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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Saddle - The strip under a door that joins the floors of two rooms by concealing the seam between them.

Stain controllers - Also called wood conditioner, prestain and grain tamer. Slow-evaporating, petroleum-distillate solvents that work by filling up the pores and less-dense parts of the wood so the stain can't penetrate.

Sill - The bottom of a window or door frame; lowest member in the wood frame of a structure.

Sliding window - Similar to a double-hung window turned on its side. The glass panels slide horizontally.

Shelf life - The period of time after manufacture, during which a coating should be used.

Semi-transparent wallpaper - A wallpaper that is usually light in background color and permits darker colors to show through from the wall surface.

Solvation - The phenomenon in which the molecules of a solvent surround and are attached to a particle of the material dissolved.

Secondary color - A mix of two primaries. The secondary colors are orange, green and purple.

Standard - A reference material used as a basis for comparison or calibration.

Sandblast - Abrasive cleaning of a surface by blowing sand against it at high velocity.

Sanding block - A padded wood block around which a piece of sandpaper is wrapped for hand-sanding a surface.

Solid surfacing - A countertop material made of acrylic plastic and fine-ground synthetic particles, sometimes made to look like granite.

Specific gravity - The ratio of the weight of a given volume of a substance to the weight of an equal volume of distilled water at a temperature of 62F.

Scale - The size of a room or object.

Silica - Ground sand or ground quartz used as a pigment extender.

Shiner - A glossy spot on an otherwise non-glossy surface. Can be caused by spot-priming patched areas, poor wet-edge lapping, or spot-painting with poorly mixed or unmatched paint.

Surfacer - Paint used to smooth the surface before finish coats are applied.

Solid - The part of the same coating that remains on the surface after the vehicle has evaporated. Also called non-volatile.

Sectional - Furniture made into separate pieces that coordinate with each other. The pieces can be arranged together as large unit or independently. Examples include L-shaped sofas, bookcases and desk furniture.

Solvency - The ability of a pure or mixed liquid to dissolve resin.

Shellac - A natural resin secreted from the lac bug that inhabits certain trees native to India and Thailand. Shellac is the only natural resin still widely used as a finish.

Sand-painted walls - Walls painted with a paint mixed with sand. This finish does not provide a satisfactory surface for wallpaper.

Seeds - Undesirable particles which develop in a liquid coating by partial gelation of a vehicle or by agglomeration of pigment particles.

Soluble - Able to be dissolved.

Sidedraft booth - A spray booth in which air movement is from the front side to the back side of the booth.

Spectrum - A spatial arrangement of electromagnetic energy in order of wavelength. In visible radiation the spectrum is a band of color produced by breaking white light into its component colors.

Stearate - A soap that can prevent a coating from adhering to a surface. Some wood fillers contain stearates.

Stippling - A paint technique that involves pouncing a special brush straight up and down over a surface, creating myriad tiny dots that blend together when viewed from a distance. Similar to the fine-art technique known as pointillism.

Sizing - A powdered mixture of starch and cornflower or cellulose and pine flower. When applied to a wall surface, these mixtures provide uniform porosity and increase the tack of wallpaper during installation.

Skin - A layer formed on the surface of a paint or varnish caused by exposure to the air or moisture which produces oxidation or polymerization on the surface.

Slipcover - A fabric or plastic cover that can be draped or tailored to fit over a piece of furniture.

Slurry - Mix of water and finely ground substances such as portland cement, plaster or clay particles.

Slushing compound - A non-drying oil or grease applied to metals for temporary corrosion protection.

Scaling - High temperature corrosion resulting in formation of thick corrosion product layers.

Snap-in grilles - Ready-made rectangular and diamond-pattern grilles that snap into a window sash and create the look of a true divided-light window.

Short oil varnish - A varnish relatively high in resin content, containing usually less than 10 gallons of oil per 100 pounds of resin.

Skim-coating - The technique of rolling water-thinned joint compound onto a wall and then flattening it with a 20-inch knife to create a very thin, paint-like layer.

Sash brush - A finely bristled brush with an angled taper that makes sharp lines on trim, molding and window muntins.

Shading - The technique of sorting rolls or strips of wallpaper so that they are uniform in color or tonal values. Wallpapers such as grasscloth, rushcloth, etc., will always contain various inconsistencies in tonal values because this is a natural effect.

Sample - A small part or portion of a material or product intended to be representative of the whole.

Stippling brush - A blocky, stiff-bristled china brush used to stipple wet paints, glazes and top coats.

Sagging - Tendency of a wet paint film to flow downward and become thicker in spots on vertical surfaces.

Spackling compound - A powdery substance that mixes with water and is used to cover seams and nail holes in plaster and gypsum wallboard.

Set Up - A paint film that has filmed over and hardened.

Score - To scratch or etch a cutline in a glazed tile, prior to cutting. The tile will snap or break along the scored line.

Softwood - Wood, such as cedar, cypress, fir, hemlock, pine, redwood and spruce, that comes from coniferous trees. Some kinds of softwood are used outdoors because they are naturally rot resistant.

Self-Cleaning - A feature of exterior, alkyd paints, whereby the dry film chalks which then washes down the surface with rain. Any contamination that has been deposited on the paint is carried away with the chalk.

Specimen - A piece or portion of a sample used to make a test.

Sconce - A decorative wall bracket that shields a bulb.

Sight line - The natural line of sight the eye travels when looking into or around a room.

Silicone oils - Oil liquids containing polymers of alternating silicone and oxygen atoms. They have a surface tension lowering effect when mixed with paints. Often used to control foaming.

Settling - Pigment separates from other coating ingredients and cakes or settles at the bottom of the can.

Sweat-in time - For multi-component products, the period of time which must elapse after the components are mixed and before the coating can be applied (same as Induction Time).

Stop - Door jamb trim used to stop a door from overswinging; trim that secures a window sash.

Soybean oil - A semi-drying oil obtained from the soya bean. When properly combined with resins or other chemicals it produces good quality synthetic varnishes.

Space reconfiguration - A term used to describe the reallocation of interior space without adding on.

Silking - The term applied to parallel hair-like striations showing in coated films.

Self- Leveling - The ability of a coating to flow into the indentations left by brushes and rollers and dry to a smooth finish.

Sheen - The degree of gloss in a paint. Sheen ranges from flat to high gloss.

Spreading rate - The area of a surface over which a unit volume of paint will spread: usually expressed in square feet per gallon.

Sanding sealer - A thinned shellac or other lightweight clear finish applied to wood to prevent the raising of wood grain by stain, filler or final finish material.

Splitting - A defect in a painted surface that results when the solvents contained in a fresh coat of paint penetrate into the old paint. Likely to occur when the old layer has been sanded too much.

Stain brush - A short and wide bristled brush used for stain. The bristles reduce the amount of stain that runs into the brush ferrule.

Stain grade wood - High quality wood that will not show flaws when treated with a transparent or semi-transparent finish.

Striking In - The defect produced by a coat of finishing material partially penetrating an earlier coating.

Sky light - A framed opening in the roof that admits sunlight into the house. It can be covered with either a flat glass panel or a plastic dome.

Solution - Homogenous liquid mixture, the proportion of constituents of which may be varied within certain limits.

Saponification - Chemical reaction which causes development of a soapy film on the substrate, causing peeling of a coating from the surface.

Spalling - The separation of a surface layer caused by thermal or mechanical stresses (as in cooling, bending, etc.).

Spreader adjusting valve - The adjustment valve on a compressed air spray gun which directs an air stream against the sides of an atomized paint cloud to change the cloud cross-section from circular to elliptical.

Saturation - The strength or purity of a color, determined by the amount and clarity of pigment.

Salt Spray - A salt fog test environment, normally tested in accordance with ASTM B117.

Sealer - A product (for example, shellac) that seals porous surfaces by forming a durable, non-absorbent barrier that prevents them from sucking up paint.

Stringer - On stairs, the diagonal boards that support the treads and risers. The middle support is called a stair carriage.

Substrate - Any material that supports another material that is bonded over it, such as backer board for bathroom tile.

Semi-gloss finish - These paints have a hard, slightly gloss finish that is light reflective, somewhere between gloss and eggshell.

Shelf edging - Trim that covers the exposed edges of plywood or particleboard casework and shelving.

Sandpaper - A coated abrasive (usually flint, garnet or aluminum oxide) glued to a paper, cloth or plastic backing. It is used for smoothing or polishing woods.

Stipplers - Blocky, stiff-bristled hog-hair brushes used to stipple wet paints, glazes and top coats.

Stool - The piece of window trim that provides a stop for the lower sash and extends the sill into the room.

Surface-forming tool - A hand-held rasp-like tool used to shave 1/8 inch or less from drywall edges.

Spar varnish - A very durable, waterproof varnish for service on exterior exposure. Such a varnish must be resistant to rain, sunlight, and heat.

Scrubbability - The ability of a coating to maintain its original hide, gloss and color after being scrubbed or washed with an abrasive soap.

Sidelight - A window or panel mounted at the side of a door.

Sill (window) - The piece of wood at the bottom of a window frame, typically angled to shun water.

Sash - The part of a window unit that contains the glazing; the part that moves in operating windows.

Solid vinyls - Wallpapers that contain a woven or non-woven substrate laminated to a solid vinyl decorative surface.

Spackle - A trademarked name for joint compound.

Spewing - Migration of components to the surface of a coating usually because of incompatibility.

Spot Prime - To apply primer to those areas where the coating has been stripped or when an earlier coating has worn off in spots.

Stencil - A cut-out pattern that allows you to paint the same motif over and over. Complex stencils will have several overlapping patterns, and different colors are applied in layers after the previous coat dries.

Surface tension - Tension exhibited by the free surface of liquids measured in dynes per centimeter.

Synthetic resin - Complex, substantial amorphous organic semisolid or solid materials built up by chemical reactions of simple molecules.

Sand finish - Pebble or sand-like texture.

Sponging - The use of a natural sea sponge, or synthetic sponge with ripped edges, dipped in colored glaze to apply decorative finish on a solid base coat.

Solid-sheet vinyls - Wallpaper that has a paper substrate laminated to solid vinyl. These wallpapers are peelable and scrubbable. Solid sheet vinyls are appropriate in heavy wear or traffic areas such as children's rooms, bathrooms, halls and stairways.

Stemware hanger - A storage rack for hanging stemware upside down. It is placed under a cabinet to save room inside the cabinets.

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