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Glossary of Building Terms:
I
I-beam. A steel beam with a cross section resembling the letter I. It is used for long spans as basement beams or over wide wall openings, such as a double garage door, when wall and roof loads are imposed on the opening.
INR (Impact Noise Rating). A single figure rating which provides an estimate of the impact sound insulating performance of a floor-ceiling assembly.
Insulation board, rigid. A structural building board made of coarse wood or cane fiber in ½- and 25/32-inch thickness It can be obtained in various size sheets, in various densities, and with several treatments.
Insulation, thermal. Any material high in resistance to heat transmission that, when placed in the walls, ceiling, or floors of a structure, will reduce the rate of heat flow.
Interior finish. Material used to cover the interior framed areas, or materials of walls and ceilings.
J
Jack rafter. A rafter that spans the distance from the wall plate to a hip, or from a valley to a ridge.
Jamb. The side and head lining of a doorway, window, or other opening.
Joint. The space between the adjacent surfaces of two members or components joined and held together by nails, glue, cement, mortar, or other means.
Joint cement. A powder that is usually mixed with water and used for joint treatment in gypsum-wallboard finish. Often called "spackle."
Joist. One of a series of parallel beams, usually 2 inches in thickness, used to support floor and ceiling loads, and supported in turn by larger beams, girders, or bearing walls.
K
Kiln dried lumber. Lumber that has been kiln dried often to a moisture content of 6 to 12 percent. Common varieties of softwood lumber, such as framing lumber are dried to a somewhat higher moisture content.
Knot. In lumber, the portion of a branch or limb of a tree that appears on the edge or face of the piece.
L
Landing. A platform between flights of stairs or at the termination of a flight of stairs.
Lath. A building material of wood, metal, gypsum, or insulating board that is fastened to the frame of a building to act as a plaster base.
Lattice. A framework of crossed wood or metal strips.
Leader. See Downspout.
Ledger strip. A strip of lumber nailed along the bottom of the side of a girder on which joists rest.
Light. Space in a window sash for a single pane of glass. Also, a pane of glass.
Lintel. A horizontal structural member that supports the load over an opening such as a door or window.
Lookout. A short wood bracket or cantilever to support an overhang portion of a roof or the like, usually concealed from view.
Louver. An opening with a series of horizontal slats so an ranged as to permit ventilation but to exclude rain, sun. light, or vision. See also Attic ventilators.
Lumber. Lumber is the product of the sawmill and planing mill not further manufactured other than by sawing, resawing, and passing lengthwise through a standard planing machine, crosscutting to length, and matching.
Lumber, boards. Yard lumber less than 2 inches thick and 2 or more inches wide.
Lumber, dimension. Yard lumber from 2 inches to, but not including, 5 inches thick and 2 or more inches wide. Includes joists, rafters, studs, plank, and small timbers.
Lumber, dressed size. The dimension of lumber after shrinking from green dimension and after machining to size or pattern.
Lumber, matched. Lumber that is dressed and shaped on one edge in a grooved pattern and on the other in a tongued pattern.
Lumber, shiplap. Lumber that is edge-dressed to make a close rabbeted or lapped joint.
Lumber, timbers. Yard lumber 5 or more inches in least dimension. Includes beams, stringers, posts, caps, sills, girders, and purlins.
Lumber, yard. Lumber of those grades, sizes, and patterns which are generally intended for ordinary construction, such as framework and rough coverage of houses.
M
Mantel. The shelf above a fireplace. Also used in referring to the decorative trim around a fireplace opening.
Masonry. Stone, brick, concrete, hollow-tile, concrete block, gypsum block, or other similar building units or materials or a combination of the same, bonded together with mortar to form a wall, pier, buttress, or similar mass.
Mastic. A pasty material used as a cement (as for setting tile) or a protective coating. (as for thermal insulation or waterproofing)
Metal lath. Sheets of metal that are slit and drawn out to form openings. Used as a plaster base for walls and ceilings and as reinforcing over other forms of plaster base.
Millwork. Generally all building materials made of finished wood and manufactured in millwork plants and planing mills are included under the term "millwork." It includes such items as inside and outside doors, window and doorframes, blinds, porch-work, mantels, panelwork, stairways, moldings, and interior trim. It normally does not include flooring, ceiling, or siding.
Miter joint. The joint of two pieces at an angle that bisects the joining angle. For example, the miter joint at the side and head casing at a door opening is made at a 45° angle.
Moisture content of wood. Weight of the water contained in the wood, usually expressed as a percentage of the weight of the kiln-dried wood.
Molding. A wood strip having a coned or projecting surface used for decorative purposes.
Mortise. A slot cut into a board, plank, or timber, usually edgewise, to receive tenon of another board, plank, or timber to form a joint.
Mullion. A vertical bar or divider in the frame between windows, doors, or other openings.
Muntin. A small member which divides the glass or openings of sash or doors.
N
Natural finish. A transparent finish which does not seriously alter the original color or grain of the natural wood. Natural finishes are usually provided by sealers, oils, varnishes, water-repellent preservatives, and other similar materials.
Newel, A post to which the end of a stair railing or balustrade is fastened. Also, any post to which a railing or balustrade is fastened.
Nonbearing wall. A wall supporting no load other than its own weight.
Nosing. The projecting edge of a molding or drip. Usually applied to the projecting molding on the edge of a stair tread.
Notch. A crosswise rabbet at the end of a board.
O
O. C., on center. The measurement of spacing for studs, rafters, joists, and the like in a building from the center of one member to the center of the next.
O. G., or ogee. A molding with a profile in the form of a letter S; having the outline of a reversed curve.
Outrigger. An extension of a rafter beyond the wall line. Usually a smaller member nailed to a larger rafter to form a cornice or roof overhang.
P
Paint. A combination of pigments with suitable thinners or oils to provide decorative and protective coatings.
Panel In house construction, a thin flat piece of wood, ply. wood, or similar material, framed by stiles and rails as in a door or fitted into grooves of thicker material with molded edges for decorative wall treatment.
Paper, building. A general term for papers, felts, and similar sheet materials used in buildings without reference to their properties or uses.
Paper, sheathing. A building material, generally paper or felt, used in wall and roof construction as a protection against the passage of air and sometimes moisture.
Parting stop or strip. A small wood piece used in the side and head jambs of double-hung windows to separate upper and lower sash.
Partition. A wall that subdivides spaces within any story of a building.
Perm. A measure of water vapor movement through a material. (grains per square foot per hour per inch of mercury difference in vapor pressure)
Pier. A column of masonry, usually rectangular in horizontal cross section, used to support other structural members.
Pigment. A powdered solid in suitable degree of subdivision for use in paint or enamel.
Pitch. The incline slope of a roof or the ratio of the total rise to the total width of a house, i.e., an 8-foot rise and 24-foot width is a one-third pitch roof. Roof slope is expressed in the inches of rise per foot of run.
Pitch pocket. An opening extending parallel to the annual rings of growth, that usually contains, or has contained, either solid or liquid pitch.
Plaster grounds. Strips of wood used as guides or strike off edges around window and door openings and at base of walls.
Plate. Sill plate: a horizontal member anchored to a masonry wall. Sole plate: bottom horizontal member of a frame wall. Top plate: top horizontal member of a frame wall supporting ceiling joists, rafters, or other members.
Plough. To cut a lengthwise groove in a board or plank.
Plumb. Exactly perpendicular; vertical.
Ply A term to denote the number of thicknesses or layers of roofing felt, veneer in plywood, or layers in built-up materials, in any finished piece of such material.
Plywood. A piece of wood made of three or more layers of veneer joined with glue, and usually laid with the grain of adjoining plies at right angles. Almost always an odd number of plies are used to provide balanced construction.
Pores. Wood cells of comparatively large diameter that have open ends and are set one above the other to form continuous tubes. The openings of the vessels on the surface of a piece of wood are referred to as pores.
Preservative. Any substance that, for a reasonable length of time, will prevent the action of wood-destroying fungi, borers of various kinds, and similar destructive agents when the wood has been properly coated or impregnated with it.
Primer. The first coat of paint in a paint job that consists of two or more coats; also the paint used for such a first coat.
Putty. A type of cement usually made of whiting and boiled linseed oil, beaten or kneaded to the consistency of dough, and used in sealing glass in sash, filling small holes and crevices in wood, and for similar purposes.
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