Our Jargon Buster

Our Jargon Buster

• 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
• Gear - Brickie term for mortar
• 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
• 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)