A
- Axminster
Carpet
-
A machine-woven carpet where an enormous variety of colors are used to produce
colorful patterns.
B
- Berber
Carpet
-
The term Berber is applied to carpet that has the off-white, heathered look of
cloaks used by the Berber tribes of North Africa. Berber
carpets use flecked yarns most often in loop styles. The size of the loops
varies from large nubby ones to smaller styles. Patterned Berbers are
multi-level-loop as well as cut-and-loop styles. Berber styles are also
available in pastels and dark tones as well as naturals.
- Binding
-
A strip sewn over a carpet edge for protection against unraveling. Carpet is
bound to form rugs.
- Broadloom
-
A term originally used to denote carpet produced in widths wider than six feet.
Today carpet comes in 6-foot, 12-foot, and 15-foot widths.
- Brocade
-
A carpet or rug in which a raised pattern or engraved effect is formed using
heavy twisted yarn tufts on a ground of straight fibers.
C
- Carpet
Backing
-
Fabrics or yarns forming the back of the carpet as opposed to the carpet pile
or face. In tufted carpets, there are two backings: a primary backing into
which the pile yarn is inserted and a secondary fabric backing laminated to the
back of the carpet for reinforcement and dimensional stability.
- Carpet
Cushion
-
A variety of materials placed under carpet to provide softness and longer wear
when it is walked on. In some cases, the carpet cushion is attached to the
carpet when it is manufactured. Terms also used: lining, padding, or underlay.
- Carpet Pile
-
Fibers that form the upper surface of carpet.
- Carpet
Squares
-
Loose laid or self-adhesive backed "tiles" of carpet.
- Ceramic
Tile
-
Made from clay or a mixture of organic materials, ceramic tile is finished by
kiln firing. Made in many shapes and sizes, it is glazed or unglazed. For
floors, tiles are set in a cement or mortar type mixture.
- Cork
Flooring
-
One of the earliest of modern resilient floor coverings, the flooring is made
from the bark of cork oak trees, a replenishable material. Cork
flooring is available in tiles and sheet goods in natural unfinished cork,
waxed cork, resin-reinforced waxed and vinyl impregnated cork in many colors
including natural shades.
- Cut-and-Loop
Carpet
-
A multi-level loop carpet, where the taller loops are sheared. The resulting
uncut loops and sheared top loops create a sculptured pattern. The texture and
often subtle, variegated colorings help hide soil and traffic wear.
- Cut Pile
-
The face of a carpet where the surface is composed of cut ends of yarn.
F
- Flat Weave
- Flat Weave rugs and carpets are flat woven items traditional
to India, made
of cotton or silk. They are noted for soft colorations and varied patterns.
- Frieze
-
(Pronounced "free-zay") A tightly twisted yarn is used to give a
rough,
nubby appearance to carpet pile. Frieze carpets may be loop or cut styles.
G
- Glazed Tile
-
Clay shaped into tiles, fire-hardened, and then covered with a matte or glossy
glaze to make the tiles more resistant to moisture.
H
- Hooked Rug
-
Rugs made by pulling yarns or fabric strips through a mesh backing. Many are
designed in various colors to create a scene or design.
I
- Indoor/Outdoor
Carpet
-
Carpet designed to be used outdoors.
K
- Kilim or
Kelim
-
A flat, woven rug, usually reversible.
L
- Laminate
Flooring
-
Relatively new to North America, laminates have a dense
fiberboard core with a paper pattern layer sealed both top and bottom under
high pressure with a plastic-like substance. Sold as planks and panels in wood,
stone, tile, and other looks.
- Level Loop Carpet
-
A carpet style - woven or tufted - with a same-height loop surface.
- Linoleum
-
One of the first resilient floors, it was introduced in the 1800s. Made of
linseed oil, gums, cork, or wood dust and pigments. Often the term is used
incorrectly to describe resilient floors made of vinyl.
- Loop Pile
Carpet
-
Carpet style having a surface made up of uncut loops.
M
- Marble
-
Limestone flooring known for its elegant appearance created by polishing its
very hard surface. Now available in tiles.
- Mosaic Tile
-
Small ceramic tile, hard porcelain or glass, glazed or unglazed mounted on a
backing for ease of installation. Often mosaic tiles are used to create designs
for walls and floors.
O
- Oriental
Rug
-
Hand-woven or hand-knotted rugs native to the Middle or Far East,
available in many patterns and known for their colorations. Many machine-made
rugs, made using Oriental rug designs, are also referred to as Oriental rugs.
- Outdoor
Carpet
-
Carpet designed to be used outdoors on patios, walks and decks. Usually made of
polypropylene to withstand the weather and ultra-violet rays of the sun, most
outdoor carpet is designed for glue-down installation.
P
- Parquet
Floors
-
Flooring made up of wood that is laid or inlaid to create patterns, most often
geometric ones.
- Patterned
or Printed Carpet
-
Carpet having patterns applied by methods similar to printing paper. These
include flatbed screen printing, rotary
screen printing. Stalwart printing
and
modern computer programmed jet printing.
- Pile
-
The upright ends of yarn, whether cut or looped, that form the wearing surface
of carpets or rugs. Sometimes called the face or nap of the carpet.
- Plank
Flooring
-
Wood flooring made of long boards more than 3 inches wide.
- Plush
Carpet
-
A smooth, dense, cut pile carpet in which individual tufts are only minimally
visible, and the overall visual effect is a single level of fiber ends.
Q
- Quarry Tile
-
Glazed or unglazed ceramic tile made using an extrusion process. An example is
the terra-cotta squares used in the Southwest.
R
- Rag Rug
-
A sturdy, colorful rug hand-woven from cotton scraps.
- Random-sheared
Carpet
-
Textured pattern created by shearing some of the top or higher loops and
leaving others looped.
- Remnant
-
A short piece of carpet from a roll of carpet that usually measures less than
nine feet long.
- Resilient
Floor
-
Smooth surfaced flooring (tiles, strips, or sheet goods) manufactured by first
combining a plastic material with filler and pigments, and then processing them
into sheets of different thickness. If a backing material is used, the plastic
sheet is joined to the backing. Types include solid vinyl, backed or cushioned
vinyl, rubber, cork, and linoleum.
- Rubber
Flooring
-
Today rubber flooring tiles and sheet goods is made from synthetic rubber. It
comes in ribbed, studded, or other raised patterns.
- Rug
-
Carpet made or cut and bound into room dimensions and loose laid.
S
- Saxony Carpet
-
Cut-pile carpet in a relatively dense construction, with well-defined
individual tuft tips. Smoother finished saxonies are called
"plushes."
- Sculptured
Carpet
-
Any carpet pattern formed from high and low pile areas, such as high-low loop
or cut-and-loop.
- Shag Carpet
-
A deep-pile texture with long-cut surface yarns. Shag carpet was popular in the
1970s, and a new type of contemporary shag in more up-to-date colors is gaining
in popularity today.
- Sisal
Flooring
-
Rugs, mats, and matting made from sisal, a natural plant material. Available
woven and dyed in various colors, as well as machine- and hand-painted. Similar
flooring is made of jute, coconut, and sea grass.
- Slate
-
A naturally laminated rock that is often used in regular and irregular shapes,
and is embedded in cement or mortar to create a hard-surface, patterned floor.
- Soil
Retardant
-
A chemical finish applied to carpet and fabric surfaces which inhibits
attachment of soil to fiber. It is usually a topical treatment but may also be
inherent in the fiber.
- Solid Vinyl
Flooring
-
This smooth-surfaced plastic floor is a mixture of vinyl resins, plasticizer,
fillers, and stabilizers with color added throughout the product. Produced in
either square tiles or sheet goods.
- Stain
Resistant
-
A chemical finish applied to or inherent in carpet fibers which inhibits
specific stains from adhering to or dyeing (staining) carpet and fabrics.
- Stretch
-
A carpet installation term for the give in carpet when it is pulled over the
pad onto tackless strips.
- Strip
Flooring
-
The most popular wood flooring, strip flooring is made of narrow (typically2
1/4. 3-inches wide) tongue-and-groove boards that are end-matched. Strip
flooring wider than 2 1/4 inches is called plank flooring.
T
- Tackless
Installation
-
Where carpet is laid over pad and stretched to fit over tack strips of wood
with implanted tacks to hold the carpet snugly to the wall. Also called
wall-to-wall installation.
- Terrazzo
-
A smooth, multicolored floor made of marble or stone chips embedded in a cement
binder, and then highly polished. Traditionally terrazzo floors are poured and
set on site, but manufactured terrazzo tiles are also available.
- Tufted
Carpet
-
Carpet manufactured by tufting machines, which insert pile tufts with needles
that penetrate a primary backing fabric, thus forming tufts. About 90% of all
North American carpet is tufted.
V
- Vinyl
Composition Tile
-
These floor tiles are made from vinyl resins and filler materials to create
resilient flooring in assorted colors and patterns.
W
- Wilton
Carpet
-
Woven carpet made in a variety of patterns and textures but with a limited
number of colors per pattern.
- Wood
Flooring
-
Most wood flooring is made of hardwoods, such as oak, maple, pecan, beech, and
birch.
There is solid wood flooring and laminated flooring, which combines wood
layered in different directions for strength and to inhibit shrinkage or
expansion. Most wood flooring today is prefinished at the factory for ease of
installation and uniformity of finish.
- Woven
Carpet
-
Looms interlace warp (lengthwise) and filling (widthwise) yarns to create a
sturdy textile for the floor. Much woven carpet is produced in intricate,
colorful patterns. Types of woven carpet include Axminster and Wilton.
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