Saddle       In roofing, a small structure that helps to channel surface water to drains. Frequently located in a valley, a saddle is often constructed like a small hip roof, or like a pyramid with a diamond-shaped base.

Sales Square       The quantity of prepared roofing required to cover 9.3m2 (100 ft2) of deck.

Saturated Felt       An asphalt-impregnated felt used as an underlayment between the deck and the roofing material.

Scuttle       A hatch that provides access to the roof from the interior of the building.

Sealant       A mixture of polymers, fillers, and pigments used to fill and seal joints where moderate movement is expected; unlike caulking, it cures to a resilient solid.

Seam Sealer       Liquid compound that fuses the seamed edges of vinyl flooring together.

Self-Sealing Shingles       Shingles containing factory-applied strips or spots of self-sealing adhesive.

Selvage       An edge or edging that differs from the main part of a fabric or a granule-surfaced roll roofing.

Shading       Slight differences in shingle color that may occur as a result of normal manufacturing operations.

Shark Fin       An upward-curled felt sidelap or endlap.

Sheathing       Exterior grade boards used as a roof deck material.

Shed Roof       A roof containing only one sloping plane. Has no hips, ridges, valleys or gables.

Shelf Life       The maximum time packaged and unopened waterproofing materials can remain usable.

Shingle       (1) A small unit of prepared roofing designed for installation with similar units in overlapping rows on inclines normally exceeding 25%; (2) To apply any sheet material in overlapping rows like shingles.

Sill       The horizontal member of the bottom of a window or exterior door frame.

Simulated Appliance Foot-Drag Test       The drag test measures a sheet vinyl floor’s resistance to rips, tears and gouges.  In a controlled test, an appliance-type foot loaded with weight is pulled across a vinyl floor to simulate a consumer moving a heavy object without proper protection.

Site Finished       Hardwood floors that are stained with color and sealed with a protective finish at the installation site by the installer.

Skater’s Cracks       Curvilinear cracks in a roofing membrane that appear to relate neither to the direction of application of the membrane components nor the substrate components.

Slippage       Relative lateral movement of adjacent components of a built-up membrane. It occurs mainly in roofing membranes on a slope, sometimes exposing the lower plies or even the base sheet to the weather.

Slope       The degree of roof incline expressed as the ratio of the rise, in inches, to the run, in feet.

Smooth-surfaced Roof       A built-up roof without mineral aggregate surfacing.

Soffit       The finished underside of the eaves.

Softening Point       The temperature at which a bitumen becomes soft enough to flow as determined by an arbitrary, closely defined method.

Softening Point Drift       A change in the softening point during storage or application.

Soil Stack       A vent pipe that penetrates the roof.

Solid       Manufactured from a solid piece of wood.

Solvent       Liquid, usually volatile, which is used in the manufacture of water repellents and paints to dissolve or disperse the constituents (i.e., resins, solids) and which evaporate during drying.

Spacers       Small pieces of wood used in the initial step in the installation of laminate to maintain a 1/4″ expansion zone.

Species       The type of tree, such as oak, cherry or walnut. Different wood species have different hardness’s that affect durability; graining, which affects the board’s look; and indigenous color, which can be kept natural or stained.

Split       A membrane tear resulting from tensile stress.

Spud       To remove the roofing aggregate and most of the bituminous top coating by scraping and chipping.

Square       A unit of roof measure covering 100 square feet.

Stair Nosing       A finishing piece applied to the forward edge of stairs, step-downs and landings, creating a rounded quality finish.

Standard Engineered       The traditional construction for engineered hardwood boards and laminate products. These products require the pieces to be glued to each other prior to installing over the subfloor.

Standard Installation System        Method of installing laminate flooring by precisely placing continuous beads of laminate flooring glue on the top of the tongue and the bottom of the groove of adjoining laminate flooring planks.

Starter Strip       Asphalt roofing applied at the eaves that provides protection by filling in the spaces under the cutouts and joints of the first course of shingles.

Straight-Edge       Any strong, straight piece of metal that can be used for cutting straight lines for installing vinyl sheet and tile.

Steep Slope Application       Method of installing asphalt shingles on roof slopes greater than 21 inches per foot.

Step Flashing       (1) The technique of sealing a joint between metal and built-up membrane with one or two plies of felt or fabric and hot- or cold-applied bitumen; (2) The technique of taping joints between insulation boards or deck panels.

Strip       Board widths that are less then 3″ in width.

Strip Shingles       Asphalt shingles that are approximately three times as long as they are wide.

Stringers        A horizontal timber used to support joists or other cross members.

Stripping       Strip flashing: (1) the technique of sealing a joint between metal and built-up membrane with one or two plies of felt or fabric and hot- or coldapplied bitumen; (2) the technique of taping joints between insulation boards or deck panels.

Structural Integrity       A term often used in a guarantee or warranty to assure the floor’s composition/construction will remain intact.

Structural       A term applied to those members in a structure that carry an imposed load in addition to their own weight.

Stucco       A cement plaster used to cover exterior wall surfaces; usually applied over a wood or metal lath base.

Stud       An upright post in the framework of a wall for supporting an approved interior material such as gypsum wallboard.

Sub Facia       An unexposed board nailed across the ends of the rafters at the eaves to which the facia is nailed as the finished exposure.

Subfloor       The structural layer intended to provide the home’s floor support, which may receive floor coverings directly if the surface is appropriate, or indirectly via an underlayment if its surface is not suitable.

Substrate       Structure or envelope components to which waterproofing materials or systems are applied.

Sustainability        The World Commission on Environment and Development definition that describes sustainability as: “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”