Paint Ideas · Glossary

Glossary

Not sure what a certain term means? Find it here in our glossary. Simply browse through or navigate by choosing a letter.

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Facade - The exterior front of a building.

Face frame - A frame of stiles and rails that is applied to the face of a cabinet for style and strength. The face frame is often used to hide plywood edges.

Face rusting - The appearance of rust on an apparently unblemished painted surface.

Faceplate - The decorative plate installed over a switch or receptacle. The plate also covers the wall opening and thus protects the wiring.

Factory edge - The edge finish put on wood and panels at the mill.

Fading - The gradual loss of color of a paint film due to a chemical or physical change. Usually due to pigment degradation by the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight.

False body - - Thixotropic flow property of a suspension or dispersion. A composition which thins down on stirring is said to exhibit false body.

Fan pattern - The geometry of a spray pattern.

Faraday cage effect - The phenomenon by which charged particles are prevented from entering recessed areas. It is due to the curvature of electric force lines to the nearest grounded surface.

Fatigue - A process leading to fracture resulting from repeated stress cycles well below the normal tensile strength. Such failures start as tiny cracks which grow to cause total failure.

Fatty acids - Commonly produced by chemical splitting of fats and oils with glycerin as a by-product. The long chains of drying oil fatty acids have points of reactivity though which two chains join during drying and thereby change a film from liquid to solid.

Faux - The French word for "false." With regard to painting finishes, it is used to describe any technique in which paint is manipulated on a surface to imitate the appearance of another substance, such as wood or stone.

Faux finish - - A decorative paint technique that imitates a pattern found in nature, such as marble or wood.

Faux painting - - Various painting techniques that mimic wood, marble and other stones.

Feather edge - Reduced film thickness at the edge of a dry paint film in order to produce a smooth, continuous appearance.

Feathering - The process of laying down a wide, thin layer of joint compound over a seam and sanding it gradually into the wallboard at the edges so that the mound of compound seems flat.

Feature strip - A long, narrow resilient tile trim piece often interspersed in a resilient tile floor to provide contrast and design.

Federal - An architectural and decorative style popular in America during the early nineteenth century, featuring delicate ornamentation, usually of swags and urns, and symmetrically arranged rooms.

Feel - The working quality of a paint: how it spreads, covers, and dries. Painters like to use a paint that "feels" right to them.

Ferrous metal primer - Specially formulated primer applied to iron-bearing metal. Commonly needed for gutters and flashing.

Ferrule - The metal part of a paintbrush that holds the bristles to the handle.

Filler - A material, usually containing considerable quantities of pigment, used to build up or fill depressions and imperfections on the surface.

Filler coat - The middle or second coat of joint compound in a three-coat application.

Film - A layer of coating or paint.

Film build - The dry film thickness characteristics of a coat.

Film integrity - The continuity of a coating free of defects.

Film thickness gauge - A device for measuring wet or dry film thickness.

Filter - Cloth or other media used to remove particles from a liquid substance.

Fineness of grind - The degree of dispersion of particles within a liquid.

Fingernail test - A physical test upon the dried film of a finishing material to denote the ease with which it can be marred, scratched, flaked or broken. The test is often performed by picking at the finish with the edge of the nail of the thumb or index finger.

Finial - A decorative element at the top of a post. You can purchase posts with precut finials, cut your own or purchase separate finials to attach to posts.

Finish - (1)Final coat in a painting system. (2)Sometimes refers to the entire coating system; the texture, color and smoothness of a surface, and other properties affecting appearance.

Fire resistance - The ability of a coating to withstand fire or to protect the substrate to which it is applied from fire damage.

Fire retardant - A coating which will reduce flame spread, resist ignition when exposed to high temperature and/or insulate the substrate and delay damage to the substrate.

Fish eye - Small craters in a new finish that are the result of an adverse reaction between the finish and substances such as wax or oil on the surface.

Fish oil - A natural oil extracted from fish characterized by a large group of saturated fatty acids. The fatty acids derived from fish oils are three principal types: saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The fish oil commonly used in the coatings industry is menhaden oil, produced from menhaden fish caught along the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Fixture - Any fixed part of the structural design, such as tubs, bidets, toilets and lavatories.

Flags - A word describing bristles with split ends, which help hold the paint.

Flakeboard - The same as particleboard.

Flaking - The detachment of pieces of paint from the substrate, caused by a loss of adhesion and elasticity. Also known as scaling.

Flammable - A substance easily ignited in the presence of a flame; any liquid having a flash point below 100?F.

Flammable liquids - Any liquid having a flashpoint below 100 degrees F

Flash point - Lowest temperature at which a substance in an open vessel gives off enough vapors to produce a flash of fire when a flame is passed near the surface.

Flash-off time - Time which must be allowed after the application of a paint film in order that the initial solvents are released, which prevents bubbling.

Flashing - (1) A paint defect in a paint film in which patches glossier than the general finish develop, especially at joints or laps in the coating. (2) The non-uniform appearance, including spotty differences in color or gloss, usually due to improper or non-uniform sealing of a porous substrate.

Flat finish - The absence of sheen after a paint or finish dries.

Flat grain - Wood or veneer so sawed that the annual rings form an angle of less than 45 degrees with the surface of the piece.

Flatting agent - Pigment added to reduce gloss or give a "rubbed" look. Some flatting agents are zinc stearate, silica, and talc.

Flexibility - The degree to which a coating is able to conform to movement or deformation of its supporting surface without cracking or flaking.

Float - A long-handled tool used to smooth (darby) a concrete surface after screeding; requires two handlers.

Floating - The process of smoothing the surface of a pour with a float made of steel, aluminum, magnesium or wood. This action drives large aggregate below the surface.

Flocculation - Formation of clusters of particles separated by relatively weak mechanical forces or by change in physical forces at the interface between liquid and solid particles. May cause loss of tinting strength, hiding power or change flow properties.

Flogger/dragger - A wide, long-bristled brush that can be dragged through or slapped over wet paint or glaze to stimulate texture or to create a pattern.

Flogging brushes - Wide, long-bristled brushes used to texture surfaces by dragging or slapping wet paint or glaze. Also called draggers.

Flooding - The process of color change which a paint undergoes from the freshly applied material to the finished dried film.

Floral patterns - Any pattern or arrangement of flowers printed as the decorative surface of wallpaper or fabric.

Flow - The degree to which a wet paint film can level out after application so as to eliminate brush or roller marks and produce a smooth uniform finish.

Flow coat - A coat of finishing material applied to a vertical surface in an excessive amount, the surplus being allowed to flow down over the surface and drip off the bottom edge.

Fluid tip - The orifice in a spray gun to which the needle is seated.

Fluorescent - A class of pigments which, when exposed to visible light, emit light of a different wave length producing a bright appearance.

Foam brush - An 1- to 4-inch, taper-edged foam pad on a stick for applying stain and painting window muntins.

Foam in a can - Polyurethane foam sealant packaged in a pressure can. Used to fill irregular, hard-to-reach cracks and gaps that cannot be plugged effectively with caulks and gaskets.

Focal point - The first wall you see upon entering a room. To find the main focal wall in a room with multiple entries, you will have to determine the room's dominant flow of traffic.

Folding attic stairways - Ladder-like stairs easily pulled down to provide access to an attic.

Folding stairs - Stairs easily pulled down to provide access to an attic.

Force drying - The acceleration of drying by increasing the ambient temperature usually to between 100? and 150?F.

Fouling - Marine growth such as weeds or barnacles adhering to submerged surfaces.

Frame, door or window - The assembly attached to the structure that contains a door or window sash.

Framed cabinet - A cabinet with a full frame across the face of the cabinet box.

Frameless Cabinet - A cabinet without a face frame. It may also be called a "European-style" cabinet.

Freeze-thaw resistance - Extent to which water-based paints, utilizing synthetic latices or synthetic resin emulsions as vehicles (1) retain their original properties, free from detrimental changes in consistency, and (2) resist coagulation, or the formation of lumps and specks, when subjected to freezing and subsequent thawing.

French polish - A solution of shellac in alcohol used to give furniture a shiny finish. The alcohol evaporates to leave a thin coating of shellac on the piece.

French Wash - Painting in opaque watercolour. The pigment have a gum binder, and the filler is invariably some form of opaque white (such as clay or barite) which gives a typical 'chalky' look even to dark hue.

Fretting - Metal deterioration caused by repetitive slip at the interface between two surfaces.

Frieze - A horizontal band at the top of the wall or just below the cornice.

Frieze board - Trim board nailed horizontally on a building wall directly beneath rafters to provide a nailing surface for soffits and cornice trim.

Frosting - A white crystalline deposit that develops on the surface of a coating.

Fungicidal paint - Paint which discourages the growth of fungii on its dry applied film

Fungicide - A substance poisonous to fungi which retards or kills mold and mildew growth.

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