jalousie a window or door composed of adjustable glass louvers.
joist a large timber laid horizontally to support a floor or ceiling.
lintel see header.
live load the variable load a structural member must bear, such as snow on a roof or people walking across a floor, as distinguished from dead load or permanent, nonvariable load.
load the weight a structural member bears or supports.
lookout a structural member running between the lower end of rafters; the underside of a roof overhang.
mansard roof a roof having two slopes on all four sides of a house.
masonry stone, brick, tile, concrete block, and such like.
molding any narrow, usually rounded, trim used decoratively to cover joints.
mullion a vertical bar or strip dividing the panes of a window.
newel the principal post supporting the handrail at the bottom of a staircase.
nogging bricks placed between the timbers of a wall, for a decorative effect or as a firestop.
on center builder's term referring to a measurement taken from the center of one structural member to the center of another.
plaster a mixture of lime, cement, and sand, used on walls.
plate a structural member laid horizontally over the top of studs in a wall. It serves as a support for the attic joists and roof rafters.
platform framing a framing method in which the subfloor extends out into a platform for stud walls; walls are usually prefabricated and tilted into place.
plumb a weight hung from a line to determine if a structural member is perfectly vertical; used to test vertical alignments.
post-and-beam construction a framing method characterized by the use of heavy timbers set further apart than standard framing.
purlins the horizontal members that support rafters.
rabbet joint a recess or groove on the end of a board.
rafter a sloping roof framing member extending from the ridge to the eaves.
rake the slope of a roof or roof rafter.
ridgeboard the uppermost horizontal roof member, to which the top of the rafters are attached.
riser the vertical board rising under a stair tread.
roughing-in the installation of drainage and water pipes for hookup with fixtures and appliances. Also, partial completion of electrical wiring.
R-value a number that signifies the efficiency of an insulating material, such as R-19.
sash the framework that holds the glass in a window.
scuttle a small opening giving access to the attic.
shake a handsplit wood shingle.
sheathing collective term for any covering boards, panels, or other materials.
sheathing paper a building paper used in the roof and walls to block the passing of air.
sheetrock commonly used commercial name for gypsum wallboard.
shim a thin wedge of wood used to help level framing members, especially window and door frames.
shiplap siding siding comprised of boards that connect with one another with rabbeted joints.
shoe the lowest framing member laid horizontally on a subfloor and used as a base for a stud wall.
sill the lowest of all horizontal structural members; it lies directly on the foundation.
skylight a roof window.
slab a solid concrete foundation without a basement.
sleeper a sill; any large structural member laid horizontally.
soffit the underside of a structural member, such as a beam, a staircase, or a roof overhang.
soil stack the large, vertical pipe that receives waste- water from all plumbing fixtures and appliances.
soleplate the lowest horizontal member in a wall frame.
stringer the inclined, precut framing member that serves as one of two supports for stair risers and treads.
stucco a wall covering made of cement or plaster.
stud a vertical framing member, usually made of wood.
subfloor the rough flooring laid directly over the floor joists.
sump in the basement, a hole or depression that collects leaking water.
termite shield sheet metal placed in and around a foundation and its openings to prevent entry by termites.
tie beam a collar beam or rafter tie.
toenail to pound a nail in at an angle in order to make it penetrate a second structural member. Also, to drive a nail so that its head will not be visible on the surface.
transom bar a horizontal bar dividing a window.
truss a large, triangular framing unit, often prefabricated, constructed of beams, bars, and ties, and used to span a large space.
valley rafter a rafter rising where two roof slopes of different angles meet; an inside corner rafter. Similar to a hip rafter.
vapor barrier any material applied to a wall to block the passage of moisture.
wainscot a decorative wall covering skirting the lower portion of a wall.
wallboard Sheetrock, gypsum, waferboard, and similar items.
weephole a small hole cut in masonry to drain moisture.
widow's walk an open, railed walkway around a peaked roof, particularly in some New England sea- coast homes.
HOUSE STYLES
adobe a Spanish clay-and-straw brick home.
bothy a small cottage of northern England, Scotland, and Ireland.
brownstone a house or apartment building faced with a brown or reddish brown sandstone.
bungalow a one-story, cottagelike house characterized by overhanging gables forming the front porch. Also, a one-story tiled or thatched house surrounded by a wide veranda in India.
Cajun cottage a tin-roofed shack of Louisiana.
Cape Cod a rectangular, 1%-story house with a pitched roof, originating in colonial Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
carpenter Gothic a 19th-century American home- building technique characterized by the application of elaborate gothic motifs with wood.
catslide house slang for a saltbox house, named for its long, sloping roof in the rear and short roof in front.
chateau a French country estate.
colonial any one of several house styles imported from a motherland. For example, a clapboard colonial saltbox with a massive central chimney; a German colonial with heavy stone walls; a fieldstone Dutch colonial with a broad gambrel roof; a stuccoed adobe Spanish colonial with arcaded veranda and red-tiled roof.
Creole townhouse a New Orleans townhouse characterized by iron balconies, slate or tiled roofs, arched and shuttered windows, and plastered or stuccoed facades with colors that include pink, ocher, and yellow.
Dutch colonial originating in Dutch-settled areas of New York and the Hudson River valley in the 17th century, a house characterized by a gambrel roof (two pitches on each side) and overhanging eaves.
Elizabethan an English country house originating in the late 1500s and characterized by large, mullioned windows and decorative strapwork.