Understanding your builder
Many householders employ a builder without understanding what is needed to be done. The property owners feel ignorant of joinery, building, electrics or plumbing.
For example you need a new kitchen and you ask a buider to your home to give you a quotation and the following is said:
"We’ll need to Kango the floor, then PVA, bond and skim the walls"
which means:
"breaking up your concrete floor with an electric jackhammer (the Kango), and apply a water-based sealer to your walls before adding a new plaster coat, and finally, a top or skim coat of plaster"
We believe that good firms should try not to baffle, confuse or mislead their customers, and so this simple jargon-buster has been put together to help people understand some of the more commonly used phrases:
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
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
Muck – Brickie term for mortar
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)
Original text of the terms here on fmb.org.uk
You can contact us if you are looking for a Builder in Bulgaria. We are general builders covering all aspects of construction including Property Renovation, Repairs and Property finishes in Bulgaria.
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