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Jargon Buster
If you don't know your purlin from your pointing, our jargon-busting glossary of builders' terms should help.
- Architrave
Moulding round opening such as door or window - Arris
Sharp external angle - usually 90 degrees - Baluster
Alternative term for Banister - Barge Board
Wide board fitted on edge of tiles following the slope of the roof - Bead
Small convex moulding - Bib Tap
Tap fed by horizontal supply - as in a garden tap - Blown or Live
Plaster that has lost its bond with the wall - Bond
Arrangement of bricks to ensure stability of brickwork - Buttress or Pier
Thickening of wall to form a vertical projection to strengthen it - Cavity Wall
Usual construction for external walls comprising an inner and outer leaf with a space between for insulation - Cistern
Tank for storing water - usually located in the attic - Cleat
cable fixing for phone wire, etc - Coping
Protective finish to the top of a wall - Corbelling
Successive projecting courses of brickwork - Cove or Cornice
Moulding around room at junction of wall and ceiling - Dado Rail
Horizontal moulding part way up a wall - Deal
Term for piece of square-sawn softwood - Distemper
Wall paint made from water, pigment and glue (traditional) - Drip
Moulding or groove in overhanging member to prevent water creeping back - Eaves
Overhang of roof beyond wall below - Efflorescence
Unsightly powdery white salts brought to surface of brickwork - Flashing
Metal sheet used to deflect water at junction between roof and wall - Flat Arch
An arch that is almost completely horizontal - Flaunching
Cement mortar filler round the top of a chimney stack - Flue
Tube conveying smoke or fumes from fireplaces or appliances - Flush Door
Door with completely flat faces - Footlifter
Wedge used to lift boards for nailing to wall - Formation Level
The deep point in an excavation for a drive or path - Frog
Indent on bed face of a brick - Gauged Brickwork
Fine brickwork with very thin joints - Gable or Verge
Upper part of an outer wall at the end of a pitched roof - Glazing Bar
Thin bar shaped to receive pane of glass - Gravity Fed System
Central heating system that circulates water by gravity and water expansion - Header
The end face of a brick - Header Tank
Small open cistern (tank) that feeds water to central heating system - Herringbone
Zigzag pattern of brickwork - Hip
Line of adjoining sections of pitched roof at external angle of building - Hipped Roof
Pitched roof, the ends of which are also sloped - Hip Tile
Roof tile shaped to cover hip of roof - Jamb
The side of an opening in a wall for a door or window - Joist
Support for floor and ceiling - Knotting
Varnish to stabilise knots in wood - Lean-to Roof
Sloping roof supported along its highest part by a taller adjoining wall - Light
Subdivision of a window - fixed or opening. Opening light can be top or side hung - Lintel
Concrete or steel beam over opening to support wall above - Loose-Fill Insulation
loose material for insulating cavity walls and lofts - Mansard Roof
Form of pitched roof designed to provide more space for rooms - Megger
Test meter used by electricians - Mezzanine
Extra floor - possibly inserted between floor and ceiling of very tall room - Mitre
Angled joint (similar to joint in picture frame) - Module
Dimensional co-ordination of components - Muck
Brickie term for mortar - Mullion
Upright post in window - Newel
Vertical post at top and bottom of staircase - Nogging
Short wooden stiffeners inserted between joists - Nosing
Rounded edge of a stair tread projecting beyond the riser - Parapet
Low wall at the edge of a roof - Pebble Dash
Roughcast wall finish with stones bedded in rendered wall - Pilaster
Projecting part of a square column which is attached to wall - Pitch
Slope of roof - expressed as an angle or ratio - Plain tile
Rectangular "flat" roofing tile - Plaster
Applied wall finish - Plasterboard
Prefabricated sheets of plaster for walls and ceilings - Plinth
Projecting base to external walls - Purlin
Horizontal beam, part way up a rafter to prevent sagging - Rafters
Series of structural timbers rising from eaves to ridge to support pitched roof covering - Rail
Horizontal member in door or fence - Relieving Arch
An arch constructed above a lintel or beam to take weight of wall above - Render
External sand-cement coating for walls - Reveal
Vertical side of door or window opening - Ridge
Top of a pitched roof - Ring Main
Power circuit for sockets - Rise
Vertical distance between two adjacent stair treads - Riser
Upright part of a stair OR vertical water pipe from the mains - Roof Truss
Prefabricated structural timer framework to support roof - RSJ
Rolled steel joist - Sash
Framework for glass - in particular double-hung sliding sash window - Screed
Layer of fine concrete used to provide smooth surface prior to floor finish - Sarking Felt
Waterproof felt under roof tile battens - Second Fix
Items fitted following plastering - including joiner, cupboards and plumbing/electrical fittings - Sill
Bottom horizontal member of a door or window frame - Skim
Finishing coat of plaster - Skirting
Horizontal board at junction between floor and wall - Soffit
Visible underside of a projecting surface - Span
Horizontal distance covered by a beam or lintel etc. - Spoil
Material dug out during excavation - Stack
Vertical pipe carrying waste from sinks and toilets - Stocks
Hand or machine-made bricks made in a mould - Stretcher
The side face of a brick - String
Sloping board carrying the treads and risers of a staircase - Tarmac
Bitumen macadam coating aggregate for drive/path surfaces - Timber Frame
Type of house construction usually finished with brickwork outer skin - Tread
Horizontal part of a stair - TRV
Thermostatic radiator valve - Voussoir
Wedge-shaped brick used in arch construction - Wainscot
Wooden lining to the walls of a room (traditional)
© FMB 2007
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