A

APPROACH - The initial part of a driveway that intersects a street or alley.

APRON - Trim board underneath a window stool.

B

BARGE RAFTER - A 2x4 that is used to support gable fascia.  The gable soffit is also nailed to this.

BASE - Baseboard

BEAM - Trenches in foundation make-ups, engineered specifically to strengthen the slab.  These are noted with dotted lines on the Foundation Blue Prints.

BOTTOM PLATE - Any 2-inch thick Wolmanized lumber that is permanently attached horizontally to the slab.  Usually this is at the bottom of a framed wall.

BRICK FRIEZE - Any type of trim work that is used to cover the area where siding, soffit, or brick intersect.

BRICK LEDGE - A 2x6 is used, so actually the width of brick ledges are 5-1/2".  A brick ledge is needed everywhere that brick is used.

C

CABLE - 3/8" or 1/2" steel cables encased in plastic sleeve that are used in a Post Tension Foundation.

CAST STONE - Formed concrete pattern for architectural accents.

CEILING JOISTS - Any 2-inch thick lumber used to construct a flat ceiling.

CHAIR - Any plastic device used to raise foundation cable off the poly and locate it in the center of concrete.  These com in assorted types, the most common being a white, plastic pyramid shaped device.

CLEAT - Wooden shelf supports.

COLLAR TIES - A horizontal framing member that is located 2/3 up the rise roof and connects two opposing rafters.  Its purpose is to prevent the rafters from pushing the exterior wall outward.  A collar tie should be installed on every other rafter.

COMMON RAFTER - Any rafter that connects at one end to the ridge and the other to the top plate.

CONTROL JOINT - Tooled joint to control the location of cracking concrete.

CORNICE - Outside trim work, which generally involves the use of one-inch thick lumber only.

CRICKET - False roof used to shed water.

CRIPPLES - Support between the top plate and a head.

CUBIC YARD - One cubic yard of concrete will cover 81 square feet, 4 inches thick.

D

DEAD END - The cast iron fitting that comes pre-attached to the no-stressing end of a Post Tension Foundation cable.

E

ELEVATION - Exterior plan of the way the front of the house is designed to look.

EXPANSION JOINT - Any material  installed to allow either masonry or concrete to expand or contract due to weather.  Usually this material is either redwood or asphalt impregnated gyps.

F

FASCIA - The 1x6 trim that runs directly beneath the shingles.  In general, this trims the rafter ends and closes off the gable ends.

FALSE RAFTERS - Any 2-ince lumber used to construct a sloped ceiling.

FELT - Tacked down on decking before shingles are installed to help prevent water penetration.

FLATWORK - Driveways, sidewalks and patios.

FLATWORK MATERIAL - Assorted lumber and expansion joints used to construct the flatwork forms.

FLOAT - Any piece of lumber and expansion joints used to construct the flatwork forms.

FORM - Wooden framing used to hold concrete in place until it hardens.

FORM LUMBER - Assorted lumber used in the construction of the foundation form.

FORM SAND FORMULA - Total square footage x  0.026 = cubic yards of sand needed.

FRAME - The wooden skeleton of the home (2x4 or bigger).

FRAME 1 - Any 2-inch thick lumber used in construction of the frame from the bottom of the plate to the ceiling joists.

FRAME II - Any 2-inch thick lumber used in constructing the frame above the ceiling joists.

FULL ROUND - Closet pole.

G

GABLE FURR-OUTS - Any type of framing in which the purpose is to extend a gable out over a brick ledge and provide a place for sliding to be nailed to.

GABLE ROOFS - A roof constructed to be sloped on two sides.

GRADE OF LUMBER -

1.Douglas Fir - strong lumber, used on spans of 20' or longer.

2.SPF (Spruce Pine Fir) - used for ceiling joists, rafters, etc.  Used on spans shorter than 20'.

3.Utility White Wood - 2x4 material used for top plate, bracing, deadwood, blocking, etc.

4.No. 2 Yellow Pine - 2x8, 2x10, 2x12 material used for floor joists, rafters, etc. used on spans under 20'.

5.CDX - type of plywood used for decking, X means exterior gluing.

6.Tongue & Groove Plywood - used on two story homes for the upstairs floor.

7.Finger Jointed Studs - a more expensive stud; the stud is made up in splices, more commonly used in the summer months to reduce bowing.

8.TGI - engineer truss flooring system.

GREEN ROCK - Water resistant sheetrock used in showers and around bath tubs.

H

HEADERS - A horizontal framing member (excluding the top plate itself) located at the top of any framed opening (i.e., the top of the window or door).

HEADERS - Any header over five feet in length constructed out of 2x8, or larger material.  These headers are specifically ordered.

HIP RAFTER - Any rafter running from a corner top plate to the ridge, that has jack connecting to it and the top plate only.

HIP ROOFS OR HIPS - A roof constructed to have only horizontal fascia and to be sloped on all sides.

I

J

JACK RAFTER - Any rafter that does not connect to both the ridge and top plate at the same time (i.e., top plate to hop rafter or ridge to valley rafter).

JACK STUD - Located under header to give support.

K

K-TOPS - Same as counter tops.

KICKER - The angel brace used in connection with a stake to support the walls of the foundation form.

L

LAMB LEG - The triangular shaped trip used to seal the soffit and where the gable fascia intersects the horizontal fascia.

L-FLASHING - Used to seal walls on flat part of roof.

LINTEL - Any type of trim of support over an opening (i.e., brick fireplace lintel).

LIVE END - The stressing end of a post tension cable that protrudes from the foundation.

LIVING AREA - Square footage of air conditioned floor space.  ( abbreviation L.S.)

M

N

O

"ON CENTER" - Distance between the center of one object to the center of another (i.e., studs=24' on center or 16' on center depending on city codes)

P

PERIMETER - The sum of total distance of all sides of a slab or closed plane figure.

PURLINS - A horizontal framing member attached and running perpendicular to the rafters.  Purlin braces should be attached to both the rafter and the purlin.  Any rafter over 12 feet long should be supported by a purlin and purlin brace.

PURLIN BRACE - A roof brace that ideally runs at a 90 degree angle from a rafter to a wall.  There should be one purlin brace for every other rafter over 12 feet long.

PITCH - The slope of the roof itself described by a ratio (example 8/12 pitch).  The denominator indicates horizontal distance and the numerator is the vertical rise.

PLOT PLAN - A plan that shows which house will go on what lot.  It also tells you of any easements and the setback measurements in which the house must be away from the property line.

PLUMB & LINE - The procedure used to make sure a wall is both straight horizontally and vertically.

PLUMB MATERIAL - Any temporary bracing material used to help plumb and line a wall.

POCKET FORMER - A plastic cone-shaped device used to prevent concrete from reaching the area where the foundation cable passes through the live end.  This creates a pocket to allow the foundation to be stressed.

POLY - Rolls of black 6 mil. plastic used as a moisture barrier between the form sand and concrete in a foundation make up.

POLYCEL - Insulating foam caulking.

POLY FORMULA - Total slab area + total beam lengths x 3 = total poly square footage.

POWER VENT - Attic ventilation fan used to lower temperature of the attic.

PRE-FINISHED MOLD - Molding that is finished like the cabinets.  It comes in different styles.

PRIVACY LOCK - A push-button type locking device.

PASSAGE LOCK - Regular 2-sided door handle, there is no way to lock the door.

Q

R

RAFTER - The parallel framing members that support the actual roof.

RAKE - Synonym for slope.

RANDOM LENGTH LUMBER - Lumber delivered in assorted lengths, usually 12 feet or longer.

RE-BAR - Assorted thickness steel rods used in foundation and flat work for additional strength.

RIDGE - The horizontal framing member that the rafters connect to at the peak of the roof.

RISE -  The actual height of room from top plate to ridge.

RISE FORMULA - Pitch x Run = Rise

ROLL ROOFING - Goes in all valleys.

ROWLOCK - Brick laid where the end of the brick is faced outward.

RUN - One half on the span.  It is also the distance from the corner of a hip roof to the first common rafter.

RUN/RISE FORMULA - Pitch x Run = Rise

S

SHEATHING - Trim for soffit joints.

SHINGLE FELT - Rolled material that goes over entire decked areas.  Shingles go on top of this.

SOFFIT - The underside of the eaves of the home.

SOLDIER - Brick laid vertically on end.

SPAN - The width of the area or building involved that is perpendicular to the ridge.

SQUARE FOOTAGE - Actual area of a slab, home or room.  (length x width = square footage)

STAKE - The vertical support used in foundation form construction, driven into the ground.

STEP FLASHING - Used to seal walls down the pitch of a roof.

STRONG BACKS - A device constructed out of one 2x6 and one 2x4 used to help prevent ceiling joists from sagging.  It is installed on top of the joists and attached to the nearest weight bearing wall or rafter.  One strong back should be installed for every 8 feet of joist span.

STUDS - Precut 2-inch thick lumber used as the vertical framing members in a wall.

T

TAIL - The part of the rafter that extends past the exterior wall of the building.

TAKE-OFF - Everything that we, the Builder, must supply in order to build homes.

TOTAL SQUARE FOOTAGE - Total square footage of a slab, including porches, garages, etc.  (abbreviation T.S.)

TRIM I - Consists of interior doors, shelving materials, baseboards, cleat material, full round, window stool, attic stairway, Masonite, dead bolts, etc.

TRIM II - Consists of door hardware, shoe mold, closet poles, towel bar, toilet paper holder, door bumps, etc.

TRUSS JOINT - Engineered floor joist system made up of component parts.

U

V

VALLEY RAFTER - Any rafter running from a corner top plate to the ridge that has jack rafters connecting to it and the ridge only.

W

WALL FOOTAGE - Actual total lengths of all walls in the home added up to give you a total wall footage.

WIND BRACE - 1x4 lumber recessed in the exterior framed walls for permanent bracing.  Wind braces should be installed for every 25 feet of exterior wall.

WINDOW OPENING - The actual area displaced by a window unit or units.  Example:  a twin 3/0 6/0 window would have a 6 foot window opening.

WIRE MESH - Assorted gauged wire that is delivered in 6-foot wide rolls used in foundations and flatwork to give it additional tensile strength.

X

Y

Z

Z-BAR - A type of flashing that comes in 10-foot lengths and is pre-bent into the shape of a "Z".