Glossary and Definitions for
Outdoor Fountains, Statuaries, Furniture

Alabaster
A natural stone with a translucent (light can pass through but you can't read a newspaper through it) properties. Usually a creamy white with brown streak depending on the source. Used for windows before glass panes were developed. Not to be confused with "alabastrite" which is another name for the manufactured plastic product called polyresin.

Apron - used in Furniture Design
The skirting attached under a seat rail, tabletop or piece of casing.

Baluster
A turned form used as a support in pieces of furniture or railings. The common form is an elongated vase.

Bronze Products
Although brass and bronze are different, brass can be considered a subclass of bronze. Both contain substantial amounts of copper metal. Although both can have a copper-like appearance, the copper is mixed with other metals to make the product more durable and stronger than copper.

The basic difference is that brass has zinc whereas bronze contains tin. Actual bronze is harder than brass, but the majority can't tell the difference. It's when someone need to make a piece of hardware, musical instrument or other widget that the composition becomes important.

Small amounts of nickel, silicon, manganese, aluminum, iron and/or lead can also be natural or incorporated into the metal. The final composition varies depending on the natural composition of the copper, the copper purification process, the foundry and the availability of metals. Bronze is 4-5 times more expensive than brass because of the components.

Depending on the final composition and weathering process, the colors can vary from a deep reddish-brown to bluish-green to yellowish-gold. Other elements, such as iron, can impart beautiful patina to the artwork. Bronze and brass are valued for the unique quality of the original appearances. Each piece is truly unique as each one weathers differently.

Don't confuse the metal bronze with "Liberty Bronze" which is really polyresin made to look like bronze.

Further Reading
Greece History: Stone and Bronze Age
Bronze: A 3000 Year-Old Tradition
Bronze: Wikipedia
Ancient History: Bronze Age Britain

Canape, Canapé
A French sofa or settee.

Carving
Cutting into the surface to produce a decorative design.

Cast Iron Products are made by pouring molten iron alloy into a mold. The iron is generally an alloy with 2-6% carbon. The carbon makes it too brittle to be wrought, and it must be shaped by casting in a mold while molten. Depending on the process, seam molds can occur. Cast iron is used for products that require a thicker feature, such as statuettes.

Cast Stone Products, Concrete Products
Cast stone products are made from cement (the wet form) poured into molds to make a concrete product. There are various formulations of cement to make the final product strong and lasting. The additives depend on the final product. For a statue with an aged look, air bubbles are allow to form. Larger aggregates may be included for a textured appearance. Fibers can be added to help prevent cracking and breakage. Whatever the formulation, the cement has to be thin enough to fill the crevices in the mold, but not to thin as to distort during the drying process.

Bear in mind that concrete statues lasted ages as archaeologists uncovered the beautiful statues from the ancient Greece and Roman days. There are some winter precautions that you need to consider for your cast stone concrete piece.

1. Do not bring into contact with salt, such as when throwing salt onto walkways and patios to melt the snow. The salt will dissolve the concrete.
2. During winter, prevent water from getting into the concrete. The water will expand when frozen and contract with thawed. The frozen form can create cracks, and when thawed, will creep into the cracks to make them bigger when the water freezes again.

Further Reading
The History of Concrete: A Timeline - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Materials Science and Technology
Timeline of Concrete - Auburn University Architecture Department

Chaise Lounge, Chaise Longue
French for "long chair". A chair and a long seat for lounging.

Chasing, chased
To create a design in metal by cutting, embossing or incising.

Chinoiserie
The design motifs with Chinese styling. French.

Continuous Stretcher
The pieces that connect all legs of a chair or case. Used to make the piece stronger.

Crest Rail or Top Rail
On a chair, the crest rail is the top horizontal piece.

Finial
An upright decorative piece in a variety of shapes used to top columns, fence posts, and other decorations.

Fleur de Lis, Fleur de Lys
French for a lily flower.

Fluting, Fluted
Concave cuts that are parallel to each other, usually found on columns. Originated from Greek architecture.

Gardecor®, "Garden Decoration"
Gardecor® is any outdoor decoration such as fountains, statuaries, furniture, garden stakes, weathervanes, wall plaques, decorative light fixtures, etc. of artistic design and worthy of heirloom status. Materials used to make gardecor® include, but are not limited to bronze, brass, authentic wrought iron, cast stone concrete if formulation allows for longevity, marble, granite, etc. Excluded materials are those that break down or can easily break such as resin, polyresin, alabastrite, plastics, and other materials that quickly break down. You won't find fountains, statues, or furniture made out of these inferior products at Gardecor®.

Gilding
Gold leaf applied to wood, plaster, or other metal. Gilt furniture has gilding.

Gullioche
A motif of interlocking circles. May or may not have other decorations.

Inlay
Embedded materials in a piece of furniture for decoration.

Kline
A Greek bed or reclining couch.

Ladder-back Chair
A chair with horizontal slats on the back. They look like a ladder, thus appropriately called, "ladder back".

Lectus
A reclining couch or bed from Roman origin.

Mosaic
A decoration consisting of small pieces of tile, stone, glass in a mortar or other cement. "Peitra Dura", Italian for "hard stone" is a colored marbled mosaic.

Patina
The outer surface of a metal piece. Can be the natural oxidation of the metal such as verdigris (greenish, bluish from oxidized copper) and cor-ten (oxidized iron, rust), or a polished bronze (brown).

Pilaster
A squared column that is generally against a flat wall.

Plinth
The small block at the base of a column, pilaster, or pedestal.

Polyresin
A plastic also referred to as "resin" or "alabastrite". Polyresin doesn't hold up to the outdoor elements very well. That's why you won't find fountains, statues, address plaques and other products made out of polyresin at Gardecor®.
"Liberty Bronze" is really polyresin made to look like bronze.

Powdercoating
A process where color in powder form is applied to a surface then baked at high temperatures to bond the color powder to the surface. The powdered color is applied to the clean surface. It can be applied electrostatically, with compressed air, or other method. The piece is cured in an oven until the color melts forming a smooth surface. The right powder color must be used for the piece to be coated.

The method results in a durable and uniform finish that resists cracking and peeling, unlike some paints. Powdercoats also provide electrical insulation to the piece. Some types of powdercoat are approved by the FDA for food containers.

When deciding on the finish for your powdercoated piece, you'll need to decide the sheen.

• Glossy - a shiny finish that reflects light as a mirror. Minor marks, fingerprints, scratches might be noticed.
• Flat - non-reflective matte finish. This helps to hide imperfections and scratches.

Because the powder won't get into each and every tiny pinhole place, you can prevent rusting by periodic application of a rust protectant from your local hardware store.

Further Reading: The History of Powdercoating.

Pumps, Water
A device that takes water in and pushes it out at a particular force. There are submersible and non-submersible pumps depending on the application. Direct drive pumps tend to last longer than a magnetic drive pump which is driven by a magnetic motor. Larger pumps can consist of two parts, a motor and the pump.

Pump flow is usually measured in gallons per minute, gpm, or gallons per hour, gph. The water height depends on the flow rate as well as the size of the outlet, distance from the pump to the water fountain, and the configuration of the plumbing (tubing) between the pump and outlet.

Quatrefoil
A motif with 4 lobes ("foils") reminiscent of Gothic cathedral decorations.

Raking Back Chair
A chair with a slant back.

Runner
The piece that is between the chair legs or case. Used to strengthen the piece. The runner rests on the floor whereas a stretcher doesn't.

Seat Rail
The horizontal piece of a chair, sofa or settee that forms the seat part.

Shoe
The disk at the bottom of a scrolled foot.

Singerie
Motifs showing playful monkeys. French.

Splat Back Chair or Bench
The wide vertical wood piece used as a back support.

Splayed Legs
Outward slanted legs.

Stretcher
The horizontal piece between the chair legs. Stretchers, unlike runners, don't touch the floor.

Strut
The piece that connects the seat to the stretcher for added support.

Tabouret
A French stool

Teak Wood
A wood resistant to water damage that is found in the tropics. As with all wooden furniture, the wood must be dried before crafting the piece. If it isn't, then the furniture can deform during the drying process rendering an unsuitable product. Most overseas manufacturers make the furniture in a tropical climate which is very humid. Once the piece arrives at it's destination, which is most likely a drier climate, the drying process continues. Gardecor® carefully scrutinizes the products and decided to not carry teak products for ethical reasons. Most countries that supply teak harvest it in a clear-cut method with low-paid and/or child labor.

Tessare
Tiles, glass or other small decorations used in mosaics.

Top Rail or Crest
The upper horizontal part of the back of a chair.

Trefoil
The motif with three lobes ("foil") used as decorations on Gothic cathedrals.

Authentic Wrought Iron is truly hand-wrought, not machine made. The product is made by a labor intensive by stretching, banging, re-heating and cooling the iron. The wrought iron method is becoming a lost art as machining "decorative wrought iron" reduces the labor.

The iron is purified of the oxidized iron (rust) and of carbon that makes the metal brittle (See "cast iron products", below). The purification process makes the iron more rust-resistant than steel. The iron contains "slag", fibrous materials that are aligned by the procedure. As the fibers align, the metal becomes stronger resulting in a more durable product than either "decorative wrought iron" or "cast iron" methods. If you ever break or scratch a piece of authentic wrought iron, look closely and you can see the fibers.

If it doesn't say "wrought-iron", then it isn't. Some stores might state than an item is wrought iron when it isn't. All wrought-iron products at Gardecor® are authentically hand-wrought iron. Gardecor® offers custom designs and sizes of wrought-iron products. Just contact us.

Decorative Wrought Iron is simply bent by machine to produce mass quantities of products. The iron isn't necessarily purified as well as authentic wrought iron because the method isn't as demanding on the mets. Decorative wrought iron lacks the wrought feature: the final product isn't as good as authentic wrought iron.

Definitions Customers Should Understand
For Making a Successful Purchase

Most items at Gardecor® result in a complicated order because they are large or heavy enough to ship via freight or for other reasons. Many customers get excited about their purchase and don't read or understand some terms used in the process of ordering, shipping and receiving goods. Pay close attention to the words used on this website, in the policies, and in the terms and conditions of sale. Many customers are spending a lot of money and we want them to understand exactly what they're getting. If you have a question or need a clarification, please ask us. As you probably heard in school, the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked. Here are some definitions that some customers misinterpret. Please read this so that you have a successful order.

About, Approximately, Approx, Estimate
These terms mean that the value given, such as lead time, is not an exact value. The actual value can vary by a reasonable amount. E.g., if it states, "About 4 weeks to ship ..." means that something can ship in 3 weeks or 5 weeks. Most of our products are made to order and the exact shipping date can't be predicted because manufacturing depends on whether or not it's a busy season, personnel on hand and other factors. If you have a deadline, please contact us before ordering to ensure that we can meet your deadline. Some items are hand made such as the wrought-iron furniture and ceramic plaques. Thus, the exact size can vary. If you need an exact size, please ask us if we can meet that size and tolerance before you order.

Ships via Freight
"Freight" is a service other than DHL, FedEx, UPS, USPS or the like. Freight services are used when the item or order is too large or too heavy for these "courier" services. All orders shipping via freight require a quote for the best and fair price to your location. Freight expenses aren't included in the price because it isn't fair to all destinations. Freight "expenses" include the costs of transportation, crate materials, labor involved in preparing the item for shipping.

Be prepared, freight deliveries may arrive in a semi-truck (18-wheeler) or the crates may be transferred to a smaller truck. We can't predict what type of truck arrives to deliver your order. The freight company makes this decision when your item arrives at the Receiving Depot. The customer can contact the freight company for details.

We can't predict exactly when your order will be delivered. The customer will be supplied with tracking information and it's up to the customer to arrange delivery after the order ships.

We can't predict what freight company is used because the one with the best rates are contracted. If you have an account with a freght company, you can use them. Just let us know when you request a quote.

The General Freight Process. When your item is picked up from the warehouse or manufacturing facility, we consider it "shipped". However, in some cases, the freight company considers it shipped when it leaves the Shipping Depot. Generally, what happens is that a truck will pick up your order from the warehouse or manufacturing facility. The goods are transported to the freight company's Shipping Depot. It is unloaded and stored there until a truck is scheduled to transport the order to a Receiving Depot near the final destination. The scheduling process should take about a business day or less depending on the availibility of truckers.

When a truck is scheduled, the goods are loaded onto the truck. The items being loaded must be loaded in a particular order, that is, the items being delivered last get loaded first. The truck begins it's journey to Receiving Depots to deliver goods. This is usually completed the day a truck is scheduled. It may take slightly longer if the truck isn't full. They might wait until the truck is full before the truck actually leaves the Shipping Depot.

When the truck arrived at the Receiving Depot near the customer's destination, for residential deliveries, the goods are unloaded and temporarily stored. The residential customer is contacted the schedule delivery. The order is transferred to an appropriate truck to deliver to a residential area.

For commercial deliveries, the truck might arrive at the final destination without notice because commercial areas are open during the business week and don't require scheduling.

On this website, most items are noted as freight deliveries in the Reference Number with "(fgt)".

Lead Time to Ship
This is the estimated time between when we receive payment for your order and when the order ships. " When the order ships" means when the order leaves the point of origin. Many customers erroneously believe that "Lead time to ship" to mean when it will be delivered and become disappointed. This is not true. You must add transit time to estimate delivery time. Not everything ships from our home office in Colorado or retail space in Ohio. Contact us for an approximate transit time.

Quotes
The customer understands that errors and typos can be made on the quote and that fuel and raw material costs can greatly fluctuate during certain times of the year or when major events occur. We are all aware of the cost of fuel oil these days. Another case that most customers were unaware of is that a couple years ago the employees of large copper mines in South America went on strike which increased the cost of the copper used in many of our products. We try our best to avoid changes in quotes. Please understand that events can occur to change the final price. Refer to our Policies and Terms and Conditions of Sale for details.