AIR BARRIER: material or surface de-signed to prevent passage of air, but not water vapor.
ALL LENGTHS. Lumber cut in many different lengths. .
APRON A piece of window trim that is located beneath the window sill . Also used to designate the front of a building such as the concrete apron in front of a garage.
ARRIS. The sharp point formed by two surfaces joining, such as the corner of a board.
AWNING PICTURE WINDOW This type of window has a bottom panel that swings outward ; a crank operates the moving window. As the window swings outward, it has a tendency to create an awning effect.
BALLOON FRAME. This type of framing is used on two-story buildings . Wall studs rest on the sill . The joists and studs are nailed together, and the end joists are nailed to the wall studs.
BASEBOARD Molding covering the joint between a finished wall and the floor.
BASE SHOE Quarter round A molding added at the bottom of a baseboard. It is used to cover the edge of finish flooring or carpeting.
BATTEN A batten is the narrow piece of wood used to cover a joint.
BATTER BOARDS These are boards used to frame in the corners of a proposed building while the layout and excavating work takes place.
BAY WINDOW Bay windows stick out from the main part of the house . They add to the architectural qualities of a house and are used mostly for decoration.
BEAM: a steel or wood member that's installed horizon-tally to support part of a structure's load.
BEARING PARTITION An interior divider or wall that supports the weight of the structure above it .
BEARING WALL A bearing wall has weight-bearing properties associated with holding up a building's roof or second floor.
BIRD'S MOUTH: a notch cut near the end of a rafter to fit over a cap plate.
BLOCKING Corners and wall intersections are made the same as outside walls . The size and amount of blocking can be reduced. The purpose of blocking is to provide nail surfaces at the corners . These are needed at inside and outside nail surfaces . They are a base for nailing wall covering.
BOTTOM OR HEEL CUT This refers to the cutout of the rafter end which rests against the plate . The bottom cut is also called the foot or seat cut.
BRIDGING: steel braces or wood blocks that are installed in an X pattern between floor joists to stabilize the joists.
CASING: boards that line the inside of a doorway, or the trim around the door opening.
CHORDS: framing members that make up the two sides of the roof and the base of a triangular truss.
COLLAR TIE: a horizontal framing member installed between rafters to add stiffness
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COLUMN: a metal or wood vertical member designed to support part of a structure's load.
CORNICE: the part of the roof that overhangs a wall; also called the roof overhang.
CRIPPLE STUDS: short vertical studs installed between a header and a top plate or between the bottom of a rough sill and the sole plate.
DORMER: a shed like structure that projects out from a roof to provide additional attic space.
DOUBLE TOP PLATE: a double layer of two by material running horizontally on top of, and nailed to, the wall studs.
DRIP EDGE: a bent metal strip that fits over the edge of the roof to direct rain away from the roof edge and underlying walls.
EAVES: the part of the roof that projects past the supporting walls.
FASCIA: a trim piece fastened to the ends of the rafters to form part of the cornice.
FLASHING: thin metal used to bridge gaps between the roof and framing or shingles and framing also used to line valleys to shed water.
FOOTING: typically a poured concrete base on which the foundation of a structure is built.
FRIEZE BOARD: trims pieces installed directly beneath the rafters to provide a nailing surface for the soffits and corner trim.
GIRDER: a horizontal steel or wood member used to sup-port part of a structure's load. (see Beam)
HEADER: a horizontal framing member that runs above rough openings to take on the load that would have been carried by the wall studs; may be solid wood, be built up from 2-by material, or be an engineered beam such as MicroLam or GlueLam
HIP RAFTER: any rafter that runs at a 45-degree angle from the end of the ridge to a corner of the structure.
JACK RAFTER: short rafters that run between two rafters or a rafter and a top plate.
JACK STUD: a stud that runs between the sole plate and the bottom of the header; also referred to as a trimmer stud.
JOIST: framing lumber that is installed horizontally on edge to which subfloors are attached.
JOIST HANGER: often referred to as metal framing connectors, these are designed for use on two-by projects where you need to quickly attach framing members together. Connector manufacturers offer an unbelievable assortment of anchors and ties for almost every conceivable application.
KING STUD: the wall stud to which the jack stud is attached to create a rough opening for a window or door.
LOAD-BEARING WALL: a load-bearing wall helps support the weight of a house; all of the exterior walls that run perpendicular to the floor and ceiling joists in a structure are load-bearing walls, and any interior wall that's located directly above a girder or interior foundation wall is load-bearing.
NON-LOAD-BEARING WALL: a non-load-bearing wall does not help support the weight of the structure; also referred to as partition walls, they have relaxed design parameters and code requirements, such as wider stud spacing (24" vs. 16" on center) and smaller headers. (See above)
OVERHANG: the end of the rafter that projects beyond the building line; typically enclosed by a soffit. (See eaves)
PIER: a round or square concrete base used to support columns, posts, girders, or joists.
PITCH: the rise of the roof over its span.
PLATFORM FRAMING: a platform-framed structure is built one story at a time; each story is built upon a platform that consists of joists and a subfloor.
POST-AND-BEAM FRAMING: Post-and-beam construction is easily identified by its use of large, widely spaced load-carrying timbers; also referred to as post-and-girt or post and lintel.
POWDER-ACTIVATED NAILER - often referred to as a power hammer or a powder-actuated nailer; it's basically a gun barrel that's activated by a trigger or by striking it with a hammer. In either case, this discharges a hardened steel fastener expelled by a bullet like powder load.
RAFTER - a framing member that connects to the ridge board and extends down to the double top plates of the walls; rafters typically tie into the ceiling joists, which prevent the walls from bowing out under the load of the roof.(See Below)
RIDGE BOARD - the horizontal board that defines the roof's highest point or ridge.
RIM JOISTS - the joists that define the outside edges of a platform, typically nailed to the ends of floor joists.
RING-SHANK NAILS - nails that are manufactured with rings along the shank to provide extra grip.
RISE: the vertical distance between the supporting wall's cap plate and the point where a line, drawn through the outside edge of the cap plate and parallel to the roof's edge, intersects the centerline of the ridge board.
ROUGH OPENING: an opening that's sized to accept a window or door; a horizontal framing member called a header is installed to assume the load of the wall studs that were removed. The header is supported by jack studs that are attached to full-length wall studs.
ROUGH SILL: a horizontal framing member that defines the bottom of a window's rough opening.
SCRIBING: a layout technique used to copy the imperfections of a wall to flooring so the flooring can be cut to butt snugly against the wall.
SHEATHING: panel material, typically plywood, that's applied to the exterior of a wall prior to the installation of siding.
SHIM: a thin piece of wood that, when driven behind a surface, forces it to become level or plumb.
SLOPE: the rise of the roof over its run, expressed as the number of inches of rise per unit of run (typically 12"); 8 in 12 means a roof rises 8" for every 12" of run.
SOFFIT: the board that runs the length of a wall, spanning between the wall and the fascia on the underside of the rafters.
SOLE PLATE: a horizontal 2-by framing member that is attached directly to the masonry foundation or flooring; also referred to as a sill plate or mudsill.
STUD: a vertical 2-by framing member that extends from the bottom plate to the top plate in a stud wall.
SUBFLOOR: the first layer of a floor structure fastened directly to the joists or to a concrete slab.
TEMPORARY SUPPORTS: temporary supports bear the weight a wall normally would until a new support system can be installed (such as a new header or beam).
TOP PLATE: a horizontal 2-by framing member that's nailed to the tops of the wall studs.
UNDERLAYMENT: a smooth surface laid on top of the subfloor to accept flooring; can be sheets of plywood, foam or cork, or cement board.
VAPOR BARRIER: plastic sheeting installed between walls to prevent moisture from entering and damaging the structure.
