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Glossary of DIY Home Improvement Terms - M

This page of our online a to z glossary of DIY home improvement terms is for do-it-yourself terms beginning with the letter 'M'.

• Mains (electric) - The principal electric circuit which supplies all others.
• Making good - Restoring a surface to its previous standard of finish.
• Mallet - Wood or rubber-headed implement for driving sharp instruments that would be damaged by metal hammers.
• Marbling - A decorative paint technique designed to simulate the appearance or general effect of a marbled surface.
• Marine plywood - Exterior-grade plywood.
• Marking gauge - Sliding device fitted with a pin for scratching lines parallel to edge of the workpiece.
• Masking tape - A low-tack sticky tape for sticking items temporarily in place. It masks off small areas to allow painting.
• Masonry - Stone, brick, block or tile laid in mortar or concrete.
• Mastic - A nonsetting material used as a protective coating or for sealing joints.
• Matt finish - A non-glossy, dull surface.
• Matt paint - Water- or oil-based paint whose finish shows little or no sheen.
• Matting - Woven natural fibres used as flooring materials.
• MCB - Miniature circuit breaker.
• Medallion - A roughly circular ceiling decoration, usually placed centrally on the ceiling. The medallion is often made of plaster, and in many cases a lighting fixture is suspended from it.
• Meeting rail - The horizontal wood or metal rail separating upper and lower window sashes.
• Milk paint - Traditional paint, made by mixing earthhcoloured pigments into buttermilk or skimmed milk and a little lime, which dries, to a smooth, flat finish.
• Mitre - To cut wood such as mouldings or trim at a 45° angle so that when joined it forms a right angle.
• Moisture-vapour permeable - Used to describe a finish that allows moisture to escape from timber, allowing it to dry out, while protecting the wood from rainwater or damp. The same term is used to describe a paint that can be applied over new plaster without sealing in the moisture.
• Mono-pitch roof - A roof that slopes in one direction only.
• Monochromatic colour scheme - A colour scheme in which all the colours used are variants of a single colour.
• Moulding - Any piece of wood, relatively narrow in size, cut to a special shape to provide an ornamental surface.
• Mouse - A small weight used to help pass a line through a narrow vertical space.
• Mortar - Masonry bonding material consisting of sand and cement.
• Mortise - A rectangular recess cut in a piece of wood to receive a tenon.
• Mullion - A slender vertical divider separating units of a window frame or screen.
• Muntins - Vertical or horizontal dividers between window panes, or the vertical rail in the centre of a panelled door.
• Mural - A picture or pattern painted directly onto a wall. The term is often used today to mean also anything that gives the general impression of being a true mural - such as the selffadhesive 'mural panels' you can buy in some stores.
• Muriatric acid - Hydrochloric acid in a dilute form often used to clean brickwork.
• Mycelium - The thin strands of growth of a fungus.