Glossary of Flooring Terms
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Apron
A smaller, decorative piece of wood , usually 3 1/2" wide, attached to landing and balcony walls.
Baluster
A vertical spindle or turning that is installed on a tread (step) to help support the handrail; there are usually 2 or 3 per tread.
Balustrade System
A term referring to all the parts (newels, balusters and handrail) of a particular stairway.
Box Newel
A square newel used in a post-to-post balustrade system.
Box Stair
A stairway which has walls on both sides.
Brackets (also referred to as stringer brackets)
Decorative pieces fastened to the outside of a stringer.
Bull Nose Tread
A tread that has one or both sides finished in a radius. Often used as a starting step and often requires a curved riser beneath.
Circular Stairway
A curved stairway which is mounted on stringers rather than a central pole.
Fillet
Strips, generally flat, which fill the plow between square top balusters on plowed handrail and shoe rail.
Gooseneck
A handrail fitting or easement consisting of an up-easing, a vertical rail. It is used at a landing or balcony to raise the rake handrail to the height of the balcony handrail.
Landing Newel
A newel situated at a landing or balcony.
Level Quarter Turn
A level handrail fitting which turns by 90 degrees.
Level Rail
Handrail which runs level along a landing or balcony.
Newel Post
The major support of a staircase. Newels are larger in diameter than balusters and are located at the bottom and top of a stairway or at a turn in the handrail.
Nosing
A narrow bull nose tread situated over the top riser and along the edge of a balcony to give the appearance of a tread at the top of the stairway.
Opening Cap
A handrail fitting at the start of a level balustrade system (also known as an end cap).
Open Stair
A stairway with a wall on one or no sides.
Over Easing
A handrail fitting which connects a rake handrail with a level handrail without the use of a gooseneck.
Over-the-Post
A stair system which uses fittings to go over newel posts for a continuous handrail.
Plate Rail
The bottom, flat part of a rail assembly that sits on the floor or caps a pony wall (better known as shoe rail).
Plow
The routed portion of a handrail or shoe rail used for the inserting of square balusters. The gaps left between balusters are covered with fillet.
Post-To-Post
Staircase in which the handrail is not continuous. The handrail is lagged into the face of a square-top newel.

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