Painting & Decorating Glossary
73 common terms from the painting and decorating trade, explained in plain English.
Quotes and decorating advice can be full of trade jargon. This glossary explains the words and phrases you are most likely to come across — from paint finishes and preparation to wallpapering, spraying and the building features we work on. Jump to a section below, or browse the lot.
Paints & Finishes
The main paint types and sheen levels, and what each is best used for.
- Acrylic / Water-Based Paint
- Paint that uses water as its carrier and an acrylic resin as the binder. Water-based paints are low-odour, quick-drying, non-yellowing and easy to clean up with water — now the standard choice for most interior walls, ceilings and increasingly woodwork.
- Alkyd / Oil-Based Paint
- Paint that uses a solvent (white spirit) carrier and an alkyd resin binder. It dries to a very hard, durable film, ideal for hard-wearing woodwork, but is slower-drying, higher in odour and can yellow over time. Largely being replaced by modern water-based equivalents.
- Anti-Mould Paint
- Emulsion containing a fungicide (biocide) that resists the growth of black mould, used in bathrooms, kitchens and rooms prone to condensation. It controls surface regrowth but does not cure an underlying damp problem.
- Chalk Paint
- A matt, ultra-flat decorative paint popular for upcycling furniture and a shabby-chic look. It grips most surfaces with little preparation but is soft, so it is usually sealed with wax or lacquer for durability.
- Dead Flat
- A finish with essentially zero sheen — even flatter than matt. Favoured on period ceilings and heritage interiors because it hides imperfections and gives a soft, chalky look, though it is the least washable finish.
- Distemper
- A traditional, breathable water-based paint bound with glue or chalk, used historically and in the conservation of period and listed buildings. It allows old lime plaster to breathe but is not durable or washable by modern standards.
- Eggshell
- A finish with a slight, low sheen resembling an eggshell. A popular choice for woodwork and walls because it is more durable and washable than matt emulsion while being less reflective than satin or gloss.
- Emulsion
- The general term for water-based wall and ceiling paint, available from flat matt through to silk. It comes in a huge colour range and is the everyday paint for interior decorating.
- Gloss
- A highly reflective finish most often used on woodwork such as doors, skirting and window frames. Oil-based gloss gives the hardest finish; water-based gloss offers lower odour, faster drying and better long-term colour.
- Intumescent Paint
- A fire-retardant coating that swells when exposed to heat to form an insulating char layer, protecting the substrate — usually structural steel — and buying time in a fire. Also called intumescent coating. Related: Commercial spray painting →
- Limewash
- A breathable traditional finish made from slaked lime, used on lime render and period masonry. It weathers attractively and lets walls breathe, which is why it is specified on many historic and listed buildings.
- Masonry Paint
- A specialised exterior paint for brick, stone, render and concrete. It is flexible, breathable and resistant to weather, algae and moss. Available in smooth and textured grades. Related: Masonry & render painting →
- Matt
- A finish with little to no sheen. Matt emulsion is the most common choice for interior walls and ceilings and is good at hiding surface imperfections, though it is less scrubbable than sheened finishes.
- Microporous Paint
- An exterior timber paint that lets water vapour escape while keeping liquid water out. It reduces moisture build-up inside the wood that would otherwise cause paint to flake and timber to rot — important for wooden windows and doors. Related: Wooden window painting →
- Satin
- A mid-sheen finish between eggshell and gloss. Hard-wearing and washable, it is popular for woodwork and for walls in high-traffic areas such as hallways and stairwells.
- Sheen
- The amount of light a dried paint film reflects, ranging from dead flat and matt through eggshell and satin to gloss. Higher-sheen finishes are generally more durable and wipeable but show surface flaws more readily.
- SMP (Silicone Modified Polyester)
- A high-performance coating for metal cladding, roofing and steel components, offering excellent UV resistance, colour retention and durability — common on industrial and commercial buildings. Related: Commercial spray painting →
- Two-Pack Paint
- A two-component system in which a base and a hardener (activator) are mixed before use and cure chemically into an extremely hard, durable finish. Used for high-wear applications such as kitchen units and industrial coatings.
- Varnish
- A clear or tinted protective coating for wood that seals and protects while leaving the grain visible. Available in matt to gloss and in interior and exterior grades.
- VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds)
- Solvents that evaporate from paint as it dries, responsible for paint odour and some environmental and health concerns. Modern paints are increasingly low- or zero-VOC; the level is shown on the tin.
- Wood Stain
- A penetrating finish that colours timber while showing the grain, rather than forming an opaque film like paint. Exterior wood stains are usually flexible and microporous to move with the timber.
Surface Preparation
Preparation is what makes a paint finish look good and last — these are the products and steps involved.
- Abrading / Keying
- Lightly sanding a surface to create a fine roughness (a "key") so the next coat can grip. Essential on glossy, previously painted or non-porous surfaces.
- Bonding Primer
- A specialist primer that improves adhesion on difficult, non-porous surfaces such as glass, tiles, melamine, metals and plastics, creating a chemical key for the topcoat.
- Caulk
- A flexible decorator’s filler (usually acrylic) applied from a cartridge gun to fill gaps and cracks along skirting, architrave and where woodwork meets walls, giving crisp, seamless lines once painted.
- Cutting In
- Painting a neat edge by hand with a brush — around ceilings, into corners and along woodwork — where a roller or sprayer cannot reach cleanly. A core skill that defines a tidy finish.
- Feathering
- Sanding the edges of a filled or repaired area so the repair blends smoothly into the surrounding surface with no visible ridge.
- Filler
- A paste used to fill holes, cracks and dents in walls and woodwork before painting. Interior wall fillers, flexible fillers and two-part wood/exterior fillers are each suited to different jobs.
- Knotting
- A shellac-based sealer painted over knots in bare softwood before priming, to stop resin bleeding through and discolouring the finished paint.
- Making Good
- The catch-all term for repairing and preparing surfaces — filling, sanding, caulking and sealing — so they are sound and smooth before decorating.
- Masking
- Using low-tack tape and sheeting to protect adjacent surfaces, glass, fittings and floors from paint, and to achieve crisp lines. Especially important when spraying.
- Mist Coat
- A watered-down first coat of emulsion applied to new or bare plaster so the paint soaks in and bonds, rather than sitting on the surface and peeling. The plaster must be fully dry first.
- Primer
- The first coat on a bare or repaired surface. It improves adhesion, seals porosity and provides a stable base. Different primers suit wood, metal, masonry and previously painted surfaces.
- Stabilising Solution
- A penetrating sealer applied to chalky, powdery or weathered exterior masonry to bind the surface together so masonry paint can adhere properly.
- Stain Block
- A sealer that locks in stubborn stains — water marks, nicotine, smoke, marker — so they cannot bleed through the new paint. Often shellac- or solvent-based for the toughest stains.
- Sugar Soap
- An alkaline cleaner used to degrease and wash down surfaces before repainting, removing grease, nicotine and cooking residue that would otherwise stop the new paint adhering.
- Undercoat
- A coat applied between primer and topcoat to build the system, add opacity and help cover the previous colour, giving a stable base for the finish coat.
- Wet Edge
- Keeping the boundary of freshly applied paint workable so each new section blends into the last without leaving overlap marks or "lap lines". Working to a wet edge avoids patchy, streaky finishes.
Wallpapering
Terms you will hear when planning and hanging wallpaper.
- Anaglypta
- A thick, embossed paintable wallpaper that creates a textured, three-dimensional pattern. Popular in Victorian and Edwardian homes and still used to add relief or disguise uneven walls. Related: Wallpaper hanging →
- Booking
- Folding a pasted length of wallpaper back on itself for a few minutes so the paste soaks in and the paper expands evenly before hanging — preventing bubbles and shrinkage.
- Drop / Pattern Repeat
- A "drop" is a single hung length of wallpaper; the "pattern repeat" is the vertical distance before the design repeats. Large repeats and "offset" (half-drop) patterns use more paper because of the matching required. Related: Wallpaper hanging →
- Feature Wall
- A single wall decorated differently from the rest of the room — a bolder colour or a wallpaper — to create a focal point.
- Grasscloth
- A natural wallcovering made from woven plant fibres bonded to a paper backing. It gives a rich, textured finish but needs careful, paste-the-wall hanging as it marks and stains easily. Related: Wallpaper hanging →
- Lining Paper
- A plain paper hung before decorating to give a smooth, uniform base — either for paint or for a decorative wallpaper over the top. It disguises minor imperfections and improves the finished result. Related: Wallpaper hanging →
- Mural / Panoramic
- A large-scale wallpaper made of multiple panels that join to form one continuous image across a wall. Precise alignment is essential, making it a job for an experienced hanger. Related: Wallpaper hanging →
- Paste-the-Wall
- A modern hanging method where paste is applied to the wall rather than the paper. It is cleaner and faster, and is used with non-woven wallpapers that do not expand when wet.
- Sizing
- Sealing a bare wall with a coat of diluted paste or proprietary size before hanging, so the paper slides into position and the wall does not draw the moisture out of the paste too quickly.
- Vinyl Wallpaper
- Wallpaper with a wipeable vinyl surface, durable and moisture-tolerant, making it well suited to kitchens, bathrooms and high-traffic areas.
Surfaces & Building Features
The parts of a building a decorator works on — useful when describing a quote.
- Architrave
- The moulded timber frame surrounding a door or window opening, covering the join between the frame and the wall. Usually painted to match other woodwork.
- Bargeboard
- The board running along the sloping edge of a gable roof. Like fascias and soffits, it is exposed to the weather and needs regular repainting.
- Coving / Cornice
- The decorative moulding where the wall meets the ceiling. "Coving" is usually the simpler concave type; "cornice" the more ornate, often plaster, moulding found in period rooms.
- Dado Rail
- A moulding running horizontally around a room at roughly waist height, originally to protect walls from chair backs. Often used to divide two different wall finishes.
- Fascia
- The horizontal board along the lower edge of a roof to which the guttering is fixed. Made from timber or uPVC and requiring regular painting or maintenance.
- Glazing Bars
- The slim bars (also called muntins) that divide a window into individual panes. They are fiddly and time-consuming to paint neatly, particularly on period and sash windows. Related: Wooden window painting →
- Pebbledash
- An exterior render finish with small stones thrown onto a wet topcoat, creating a hard, textured surface. It can be painted with flexible masonry paint but uses more material because of the texture. Related: Masonry & render painting →
- Picture Rail
- A moulding fixed near the top of a wall, originally for hanging pictures. A common period feature that is usually picked out in the woodwork colour.
- Render
- A cement-, lime- or polymer-based coating applied to exterior (and sometimes interior) walls to create a smooth or textured surface. Render is commonly painted with breathable masonry paint. Related: Masonry & render painting →
- Reveal
- The vertical inner sides of a window or door opening, between the frame and the face of the wall. Reveals are cut in by hand when decorating around openings.
- Sash Window
- A traditional window with one or more panels (sashes) that slide vertically. Common in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian homes, they need specialist care to paint without sealing the sashes shut. Related: Wooden window painting →
- Skirting Board
- The timber board running along the base of a wall where it meets the floor. One of the most frequently painted elements in any redecoration.
- Soffit
- The horizontal underside of a roof overhang (eave), or the underside of a stair or arch. Usually timber or uPVC and painted as part of exterior work.
- Substrate
- The underlying surface being painted — plaster, timber, metal, masonry, plasterboard and so on. The substrate determines which primer and paint system are used.
Spraying & Application
How paint is applied, and the terms specific to spray finishing.
- Airless Spray Painting
- Applying paint with a high-pressure pump that atomises it without compressed air. Fast and ideal for large areas such as walls, ceilings and exterior cladding. Related: Spray painting →
- Atomisation
- The breaking-up of paint into a fine, even spray of droplets. Good atomisation is what gives sprayed work its smooth, mark-free finish.
- Back-Rolling
- Following a sprayed coat immediately with a roller to work the paint into the surface — used on textured masonry and some primers to ensure full coverage and adhesion.
- HVLP (High Volume, Low Pressure)
- A spray system that uses a high volume of air at low pressure to atomise paint. It produces less overspray than airless and is preferred for fine finish work such as furniture, doors and cabinetry. Related: Spray painting →
- Overspray
- Paint mist that drifts beyond the target surface during spraying. Controlling overspray with thorough masking and sheeting is a key part of any spray job.
- Wet Film Thickness
- How thick the paint is while still wet, measured with a comb gauge to make sure each coat is applied at the rate the manufacturer specifies — important for durability and warranty on coatings.
Repairs, Trade & Safety
Repair techniques, and the trade and safety terms worth knowing.
- COSHH
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health — UK regulations requiring control of hazardous substances. In decorating this covers solvents, thinners, dust and other materials used on site.
- Day Rate vs Price Work
- "Day rate" charges for the decorator’s time; "price work" (or a fixed price) quotes the whole job for an agreed sum. A written, itemised fixed quote is usually clearest for the customer.
- Epoxy / Resin Wood Repair
- Repairing rotten or damaged timber with a two-part resin system (such as Repair Care / Dryflex), rather than replacing the whole component. It lets original windows, doors and joinery be saved and repainted. Related: Wooden window painting →
- RAMS (Risk Assessments & Method Statements)
- Documents setting out the hazards of a job and how the work will be carried out safely. Commonly required on commercial and managed sites before work starts. Related: Commercial painting →
- Snagging
- The final inspection at the end of a job to identify and put right any small defects — missed spots, drips or untidy edges — before the work is signed off.
- Splice Repair
- Cutting out a rotten section of timber and letting in a new piece of matching wood, used on window sills and frames where the damage is too large for filler alone. Related: Wooden window painting →