Construction Terms Defined

Have you ever felt like an outsider – trying very hard to keep up with a conversation when terms you’ve never heard before are thrown out by the dozen? You may feel like that when you’re dealing with a construction project around your home. Generally, Andy and his crew will explain things to you in more laymen terms so that you’re all on the same page. But, you may hear them talking to each other about something during your project and want more understanding of what’s going on.

Certainly you can ask Andy and the HA Construction crew what it all means, but we thought we’d save you a little time and help you feel more in-the-loop by providing definitions for some common construction terms right here. As an added bonus, you’ll feel more attune to what’s going on in your home right from the start.

• Amp (ampere) – the rate of flow of electricity through wires
• Apron – (a) the flat portion of a window’s inside trim, placed between the wall and window sill; (b) the concrete slab at the end of a driveway or at the approach to a garage door
• Astragal – the molding “door stop” for French doors, attached to one of the doors to keep them from hitting each other
• Ballast – limits the flow of electricity into a light bulb (required on all fluorescents)
• Batt Insulation – insulation that is pieced together, resembling a blanket, and often made of fiberglass (see Loose Fill Insulation)
• Bearing Wall – a wall that supports the structure above it in addition to its own weight (i.e. not a wall that can be removed unless another support is put in place, such as a large beam)
• Chase – an opening for pipes and ducts made in the wall or floor
• Clinch – after hammering a nail into two items, bending the point of it to “lock” the pieces
• Cup – when a board warps so that it is no longer level
• Damper ­– a valve for controlling the flow of air
• Dormer Window – a window protruding, like a box, from a sloping roof
• Drip – a protection from a window, door frame or roof that keeps water from running back under decking, windows or doors
• Eminent Domain – the right of governments or public service organizations to claim a certain portion of private property for public use (will often come up during the building process)
• Fascia – the board that covers the end of rafters along roof eaves
• Flashing – material used around roof intersections and projections (such as chimneys or vent pipes) in order to prevent water leaks
• Girder – a beam used to support floor joists
• Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) – a safety circuit breaker, required in bathrooms, that trips the circuit instantaneously if the voltage gets too high
• Hose Bibb – a faucet outside the house for hose attachment
• HVAC – the common term used in reference to heating, ventilation and airc-conditioning
• Inlay – a design set into the surface of a material
• Joist – the supports that bear the weight for ceiling or floor that run parallel to one another, usually made of wood
• Light – a pane of glass
• MDF – “medium density fiberboard” often used for interior trim
• Moisture Barrier – paper or metal treated to help prevent moisture from getting into walls or floors in order to deter damage
• Newel – the bottom most post where the rail ends for a staircase
• OG (Ogee) – a molding that has an ‘S’ curve
• On Center – the measurement from the center of one stud ,rafter, joist, etc. to another
• Plumb – vertical or perpendicular
• Punch-out – referring to the process of adjusting minor deficiencies at the end of a project
• Rake (Rake Board) – the underside of a gabled roof that hangs over the building edge
• Rebar – shorted term for reinforced bar, which are steel robs used to reinforce concrete
• Resin – a sticky substance from tree sap or synthetically created to add color, often to a varnish or paint
• Sash – the frame of a window that holds the glass
• Scaffold – a structure temporarily erected to help contractors work for extended periods at large heights
• Setback – the distance from the front of a building to the front property line (or street)
• Subflooring – plywood nailed to floor joists to form a base for finishing the floor
• Toenail – driving a nail into a surface at an angle
• Tongue & Groove (T&G) – a method of fitting two boards together
• Turnkey – an all-inclusive project, in which the builder handles everything from the initial design plans to the moment he hands you the keys to the finished project
• Wane – a defect in lumber where the bark has not been fully removed from an edge
• Wet Wall – the wall that houses the main plumbing fixtures for a home

Of course, this list just scratches the surface of terms you might hear around the construction site. For a more extensive study of construction terms, check out these other resources:

• U.S. Department of Interior’s PDF document of maintenanceand construction terms
• Construction Jargon -- enter a term in the search box for a definition