor pattern of planks cut at an angle so their ends meet in a clean point, forming a row of V shapes. Read more
- Claddingalso wall cladding, elevation cladding
- A layer of material fixed over a wall for its look or protection, such as stone, brick slips, timber or composite panels. Read more
- Click-lockalso click system
- Plank edges shaped to snap together without glue. Used on laminate floors and on Sky ceiling planks.
- Engineered woodalso engineered hardwood, engineered wooden flooring
- A real wood top layer bonded to a layered core of plywood or fibreboard. It moves less with humidity than solid wood. Read more
- Expansion gap
- A small gap left at the walls and fixed objects so a floor or panel can swell and shrink without lifting. Skirting hides it.
- False ceilingalso drop ceiling, suspended ceiling
- A second ceiling hung below the structural one, in gypsum, POP, PVC or wood, to hide wiring and add lighting or shape. Read more
- Flexible stone veneeralso flexi stone, flexible stone, stone veneer sheet, thin stone sheet, flexible marble sheet
- A very thin layer of real stone on a flexible backing, light enough to bond with adhesive and bend around curves. Flexi Stone sheets are 2.5 to 3 mm thick. Read more
- Fluted panelalso fluted cladding, louvers, louvres
- A wall panel with a ribbed profile of parallel grooves, used for feature walls, TV walls and cladding. Read more
- Gypsum boardalso drywall, plasterboard
- Panels of gypsum between paper faces, fixed to a frame for walls and false ceilings. Smooth and paintable, but they dislike damp.
- HDFalso high-density fibreboard
- Wood fibre pressed with resin into a dense board. The core of most laminate flooring.
- Herringbone
- A floor pattern of short rectangular planks laid at right angles in a staggered zigzag. Read more
- Honed finish
- Stone ground to a smooth, matt surface with little shine. It hides marks better than polished stone. Read more
- Laminate flooring
- A fibreboard core with a printed wood image under a clear wear layer, laid floating with click joints. Read more
- Microcementalso micro cement, micro-topping
- A thin cement-based coating trowelled on in layers to give a seamless, jointless wall or floor. Read more
- Nano coating
- A thin, seamless mineral wall finish laid by hand. FlexNano is GM La Surfaces' system. Read more
- POPalso plaster of Paris
- Gypsum plaster mixed and shaped on site, used for false ceilings, coves and curved details.
- PU adhesive
- A polyurethane glue. Flexi Stone is installed with a hybrid PU adhesive that meets IS 15477:2019 Type 5. Read more
- PU wall panelalso 3D wall panel, PU stone panel
- A moulded polyurethane panel with a sculpted relief surface, fixed to an interior wall. Leaf panels are 1200 x 600 mm. Read more
- PVC ceiling plankalso PVC panel, PVC false ceiling
- A long, light plastic ceiling plank, often printed with a wood look, that clicks together on a frame. It does not absorb water but softens with heat. Read more
- Riven finish
- The natural, uneven face left when stone is split along its layers. Common on slate and quartzite.
- Rising damp
- Ground moisture drawn up into a wall. Surfaces should never be bonded to a wall with rising damp until it is treated.
- Soffit
- The underside of an overhang, such as a roof edge, balcony or beam.
- Solid wood flooring
- Floorboards cut from a single piece of timber. It can be sanded many times but moves most with humidity.
- Substratealso base, backing surface
- The surface a finish is fixed to: concrete, render, brick, drywall, plywood, metal or old tile. It must be sound, flat and dry.
- Sub-frame
- A light frame of battens or aluminium fixed to a wall, which cladding is then screwed to.
- Veneer
- A thin slice of a natural material, such as wood or stone, bonded to a backing.
- Wear layer
- The top layer of a floor that takes the traffic: real wood on engineered planks, a clear resin layer on laminate.
- WPCalso wood plastic composite, wood polymer composite
- Wood fibre bound in a plastic. It looks warmer than PVC and resists rot and borers better than plain timber. Read more