Glossary of Vinyl Terms

[TFP Admin]

This glossary will help the consumer and the professional to understand the terminology used to describe vinyl flooring and related elements in the various areas of the world. Please add the terms you use and their short meanings. I will start with a couple.

• Subfloor the material used as the base product of the floor construction. This could be concrete slab or a wood panel product nailed to floor joists
• Substrate the surface you are installing new flooring over

I will add your terms to this list as it grows. Please don't leave out even the simplest of terms.

Thank you,

TFP Admin

[Jerry Thomas]

Subfloor - Plywood, OSB, AdvanTech, ect. that gets installed on the floor joist or trusses before the walls are set during the construction phase. It can be single layer or a 2 layer which the top layer is an underlayment (yeah, i know it gets to be confusing) that is installed later in the process. Most all subfloors nowadays are of a T&G design

Underlayment- This is what is installed on top of a subfloor after the walls are up and the house is near completion. Underlayments will run to the walls and not underneath. As a rule they are square edge all 4-sides.

[Daniel Wachtel]

Flash coving = vinyl ran up the wall to an accepted molding in lieu of wooden or rubber baseboard.

Floor patch = material, either portland or gypsum based, used to fill and smooth rough areas, voids, and joints between underlayment panels.

Flash time = the time an adhesive should be left uncovered after spreading to let moisture and or gasses to evaporate before covering with vinyl. usually listed on adhesive container.

glue trowel = a tool used to spread adhesive and to measure the proper amount of glue being spread on the floor.

seam sealer = a product sold by the flooring manufacturer to, well, seal the seams to prevent dirt collection at the seam area and to prevent curling.

roller = a device to roll the floor to evacuate any air or gasses that cause bubbles. usually 75# with three "wheels "

double cut = a common method of cutting a seam by cutting through both field and fill pieces at a pattern line at the same tine. commonly used for inserting patches.

butt seaming = cutting seam edges separately before assembly and butting them together.

pattern scribing = making a pattern of the floor with kraft paper or felt paper as a template and then cutting the vinyl to shape in a more convenient area.

restrictive molding = a molding used to prevent curling of the edges of a vinyl floor.
1/4 round at walls, undercutting at doorways and tub metal or cove cap at sliding doors and bathtubs.

under cutting = making a saw cut generally where a molding is unacceptable (like a door casing) under which the vinyl is inserted.

Full spread = covering the entire floor with adhesive (most vinyl floors require full spread)

perimeter glue = some styles of vinyl flooring only require a narrow band of adhesive around the edges and seams.

[Barry Carlton]

under scribing - using the bottom layer of floorcovering as a template to cut the top overlapping material (underscribe tools required)

full pattern scribing -- using a template material (felt, paper, etc.) to make a pattern (template) of the entire area to be covered by a piece of material (including the coved areas)

flat pattern scribing -- unsing a template material (felt, paper, etc.) cut only to the walls with voids in areas spanning long walls and large areas (always laying flat on the floor), to make a pattern (template) of the area to be covered by a piece of material

heat welding -- melting a piece of vinyl rod into a grooved (routed) seam to form a heat bonded (welded) seam. completely impervious to penetration.
trim plate -- a piece of metal used as a spacer for the first pass of skiving (usually 1/16 inch thick)

skiving -- trimming of the heat welded seam rod usually done in 2 passes with time allowed for cooling between passes

grooving -- routing or carving a uniform groove partially though the flooring material (usually 2/3 the thickness of vinyl) in preparation for the welding process

glazing -- heating (or otherwise sealing) the welding rod after skiving the final pass to close the open pores of the rod

boot -- outside corner piece needed when coving and installed on one side of the corner

v-plug -- outside corner piece needed when coving and installed 'wrapped' around the corner with the appearance of a 'v'

hard cap -- metal cap on the walls covering the edge of a coved installation

sofe cap -- trim pieces on the walls covering the edge of a coved installation (usually plastic or rubber)

seam sealing -- using a chemical sealer to bond 2 pieces of vinyl together (must penetrate completely though the depth of the material top to bottom)

[Bill Watson]

Armstrong - Congoleum:
What customers come into the store asking for.

[Barry Carlton]

back rolling -- rollong the material face in to facilitate pre shrinkage (stabiliztion) of vinyl or linoleum
tubing -- folding material lengthwise in order to adhere (used to minimize shrinkage)

PSA -- pressure sensitive adhesive

inlaid -- usually a through chip inlay meaning that the pattern continues through to the backing material

roto grovre(spelled wrong) or roto vinyl -- essentially a printed pattern vinyl floor where the pattern is only under the surface of the ware layer

ware layer -- the 'finish' on the top of a vinyl floor with the durability depending on the composition and mil thickness of the 'finish'

nose filler -- an epoxy filler disigned to fill the inside corner void of a stair tread to prolong the life of the tread

[Peter Kodner]

It is rotogravure. Named for a printing process invented in the late 1800s. Also called roto vinyls.

Not to be too anal, but it is wear layer

[Bill Watson]

Cove Stick: A concave shaped stick made of wood, plastic or wax which is placed at the juncture of the floor and wall to support sheet flooring which is flash coved. If there is no support behind the cove, the flooring can be punctured.