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.
