Terms used in home building

Building Terms

The building trade has its own special vocabulary; if you're planning to build a new house, you need to know the lingo.

Aggregate: Gravel or rocks that are used in concrete.

Apron: The piece of interior window trim below the stool.

Baluster: One of the vertical pieces of a stair or porch railing.

Balustrade: A stair or porch railing.

Baseboard: The piece of trim around the bottom of a wall.

Bearing wall: A wall supporting ceiling joists or another wall above.

Board-and-batten: Vertical wood siding consisting of wide boards and narrow battens that cover the joints.

Brick veneer: The most common type of brick construction. The house is framed with wood and the brick acts only as an exterior sheathing.

Cantilever: A projecting beam that is supported only at one end.

Cased opening: An opening between two rooms that's trimmed with casing but without a door.

Casement window: A window hinged along one side, so it swings out.

Casing: The trim around a door or window opening.

Chimney breast: The projecting section of a wall above and on each side of a fireplace.

Cornice: A projection or overhang at the top of an exterior wall below the roof; also, the molding at the top of an interior wall.

Cricket: A small, rooflike structure that is set behind a chimney to divert rainwater around the chimney.

Crown molding: A decorative molding used at the top of an interior wall.

Dentil: One of a series of toothlike blocks used in a row as ornamentation under a cornice.

Double-hung window: A type of window with an upper sash that can be lowered and a lower sash that can be raised.

Dropped ceiling: A false ceiling installed below an existing ceiling, often used to hide exposed pipes or ductwork.

Drywall: A paper-covered gypsum board used for interior wall sheathing. A widely used brand of drywall is Sheetrock, made by U.S. Gypsum.

Ducts: Large pipes used to distribute air from a central heating or air-conditioning system.

Eaves: The lower part of a roof that overhangs a wall.

Efflorescence: A white, powdery substance that sometimes appears on brick walls.

Facade: The front (face) of a house.

Fanlight: A semicircular transom window over a door or window.

Fascia: A flat board that forms part of a cornice and covers the ends of the roof rafters.

Flight: An uninterrupted series of steps between floors or between a floor and a landing.

Flue: A terra-cotta or metal lining for a chimney or furnace vent.

Fluting: Parallel decorative grooves in a column or pilaster.

Footing: A concrete base, wider than the foundation wall above, that distributes a load over a larger area.

Foundation: The supporting structure for a building.

Furring: Wood strips used to even up an existing wall for the attachment of paneling.

Gable: The triangular, vertical portion of a wall at the end of a ridged roof.

Grout: Mortar used to fill space between tiles and secure them in place.

Header: A framing member used over a door or window opening.

Hose bib: An exterior water faucet.

Jack arch: A flat arch over a rectangular door or window opening.

Jamb: The inside of a door frame.

Joist: The horizontal structural members that support a floor or ceiling.

Knee wall: A low wall in an attic or half-story space.

Landing: An intermediate platform between two flights of stairs.

Lath: A building material of wood strips, metal mesh, or gypsum board used as a base for plastered walls.

Lattice: A framework of crossed wood or metal strips used as a screen.

Light: A single pane of glass.

Mantel: The shelf above a fireplace.

Molding: Decorative strips of wood used to conceal joints.

Mortar: A cement-sand mixture used to bond bricks or concrete block.

Mullion: The vertical member between two adjoining windows.

Muntin: Horizontal and vertical strips that hold individual panes of glass in a window.

Newel: The bottom or top post of a stair balustrade.

Overdoor: A decorative panel above a doorway.

Pediment: The triangular end of a gable; also, the triangular top for a doorway.

Pier: A masonry or concrete column used to support a floor or porch.

Pilaster: A rectangular column that projects out slightly from the surrounding wall.

Pitch: The angle of a sloping roof, usually expressed in inches of rise per 12 inches of run (e.g., 3 in 12).

Plaster: A mixture of lime or cement and sand used to cover walls or ceilings.

Plate: The horizontal members of a frame wall. The sole plate is at the bottom of the wall; the top plate is at the top. Plate height is often used to refer to the ceiling height of a room.

Plinth: The square block used as the base for a column.

Quarry tile: Machine-made, unglazed tile often used for floors.

Quoin: A decorative stone or brick corner of a building.

Rafters: Structural members of a roof.

Reeding: Parallel, convex decorations on a molding; the reverse of fluting.

Rise: The vertical dimension between two stair treads.

Riser: The vertical surface of a stair between two treads.

Roughing-in: The preliminary stage of installation of plumbing, wiring, etc.

Run: The horizontal distance covered by a stair or roof.

Sash: Framework that holds the panes of glass in a window.

Scale: The relationship of an object to another object; the relationship of an object to the human body (human scale); the relationship of the size of a drawing to the size of the actual object.

Sconce: A wall-mounted light fixture.

Sheathing: The covering, usually plywood, over the wall or roof framing of a house.

Shoe: A small piece of molding, usually quarter round, used between the baseboard and the floor.

Siding: The exterior covering of a house, usually wood, vinyl, aluminum, hardboard, or fiber cement.

Sill: The horizontal member at the base of a window; the lowest member of the framework of a wall, also called a mudsill.

Slab: A flat concrete foundation that rests directly on the ground, sometimes called slab-on-grade.

Sleeper: A wood member resting on a concrete slab, used to support and raise a finished floor.

Soil stack: The main vertical plumbing pipe that receives waste.

Soffit: The underside of an overhanging cornice; the underside of an arch.

Span: The distance between walls supporting a beam.

Stack: The vent for a furnace.

Stool: The shelflike piece at the inside base of a window.

Stud: Vertical framing member of a wall, usually a 2 x 4 spaced 16 inches on center.

Subfloor: The plywood or board floor laid over the joists upon which the finished floor rests.

Tabby: A type of concrete with a shell aggregate, sometimes used in coastal areas.

Terra-cotta: A reddish-brown, fired clay often used to make flowerpots, flooring tiles, and other decorative ornaments.

Transom: A window set over a door.

Tray ceiling: A flat ceiling with the center portion raised.

Tread: The horizontal part of a stair upon which you step.

Truss: A structure made up of smaller members arranged as a series of triangles and used to support a roof.

Valley: The internal angle where two roof planes meet.

Vapor barrier: Paper or plastic material used to keep moisture from moving through a wall.

Vault: A space with an arched ceiling.

Veneer: Thin sheets of wood, such as the layers in a piece of plywood.

Veranda: A long covered porch.

Wainscot: Paneling, usually on the lower part of an interior wall.

Water table: A projection at the top of a foundation to protect the foundation from rainwater.

Weephole: A small drain hole in a masonry wall.