Jargon Buster

A/C
An abbreviation for air conditioner or air conditioning.

A/C Condenser
The outside fan unit of the Air Conditioning system. It removes the heat from the freon gas and "turns" the gas back into a liquid and pumps the liquid back to the coil in the furnace.

Aerator
The round screened screw-on tip of a sink spout. It mixes water and air for a smooth flow.

Aggregate
A mixture of sand and stone and a major component of concrete.

Allowance(s)
A sum of money set aside in the construction contract for items, which have not been selected and specified in the construction contract. For example, selection of tile as a flooring may require an allowance for an underlayment material, or an electrical allowance, which sets aside an amount of money to be spent on electrical fixtures.

Anchor bolts
Bolts to secure a wooden sill plate to concrete, or masonry floor or wall.

Apron
A trim board that is installed beneath a window sill

Architect
One who has completed a course of study in building and design. One who draws up plans.

Backfill
The replacement of excavated earth into a trench around or against a basement /crawl space foundation wall.

Balusters
Vertical members in a railing used between a top rail and bottom rail or the stair treads. Sometimes referred to as 'pickets' or 'spindles'.

Balustrade
The rail, posts and vertical balusters along the edge of a stairway or elevated walkway.

Barge
Horizontal beam rafter that supports shorter rafters.

Barge board
A decorative board covering the projecting rafter (fly rafter) of the gable end. At the cornice, this member is a fascia board.

Base or baseboard
A trim board placed against the wall around the room next to the floor.

Batten
Narrow strips of wood used to cover joints or as decorative vertical members over plywood or wide boards.

Bay window
Any window space projecting outward from the walls of a building, either square or polygonal in plan.

Beam
A structural member transversely supporting a load. A structural member carrying building loads (weight) from one support to another. Sometimes called a "girder".

Load bearing wall
A wall that supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight.

Tender
A formal offer by a contractor, in accordance with specifications for a project, to do all or a phase of the work at a certain price in accordance with the terms and conditions stated in the offer.

Bifold door
Doors that are hinged in the middle for opening in a smaller area than standard swing doors. Often used for closet doors.

Brace
An inclined piece of framing timber applied to wall or floor to strengthen the structure. Often used on walls as temporary bracing until framing has been completed.

Brick lintel
The metal angle iron that brick rests on, especially above a window, door, or other opening.

Building insurance
Insurance covering the structure of the building.

Butt hinge
The most common type. One leaf attaches to the door's edge, the other to its jamb.

Casement
Frames of wood or metal enclosing part (or all) of a window sash. May be opened by means of hinges affixed to the vertical edges.

Casement Window
A window with hinges on one of the vertical sides and swings open like a normal door

Casing
Wood trim moulding installed around a door or window opening.

Caulking
(1) A flexible material used to seal a gap between two surfaces
(2) To fill a joint with mastic or asphalt plastic cement to prevent leaks.

Ceiling joist
One of a series of parallel framing members used to support ceiling loads and supported in turn by larger beams, girders or bearing walls. Also called roof joists.

Cement
The grey powder that is the "glue" in concrete. Portland cement. Also, any adhesive.

Ceramic tile
A man-made or machine-made clay tile used to finish a floor or wall. Generally used in bathtub and shower enclosures and on counter tops.

Chalk line
A line made by snapping a taut string or cord dusted with chalk. Used for alignment purposes.

Chip Board
A manufactured wood panel made out of 1"/2" wood chips and glue. Often used as a substitute for plywood in the exterior wall and roof sheathing

Circuit Breaker
A device, which looks like a switch and is usually located inside the circuit breaker box. It is designed to (1) shut of the power to portions or all of the house and (2) to limit the amount of power flowing through a circuit (measured in amperes).

Column
A vertical structural compression member which supports loads.

Concrete
The mixture of Portland cement, sand, gravel, and water. Used to make garage and basement floors, sidewalks, patios, foundation walls, etc. It is commonly reinforced with steel rods (rebar) or wire screening (mesh).

Concrete block
A hollow concrete 'brick' often 8" x 8" x 16" in size.

Condensation
Beads or drops of water (and frequently frost in extremely cold weather) that accumulate on the inside of the exterior covering of a building. Use of louvers or attic ventilators will reduce moisture condensation in attics.

A vapour barrier
under the gypsum lath or dry wall on exposed walls will reduce condensation.

Conduction
The direct transfer of heat energy through a material.

Conductivity
The rate at which heat is transmitted through a material.

Conduit, electrical
A pipe, usually metal or plastic, in which wire is installed.

Contractor
A company licensed to perform certain types of construction activities

Convection
Currents created by heating air, which then rises and pulls cooler air behind it. Also see radiation

Cross bridging
Diagonal bracing between adjacent floor joists, placed near the centre of the joist span to prevent joists from twisting.

Culvert
Round, corrugated drain pipe (normally 15" or 18" in diameter) that is installed beneath a driveway and parallel to and near the street.

Cupping
A type of warping that causes boards to curl up at their edges.

Door stop
The wooden style that the door slab will rest upon when it's in a closed position.

Dormer
An opening in a sloping roof, the framing of which projects out to form a vertical wall suitable for windows or other openings.

Downspout
A pipe, usually of metal or plastic, for carrying rainwater down from the roof's horizontal gutters.

Draw
The amount of progress billings on a contract that is currently available to a contractor under a contract with a fixed payment schedule.

Eaves
The horizontal exterior roof overhang.

Egress
A means of exiting the home.

Elbow (ell)
A plumbing or electrical fitting that lets you change directions in runs of pipe or conduit.

Estimating
The process of calculating the cost of a project. This can be a formal and exact process or a quick and imprecise process.

Extras
Additional work requested of a contractor, not included in the original plan, which will be billed separately and will not alter the original contract amount, but increase the cost of building the home.

Facing brick
The brick used and exposed on the outside of a wall. Usually these have a finished texture.

Fascia
Horizontal boards attached to rafter/truss ends at the eaves and along gables. Roof drain gutters are attached to the fascia.

Felt
Tar paper. Installed under the roof tiles

Female
Any part, such as a nut or fitting, into which another (male) part can be inserted. Internal threads are female.

Fire brick
Brick made of refractory ceramic material, which will resist high temperatures. Used in a fireplace and boiler.

Fixed price contract
A contract with a set price for the work. See Time and Materials Contract.

Fixed rate
A loan where the initial payments are based on a certain interest rate for a stated period. The rate payable will not change during this period regardless of changes in the lender's standard variable rate.

Fixed Rate Mortgage
A mortgage with an interest rate that remains the same over the years.

Flagstone (flagging or flags)
Flat stones (1 to 4 inches thick) used for walks, steps, floors, and vertical veneer (in lieu of brick).

Flashing
Sheet metal or other material used in roof and wall construction to protect a building from water seepage.

Fluorescent lighting
A fluorescent lamp is a gas-filled glass tube with a phosphor coating on the inside. Gas inside the tube is ionised by electricity, which causes the phosphor coating to glow. Normally with two pins that extend from each end.

Flue
Large pipe through which fumes escape from a gas water heater, furnace, or fireplace. Normally these flue pipes are double walled, galvanized sheet metal pipe and sometimes referred to as a "B Vent". In addition, nothing combustible shall be within one inch from the flue pipe.

Flue collar
Round metal ring, which fits around the heat flue pipe after the pipe passes out of the roof.

Flue damper
An automatic door located in the flue that closes it off when the burner turns off; purpose is to reduce heat loss up the flue from the still-warm furnace or boiler.

Flue lining
2-foot lengths, fire clay or terra-cotta pipe (round or square) and usually made in all ordinary flue sizes. Used for the inner lining of chimneys with the brick or masonry work done around the outside

Foundation
The supporting portion of a structure below the first floor construction, including the footings.

Fuse
A device often found in older homes designed to prevent overloads in electrical lines. This protects against fire. See also 'circuit breakers'.

Gate valve
A valve that let’s you completely stop—but not modulate—the flow within a pipe.

General Contractor
A contractor who enters into a contract with the owner of a project for the construction of the project and who takes full responsibility for its completion, although the contractor may enter into subcontracts with others for the performance of specific parts or phases of the project.

Girder
A large or principal beam of wood or steel used to support concentrated loads at isolated points along its length.

Glazing
The process of installing glass, which commonly is secured with glazier's points and glazing compound.

Grain
The direction, size, arrangement, appearance, or quality of the fibres in wood.

Groundwater
Water from an aquifer or subsurface water source.

Grout
A wet mixture of cement, sand and water that flows into masonry or ceramic crevices to seal the cracks between the different pieces. Mortar made of such consistency (by adding water) that it will flow into the joints and cavities of the masonry work and fill them solid.

Gutter
A shallow channel or conduit of metal or wood set below and along the (fascia) eaves of a house to catch and carry off rainwater from the roof.

Plaster board
Drywall. Wall board or gypsum
A panel (normally 4' X 8', 10', 12', or 16’) made with a core of Gypsum (chalk-like) rock, which covers interior walls and ceilings.

Gypsum plaster
Gypsum formulated to be used with the addition of sand and water for base-coat plaster.

Hearth
The fireproof area directly in front of a fireplace. The inner or outer floor of a fireplace usually made of brick, tile, or stone.

Heating load
The amount of heating required to keep a building at a specified temperature during the winter, regardless of outside temperature.

Hip
A roof with four sloping sides. The external angle formed by the meeting of two sloping sides of a roof.

Hip roof
A roof that rises by inclined planes from all four sides of a building.

H V A C
An abbreviation for Heat, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

Insulation
Any material high in resistance to heat transmission that, when placed in the walls, ceiling, or floors of a structure, and will reduce the rate of heat flow.

Interest
The cost paid to a lender for borrowed money.

Jamb
The side and head lining of a doorway, window, or other opening. Includes studs as well as the frame and trim.

Joint
The location between the touching surfaces of two members or components joined and held together by nails, glue, cement, mortar, or other means.

Joist
Wooden beams that run parallel to one another and support a floor or ceiling, and supported in turn by larger beams, girders, or bearing walls.

Joist hanger
A metal "U" shaped item used to support the end of a floor joist and attached with hardened nails to another bearing joist or beam.

Kilowatt (kw)
One thousand watts. A kilowatt hour is the base unit used in measuring electrical consumption. Also see watt.

Laminating
Bonding together two or more layers of materials.

Landing
A platform between flights of stairs or at the termination of a flight of stairs. Often used when stairs change direction.

Level
True horizontal. Also a tool used to determine level.

Lintel
A horizontal structural member that supports the load over an opening such as a door or window.

Load bearing wall
Includes all exterior walls and any interior wall that is aligned above a support beam or girder. Normally, any wall that has a double horizontal top plate.

Loan
The amount to be borrowed.

Louver
A vented opening into the home that has a series of horizontal slats and arranged to permit ventilation but to exclude rain, snow, light, insects, or other living creatures.

Lumens
Unit of measure for total light output. The amount of light falling on a surface of one square foot.

Male
Any part, such as a bolt, designed to fit into another (female) part. External threads are male.

Mantel
The shelf above a fireplace opening. Also used in referring to the decorative trim around a fireplace opening.

Manufactured wood
A wood product such as a truss, beam, gluelam, microlam or joist, which is manufactured out of smaller wood pieces and glued or mechanically fastened to form a larger piece. Often used to create a stronger member, which may use less wood. See also Oriented Strand Board.

Masonry
Stone, brick, concrete, hollow-tile, concrete block, or other similar building units or materials. Normally bonded together with mortar to form a wall.

Mastic
A pasty material used as a cement (as for setting tile) or a protective coating (as for thermal insulation or waterproofing)

Moulding
A wood strip having an engraved, decorative surface.

Mortar
A mixture of cement (or lime) with sand and water used in masonry work.

Mortgage
Loan secured by land.

Mortise
A slot cut into a board, plank, or timber, usually edgewise, to receive the tenon (or tongue) of another board, plank, or timber to form a joint.

Newel post
The large starting post to which the end of a stair guard railing or balustrade is fastened.

Non-bearing wall
A wall supporting no load other than its own weight.

Nosing
The projecting edge of a moulding or drip or the front edge of a stair tread.

Notch
A crosswise groove at the end of a board.

O C - On Center
The measurement of spacing for studs, rafters, and joists in a building from the centre of one member to the centre of the next.

Pad out, pack out
To shim out or add strips of wood to a wall or ceiling in order that the finished ceiling/wall will appear correct.

Paint
A combination of pigments with suitable thinners or oils to provide decorative and protective coatings. Can be oil based or latex water based.

Pallets
Wooden platforms used for storing and shipping material. Forklifts and hand trucks are used to move these wooden platforms around.

Panel
A thin flat piece of wood, plywood, or similar material, framed by stiles and rails as in a door (or cabinet door), or fitted into grooves of thicker material with moulded 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. Generally comes in long rolls.

Parapet
A wall placed at the edge of a roof to prevent people from falling off.

Partition
A wall that subdivides spaces within any story of a building or room.

Paver, paving
Materials—commonly masonry—laid down to make a firm, even surface.

Permeability
A measure of the ease with which water penetrates a material.

Pigment
A powdered solid used in paint or enamel to give it a colour.

Pilot hole
A small-diameter, pre-drilled hole that guides a nail or screw.

Pitch
The incline slope of a roof or the ratio of the total rise to the total width of a house, i.e., a 6-foot rise and 24-foot width is a one-fourth pitch roof. Roof slope is expressed in the inches of rise, per foot of horizontal run.

Plan view
Drawing of a structure with the view from overhead, looking down.

Plumb
Exactly vertical and perpendicular.

Plumb bob
A lead weight attached to a string. It is the tool used in determining plumb.

Plywood
A panel (normally 4' X 8') of wood made of three or more layers of veneer, compressed and joined with glue, and usually laid with the grain of adjoining plies at right angles to give the sheet strength.

Portland cement
Cement made by heating clay and crushed limestone into a brick and then grinding to a pulverized powder state.

Preservative
Any pesticide substance that, for a reasonable length of time, will prevent the action of wood-destroying fungi, insect borers, and similar destructive agents when the wood has been properly coated or impregnated with it. Normally an arsenic derivative. Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) is an example.

Pressure Relief Valve (PRV)
A device mounted on a hot water heater or boiler, which is designed to release any high steam pressure in the tank to prevent tank explosions.

Pressure-treated wood
Lumber that has been saturated with a preservative.

Primer
The first, base coat of paint when a paint job consists of two or more coats. A first coating formulated to seal raw surfaces and holding succeeding finish coats.

Putty
A type of dough used in sealing glass in the sash, filling small holes and crevices in wood, and for similar purposes.

PVC or CPVC
Poly Vinyl Chloride-A type of white or light grey plastic pipe sometimes used for water supply lines and waste pipe.

Quarry tile
A man-made or machine-made clay tile used to finish a floor or wall. Generally 6" X 6” X 1/4" thick.

Quarter round
A small trim moulding that has the cross section of a quarter circle.

Radiation
Energy transmitted from a heat source to the air around it. Radiators actually depend more on convection than radiation.

Ready mixed concrete
Concrete mixed at a plant or in trucks en route to a job and delivered ready for placement.

Relief valve
A device designed to open if it detects excess temperature or pressure.

Retaining wall
A structure that holds back a slope and prevents erosion.

Retentions
Amounts withheld from progress billings until final and satisfactory project completion.

Sash
A single light frame containing one or more lights of glass. The frame that holds the glass in a window, often the movable part of the window.

Sash balance
A device, usually operated by a spring and designed to hold a single hung window vent up and in place

Scratch coat
The first coat of plaster, which is scratched to form a bond for a second coat.

Screed, concrete
To level off concrete to the correct elevation during a concrete pour.

Screed, plaster
A small strip of wood, usually the thickness of the plaster coat, used as a guide for plastering.

Sealer
A finishing material, either clear or pigmented, that is usually applied directly over raw wood for the purpose of sealing the wood surface.

Skylight
A more or less horizontal window located on the roof of a building.

Slab, concrete
Concrete pavement, i.e. driveways, garages, and basement floors.

Soffit
The area below the eaves and overhangs. The underside where the roof overhangs the walls. Usually the underside of an overhanging cornice.

Soil pipe
A large pipe that carries liquid and solid wastes to a sewer or septic tank.

Soil stack
A plumbing vent pipe that penetrates the roof.

Sole plate
The bottom, horizontal framing member of a wall that's attached to the floor sheeting and vertical wall studs.

Storm sewer
A sewer system designed to collect storm water and is separated from the waste water system.

Story
That part of a building between any floors or between the floor and roof.

Stud framing
A building method that distributes structural loads to each of a series of relatively lightweight studs. Contrasts with postand-beam.

Suspended ceiling
A ceiling system supported by hanging it from the overhead structural framing.

T & G, tongue and groove
A joint made by a tongue (a rib on one edge of a board) that fits into a corresponding groove in the edge of another board to make a tight flush joint. Typically, the sub floor plywood is T & G.

Tee
A "T" shaped plumbing fitting.

Tempered
Strengthened. Tempered glass will not shatter nor create shards, but will "pelletize" like an automobile window. Required in tub and shower enclosures and locations, entry door glass and sidelight glass, and in a windows when the window sill is less than 16" to the floor.

Terra cotta
A ceramic material moulded into masonry units.

Trap
A plumbing fitting that holds water to prevent air, gas, and vermin from backing up into a fixture.

Tread
The walking surface board in a stairway on which the foot is placed.

Treated lumber
A wood product that has been impregnated with chemical pesticides such as CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate) to reduce damage from wood rot or insects. Often used for the portions of a structure, which are likely to be in contact with soil and water. Wood may also be treated with a fire retardant.

Truss
An engineered and manufactured roof support member with "zigzag" framing members. Does the same job as a rafter but is designed to have a longer span than a rafter.

Undercoat
A coating applied prior to the finishing or top coats of a paint job. It may be the first of two or the second of three coats. Sometimes called the Prime coat.

Union
A plumbing fitting that joins pipes end-to-end so they can be dismantled.

Valley
The "V" shaped area of a roof where two sloping roofs meet. Water drains off the roof at the valleys.

Vapour barrier
A building product installed on exterior walls and ceilings under the drywall and on the warm side of the insulation. It is used to retard the movement of water vapour into walls and prevent condensation within them. Normally, polyethylene plastic sheeting is used.

Veneer
Extremely thin sheets of wood. Also a thin slice of wood or brick or stone covering a framed wall.

Vent
A pipe or duct, which allows the flow of air and gasses to the outside. Also, another word for the moving glass part of a window sash, i.e. window vent.

Vermiculite
A mineral used as bulk insulation and also as aggregate in insulating and acoustical plaster and in insulating concrete floors.

Warping
Any distortion in a material.

Warranty
In construction there are two general types of warranties. The manufacturer of a product such as roofing material or an appliance provides one. The second is a warranty for the labour. For example, a roofing contract may include a 20 year material warranty and a 5 year labour warranty. Many new homebuilders provide a one year warranty. Any major issue found during the first year should be communicated to the builder immediately. Small items can be saved up and presented to the builder for correction periodically through the first year after closing.

Water table
The location of the underground water, and the vertical distance from the surface of the earth to this underground water.

Watt
A measure of the electrical requirement of an appliance calculated by multiplying the voltage times the amperage. For example: a 150 watt light bulb which uses 110 volt power needs a little less than 1 amp (110 volts X 1 amp= 110 watts).

W C
An abbreviation for water closet (toilet).

Weather-strip
Narrow sections of thin metal or other material installed to prevent the infiltration of air and moisture around windows and doors.