Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q-R S T U V W-X-Y and Z
A
Adhesive - A substance capable of holding materials together by surface attachment. Also known as glue, cement.
Arch File - A binder, diskette, CD, etc., that contains information required by an architect for specifying a particular product.
Architect - Professional licensed designer.
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Bead - A semicircular or rounded profile worked on wood. Also used to refer to a line of caulking or other material.
Beam - Primary structural member resting on supports, which holds up transverse loads. Beams are normally used to support joists, rafters, trusses, and other cross members.
Bearing - A structural member that provides support. These can be an interior wall, beam or post.
Bending Moment - The resistance of a member to bend or sag; measured in terms of force times distance.
Bill of Material - A complete list of the material (inclusive of the number, size, species and grade of each piece) required for an item of millwork, an order (of materials), etc.
Bond - Glue line.
Blocking Panel - Short pieces of wood joists, cut to fit into the joist spacing and used for lateral stability, vertical transfer of external loads, and closure of the spacing.
Bracing - A member of the floor or roof system, placed near and across the angles in the framing which provides lateral stability to the construction.
Bridging - Member of the floor or roof system which may be required to make each joist or truss act with load and minimize or equalize deflections.
Building Schedule - The schedule or listing of construction elements for a specific structure.
Building Supply - Wholesaler or retailer of building materials.
Built-Up - Assembled as contrasted to "knocked-down" or unassembled; also "set up".
Bump-Out Bay - 3 individual windows built into projecting (angled) walls to resemble a bay window. This configuration creates extra floor space.
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Call-Backs - Contractor being called back to job to fix an item(s) that is not working or incorrect.
Camber - A slight upward curvature arch built into a member primarily for the purpose of offsetting sag.
Cantilever - A beam or structural member projecting past a bearing point leaving it unsupported at one end.
Checking - Splits or cracks that normally appear in lumber due to drying or lowering of the moisture content.
Clearspan - The open distance between inside faces of support members.
Collar Tie - A beam connecting (tying) rafters usually just below the ridgeline. Also called a rafter tie, collar beam or wind bracing.
Compression - The result of a squeezing or crushing force. Compression develops along the upper edge of a joist, tension along the lower edge, and horizontal shear through the middle.
Concentrated Load - A load acting on a member at a single point, often referred to as a point load.
Contractor - A "G.C."(General Contractor) Builder, Remodeler, building or contracting firm.
Conduction - The transfer of heat through matter, whether solid, liquid or gas.
Core - The center part or innermost layer or section. Used to describe the type of construction of the interior of a door, panel, etc.
Crew/Crew Chief - Crew is a sub's workers. Chief is a head "mechanic", lead carpenter, job foreman etc.
Clip - Deviation flat wise from a straight line across the width of a piece, measured at the point of the greatest distance from the line; warp.
Custom Panels - Panels engineered to meet specific customer needs. Panels may be of a specific thickness, density, and composition or be cut to special sizes or shapes.
Cycle Test - A method of exposing plywood or other glued-up assemblies to alternating wet and dry conditions as a basis of determining water-proofness or durability of bond.
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Dead Load - The weight of the material used in the structure itself. Any load of a permanent nature. For example, a dead roof load includes the rafters or trusses and all of the roofing material.
Dealer - Retailer.
Decay - Disintegration of a wood substance due to action of wood destroying fungi.
Deflection - The movement or "sag" of a member caused by loading that is often expressed as a fraction of the span in inches. The modulus of elasticity is a measure of the stiffness of material of a measure of resistance to deflection (bending).
Delamination - The separation of plies or layers of wood through failure of the adhesive.
Density - The weight of a substance per unit volume, e.g., 23 lbs. per cubic foot.
Design Load - A total of all loads, which a member is designed to support.
Diaphragm - The "skin" of material that forms a rigid wall, roof, or floor and is usually of OSB, plywood or other structural panels. The diaphragm provides diagonal stability and helps resist movement caused by wind loads, earth movements, etc.
Dimensional Stability - The ability of a material to retain its shape or to resist changes in its dimensions due to temperature, moisture, and physical stress.
Distributor - Wholesaler of national/regional manufacturer's products; stocks and deliveries to local customers.
Dormer - A projection standing vertically on a sloping roof, which usually contains one or more windows, and has a roof of its own.
Drop Ship - Shipping from manufacturer to a dealer, contractor, etc., while billing the shipment to a distributor or other source.- The weight of the structure itself. Any load of a permanent nature.
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Eave - The lower part of a roof that projects beyond the house wall.
Electric Moisture Meter - An electrical apparatus to determine the moisture content of wood, based on the electrical resistance of wood being dependent on its moisture content.
Elevation - The front view of an object. Seen as if someone was standing outside a building at street level and looking at the object (as if taking a picture). There are usually four; front, rear, left side and right side.
Elevation Detail - The detailed drawings of the exterior of a building showing placement, size etc. of windows, doors, exterior finish and trim. Usually drawn to scale by architect.
Equilibrium Moisture Content - The moisture content at which wood neither gains nor loses moisture when surrounded by air at a given relative humidity and temperature.
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Fascia - Trim board applied to the end of a house's overhang (i.e., end of joist), used for the outer face or a "box cornice".
Fiber Board - Wood sheet material of widely varying densities manufactured of refined or partly refined wood fibers; usually manufactured by the “wet process” where-by the wood fibers are put into suspension and pressed into a board.
Finish/Trim Carpenter - Does the interior/exterior trim and the "finish work" around windows, doors, cabinets, and other "openings".
Fire Stop - A block or stop used either in a wall of a building or between joists to prevent the spread of fire and smoke through air space.
Flange - The lumber member that makes the outside edge, or top and bottom of the "I" configuration, in an engineered wood joist (or I-Beam).
Flitch Beam - A beam formed by joining wood and steel together with a bolting pattern.
Floor Joists - Parallel floor framing members that support the sub floor, underlayment and flooring. Joists are supported by larger beams, girders or bearing walls.
Floor Plan - Floor layout of house or building.
Fungi - Low parasitic form of plant life, which deteriorate wood by using it as a source of food; may be wood staining or wood destroying.
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Gable - The walls (often triangular) at the ends of a building from the level of the eaves to directly under the sloping roof planes.
Grain - Arrangement and direction of alignment of wood elements or fibers, e.g., straight grain, spiral grain; used loosely to indicate "texture".
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Hardboard - A board material manufactured of wood fiber, refined or partly refined and formed into a panel having a density range of approximately 50 to 80 pounds per cubic foot under carefully controlled optimum combinations of consolidating pressure, heat and moisture so that the board produced has a characteristic natural ligneous bond. Other materials may be added during manufacture to improve certain properties such as stiffness, hardness, finishing qualities, strength and durability. The smaller size wood particles used in hardboard manufacture are the essential difference between this material and particleboard.
Hardwood - One of the botanical groups of trees that has broad leaves in contrast to the needle-like leaves of the conifers or softwoods; hardwoods are (1) deciduous (shed their leaves in the fall or at end of each growing season), (2) have shorter length wood fibers than softwoods, (3) contain cells (vessels) of relatively large diameters (in addition to the wood fibers) and (4) have seeds enclosed by an ovary.
House Pattern - Refers to the group of windows, doors or other materials for a specific house.
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I-Beam - A wood engineered joist, consisting of a center engineered wood board (web, web stock) affixed between 2 wood strips (flanges), top and bottom, that are size based on anticipated spans and loads.
Industrial Panels - Panels specially made to be used in industrial building applications or in O.E.M. industrial uses.
Installer - One who connects into position, sets, or adjusts for use.
Intermediate Bearing - A middle bearing member (wall, post, etc.) between two spans.
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JAS Certified Products - Japanese Agricultural Standard, which means that the mill is certified to sell these products to Japan.
Jobber - Usually, a wholesale distributor that performs value-added work to the products they distribute such as pre-hanging doors, mulling windows, etc.
Jobsite - Actual location of a construction project -home site, building site, etc
Joist - Beams, with fixed design properties, arranged parallel to each other from one bearing to the next, used to support floor or ceiling loads.
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Kiln Dried - Wood seasoned in a kiln by means of artificial heat, humidity and circulation; "kiln dried" wood may refer to wood with various moisture content percentages.
Knee Bracket - Exterior support (often of carved wood or scrolled wrought iron) used under projecting windows, bays, bows, etc.
Knocked Down - Unassembled as contrasted to assembled or "built-up".
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Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL) - LSL is manufactured from thin strands of wood up to 12" in length with all grain laid-up parallel. LSL can be manufactured using various species of wood fiber in various dimensions.
Laminated - Layers of veneer or lumber bonded with an adhesive so that the grain of all layers is essentially parallel. Contrasted to plywood in which the adjacent layers are usually at right angles to one another.
Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) - LVL is manufactured by laminating veneer with all grain laid-up parallel. It can be manufactured by using various species of wood fiber in various thicknesses.
Length - The measure of an object from end to end.
Level - On a horizontal plane or line.
Light Construction - Construction generally restricted to the conventional wood stud walls, floor and ceiling joists and rafters (i.e. "light frame construction"; as opposed to "heavy construction"). It is primarily residential in nature although it does include small light commercial buildings such as one or two story stores, offices, etc.
Lineal Foot - Having length only; used in designating quantities of mouldings, boards, etc. (i.e. linear foot, or running foot; "lineal" usually designates non-specified lengths).
Lintel - The horizontal piece (usually of steel), which covers the openings of a door, window, or other opening to carry the weight of the walls above (usually masonry).
Live Load - Refers to the weight or forces applied to the structure (any load exclusive of the actual construction materials). Live loads may be static, repetitive or impact such as snow, wind (impact), people (repetitive), and furniture(static).
Lumberyard - Retailer (wholesaler) specializing in lumber sales.
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Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) - The generic name for a panel manufactured from lignocellulosic (wood plant) fibers combined with a synthetic resin or other suitable binder and bonded together under heat and pressure in a hot press by a process in which the entire bond is created by the added binder.
Millwork - Products produced in a mill for the construction industry. It is usually applied to products used as a member of the structures that are made of wood and/or synthetic materials. Includes mouldings, door frames and entrances, blinds and shutters, sash and window units, doors, stair work, kitchen cabinets, mantels, china or corner cabinets and porch work; woodwork.
Millwork Shop - One specializing in millwork -mouldings, trim, pre-hanging doors, mulling windows, etc.
Modular Size - Conforming to a module (a unit of measurement) or multiples there of; the most common being four inches.
Moisture Content - The amount of water, usually expressed as a percentage of the weight of oven-dry wood, contained in wood; obtained by one or two methods, namely (1) oven drying or (2) electric moisture meter.
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Non-Bearing Wall - A wall, which supports no vertical, load other than its own weight.
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OSB/Oriented Strand Board - An environmentally friendly substitute for plywood. Manufactured by combining wood flakes, resins and other ingredients, orienting the strands and forming the board under heat and pressure.
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Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) - This material is manufactured by laminating strips of rotary-peeled veneer that has been clipped into strands with all the grain laid up parallel.
Particleboard - A formed panel consisting of particles of wood flakes, shavings, slivers, etc., bonded together with a synthetic resin or other added binder; the particles are classified by size, dried to a uniform moisture content, mixed with binder, mat-formed, compressed to density and then cured under controlled heat and pressure.
Partitions - The dividing wall between rooms. Generally, non-load bearing curtain wall.
Pitch -The degree of slope or inclination of a roof. It is the angle the roof surface makes with a horizontal plane. It is the ratio of the rise to the span and is often expressed as a number over 12. Example- for a 5/12 slope, the joist will rise vertically 5" for every 12" horizontal length, i.e. horizontal span = 20'0", rise = 20 x 5 or 100".
Plan - Refers to the blueprints of a house or another name for a housing development.
Plan View - Top View of an object, looking down. Usually, the most important of the three principle architect views.
Plumb - Exactly perpendicular or vertical, at right angles to the horizon or floor.
Plywood - A cross banded assembly of layers of veneer or veneer in combination with a lumber core or plies joined with an adhesive; the grain of the adjoining veneer or plies is approximately at right angles; an odd number of plies is generally used. Two primary types of plywood are recognized, “veneer plywood” (layers of veneers only) and “lumber core” plywood (lumber core with veneers or plies bonded to it).
Prefabrication - Essentially component building; this term is applied to an entire wall section as contrasted with a panel or part of the entire wall; also “manufactured”, see Component Building.
Prehanger - A company or shop that preps door slabs and assembles the frame and door together into an operating unit.
Preservative - Any substance that, for a reasonable length of time, will prevent the development and action of wood-destroying fungi, borers of various kinds and other harmful insects that deteriorate wood after the wood has been properly treated with it; also wood preservative.
Product Spec List - List of specification for a product or materials in a bid or in plans for construction. Punch Out List / Crew - Detail list drawn up by a contractor or buyer of items to be corrected/completed to finish a house etc., to prepare it for occupancy. A "Punch Out Crew" are the workers that come in to finish a house.
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Rafters - The inclined members of the roof framework. They serve the same purpose in the roof as joists in the floor or studs in the wall.
Reaction - Force needed at the ends of a beam to support that beam. For a simple span, the two end reactions are equal to the total load carried by the beam.
Relative Humidity - Ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to that the air would hold at saturation at the same temperature.
Resin - Any of various solid or semi-solid organic substances exuded from various plants and trees or prepared synthetically; see Pitch. Also used to denote adhesive components/compounds used in the manufacture of a product. A solid, semisolid or pseudosolid organic material.
Ribbon - A board attached to the ends of joists at the bearing walls to provide lateral stability, closure and to transfer vertical wall loads around the joists directly to the bearing wall. Also called band, rim, skirt or box.
Ridge - The uppermost horizontal line of a roof where the two surfaces meet. A ridge board is the horizontal piece that connects the upper ends of the rafters.
Rim Board - A component of a flooring system that serves as a framing member to enclose the floor joists. It runs around the perimeter of the house/structure.
Rough Carpenter - Does the framing of a building, project, etc.
Rout - To groove or hollow-out a wood member with a router, e.g., housed stair stringers; also “hinge rout” on door, etc.
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Safe Load - A concentrated load, considered to be distributed over a 2 1/2 foot square area in a building. The safe load in an office floor is typically 2,000 pounds, and is added to the normal live and dead loads.
Seasoned - Wood which has lost varying amounts of moisture from a green or partially dry condition, such moisture loss having been accomplished either by “air seasoning” or “kiln drying”; an indefinite term; see Dry.
Section View - Looking through an object, as if hinging it and opening the building.
Shear - Created by opposite forces that meet head on like the blades of a pair of scissors. They tend to "cut", tear, or slide two parts of a member along a plane.
Sheathing - A surface, usually of wood, OSB, fiberboard, or other panels, applied to the exterior faces of the studs or wall frame.
SIPs/Structural Insulated Panels - A construction material that sandwiches insulation between two covers (such as OSB) to form the walls of a house. These panels are used as stress skins in foam sandwich panel applications. The OSB is most commonly laminated to block polystyrene to form the "SIP" panel. These foam core panels are used in residential and commercial construction.
Soffit - The underside of a box cornice; in kitchens, the lowered ceiling directly above the top of the wall cabinets which seals off cabinet space too high to utilize; known as “drop ceiling”, "furred-down ceiling", or "furred ceiling"; also plancier.
Softwood - One of the botanical groups of trees that has persistent needlelike or scale like leaves; softwoods are evergreen (only three important native species being deciduous), have longer length fibers than hardwoods, do not contain vessels and have seeds naked; also known as “cone bearers” or "conifers".
Spec and Tech Sheet - A page listing the specifications and technical information relating to a particular product.
Squash Block - Made from a block of wood, slightly taller than the depth of the joist, used to transfer external loads (created by walls above) around the joist into the bearing member. The block is placed in a vertical position tightly beside the I-joist.
Square - The amount of roofing needed to cover 100 square feet of roof area.
STC - Sound Transmission Class is a rating for evaluating the effectiveness of construction in isolating airborne sound transmission. Higher numbers indicate more effectiveness.
Stress Increase - A percentage increase in the stress permitted in a wood member, based on the length of time that the load causing the stress acts on the member. The shorter the duration of the load, the higher the percent increase in the allowable stress.
Stock - Materials on hand (in inventory) at a store location.
Subcontractor - "Sub" -works for "G.C.", often specializing in a certain type of work such as plumbing, electrical, etc.
Sub-Flooring - The first layer of oriented strand board, plywood or planks laid over floor joists.
Sweet's - Refers to the Sweet's Catalog. This is a source book for architects and builders published annually in which manufacturers pay to list specifications of their building products.
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Take Off - Figure price and specs of materials for home or building from the blueprints or plans of the project.
Telegraphing - Visible irregularities in the surface of the face of plywood caused by corresponding irregularities in the underlying plies such as core laps, voids, or extraneous matter. Also denotes “seams” or lines showing through a finished surface as in the surface face of a door, tabletop, etc.
Tension - A pulling force or stress trying to lengthen a member. Bottom flange is always in tension in a simple span.
The U.S. industry standard; used for reporting square footage of wood panel products. All products are converted to a 3/8” basis thickness for reporting. Example: 100 sq. ft. of a ¾” board = 200 sq. ft. on a 3/8” basis.
Tongue and groove joint - A joint formed by the insertion of the “tongue” of one wood member into the “groove” of the other; modifications include tongue and groove rabbet joint, dado tongue and rabbet, tongued shoulder joint, dado and rabbet joint, dado and lip joint.
Tracing Pages - Originally referred to detail drawings of windows, doors, etc., used on the exterior of a building that architects would trace onto their drawings of building elevations. Today, these are scanned or transferred via computer diskettes, CD’s etc.
Tributary Width - It is the sum of Y2 the distance to the next support on each side of the member. For a uniformly spaced system, the tributary width is equal to On Center (OC) spacing.
Trimmer - The studs into which a header is framed -sometimes called a "jack stud".
Truss - A series of members forming a structural framework that are geometrically arranged and fastened together to support each other so that loads applied along the trusses are shared and carried through the framework. They are used to support roof loads or floors. They are capable of supporting loads over long spans without intermediate support.
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Uniform Pounds Per Lineal Foot -The load along the length of a member in p.l.f. (pounds per lineal foot) which is determined by multiplying the tributary width in feet times the design load in p.s.f. (Pounds per square foot).
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Valley - The area created where low roof slopes meet, forming an angle or channel. Veneer - A thin sheet or layer of wood, usually rotary cut, sliced or sawn from a log, bolt or flitch; thickness may vary from 1/100 to ¼ of an inch; also skin, ply, veneer ply. Back to TopWater-Resistant Bond - A bond or glue joint, which retains practically all of its strength when occasionally subjected to a thorough wetting and drying.
Weathering - The mechanical or chemical disintegration and discoloration of the surface of wood caused by exposure to light, the action of shrinking and swelling of the surface fibers with continual variation in moisture content due to changes in the weather; also an inclined surface on a member such as a cornice or sill which directs away rain water.
Web - It is the inside member of the "I” configuration that connects and aligns the top and bottom flanges in an engineered I-joist. It is usually made of plywood or structural wood panels (see Web Stock).
Web Stiffener - A small block of plywood that fits flush against the web of a wooden I-Beam, attached with nails and used to transfer internal stresses through the beam.
Web Stock - A special formulated and exceptionally strong OSB that is used in a wooden I-Beam. Typically, it is a 3/8" or 7/16" special formulation OSB, which is fitted to the flange (top and bottom) piece of the I-Beam. It is also used as the web material in a wooden I-Beam.
Window Schedule/List - Listing of window and door sizes for a plan.
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