A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z   Ardox   A nail that has a twist, so that as it is hammered into the wood, it spins in. This helps to make the joint very secure, as it is difficult to pull apart.   Asphalt Shingles   A type of roofing that has an asphalt base with granules of colored minerals impregnated into the shingle. This gives the color of the shingle     Balloon Construction   The type of construction where the stud walls project from the sill to the top plate, with no breaks. This type of construction is not as popular today as it was 50 years ago, as it is difficult to find 16 and 20 foot 2x4 and 2x6's.     Beam   A principal structural member used between posts, columns, or walls to support vertical loads.     Bearing Wall   A wall that supports a vertical load in addition to its own weight.     Birds mouth   Part of a rafter that sits on top of the top plate. The rafter is connected to the top plate by toe nailing through the birds mouth.     Bottom Plate   The "2 by 4's or 6's" that lay on the sub floor upon which the vertical studs are installed. Also called the 'sole plate'.   Bridging   Small wood or metal members that are inserted in a diagonal position between the floor joists or rafters at mid-span for the purpose of bracing the joists/rafters & spreading the load.     Cantilever   The top and bottom chord section of a truss that extends freely beyond an exterior support.   Cast in Place   When the beam or joist is set into the forms for the concrete, so that when the concrete is poured, the beam is already in place.     Clear Span   The truss length measured from inside face to inside face of adjacent supports.     Cleat   An extra piece of wood that helps to support another member.   Collar Ties   A piece of wood that spans the complete span of the building. These help to keep the wall from bowing out when there is a load on the roof.   Column   Upright supporting member that is circular, square, or rectangular in shape.   Common Rafter   A rafter that does not use a web to help support the roof. Often used in association with collar ties.   Compression (Stress)   Compression occurs when there is something forcing down into the object. For instance, there is compression in a truss rafter on the top chords.     Course   A row of shingles on a roof.     Cripple Stud   Short vertical "2 by 4's or 6's" frame lumber installed above a window or door.     Crown   The natural bend of the wood. Make sure that the crown is up, so that the board is bent like a mountain, not a valley, on all joists and headers. The live and dead loads will help to straighten the board, thus removing the crown.     Drip Edge   A piece of aluminum bent at right angles, and placed on the exposed edge of roof sheathing, The shape of the drip edge helps water to drip off into the rain gutters instead of flowing around to come in contact with the eave.     Dormer   Projection from the roof allowing for headroom and a window in an attic space.     Eave   The horizontal exterior roof overhang.     Eave Cut   the cut at the end of the rafter, where the eave board is attached. This cut is normally perpendicular to the ground.     End Joist   The outside joists on a building. Also known as a stringer.     Exposure   The amount of a shingle that is visible to the elements     Face Nail   A nail driven in perpendicular to the surface of the wood. As opposed to toe nailing.     Felt Flashing   A piece of felt that is bent to 90 degrees. The vertical part is placed under siding, for example, while the horizontal piece is placed under a shingle     Fire Stop   A block of wood placed horizontally in the stud cavity. This prevents the cavity from working like a chimney and allowing the fire to travel up the empty space. This is most common in balloon framing.     Flange   An additional piece of wood or metal that is attached to a framing member. The flange allows for easier nailing or screwing of the framing member. Flange can also refer to rubber gasket which seals stacks which penetrate the roof.   Footing   The spreading course or courses at the base or bottom of a foundation wall or column.   Foundation   The supporting portion of a structure below the first-floor construction, or grade, including the footings, which transfers the weight of the building load to the ground.   Girder   A large or principal beam of wood or steel used to support concentrated loads at isolated points along its length.   Glulam   A structural beam composed of wood laminations or lams. The lams are pressure bonded with adhesives to attain a typical thickness of 1 ½" . (It looks like 5 or more 2 X 4's are glued together).   Gusset   A flat wood, plywood, or similar type member used to provide a connection at the intersection of wood members. Most commonly used at joints of wood trusses. They are fastened by nails, screws, bolts, or adhesives.   Header   Horizontal structural member that supports the load over an opening, such as a window or door. Also called a lintel.   Header Joist   The board that is at the end of the joists. Commonly, the joist hangers are attached to this board to tie it to the joists.   Hip   A four sided roof where the sides slope towards a common ridge. A hip is the angle created where two sides meet.   Hurricane Strap   Metal straps that are nailed and secure the roof rafters and trusses to the top horizontal wall plate. Sometimes called a Teco clip.   I-Beam   A steel beam with a cross section resembling the letter I. It is used for long spans as basement beams or over wide wall openings, such as a double garage door, when wall and roof loads bear down on the opening.   Insulation   Any material high in resistance to heat transmission that is placed in structures to reduce the rate of heat loss.   Joist   One of a series of parallel framing members used to support floor and ceiling loads, and supported in turn by other beams, girders, or bearing walls.   Joist Hanger   A steel section shaped like a saddle and bent so it can be fastened to a beam or structural member to provide end support for joists, headers, trusses, etc.   Knee Wall   A short wall that helps to support a load. In an open attic space, a knee wall is often placed towards the outside edge of the building, to help support the roof load.   Lap   To cover the surface of one shingle or roll with another.   Ledger   The wooden perimeter frame lumber member that bolts onto the face of a foundation wall and supports the wood structural floor.     Line Length   The theoretical length of a common rafter, measured through the centre of the face of the rafter.   Lintel   A horizontal structural member supporting the load over an opening such as a door or window.   Load Bearing   See bearing wall   Low Slope   A roof that is less than a 4/12 pitch is considered a low slope roof, and requires special shingles and application methods.   Nominal Size   The common name for lumber that is sold. 2x4 is the nominal size of the board. The actual size is 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches.   Nonbearing Wall   A wall supporting no load other than its own weight.   OSB   Oriented Strand Board. Panel products made of aspen or poplar wafers or strands which are bonded together under heat and pressure using a waterproof phenolic resin adhesive or equivalent waterproof binder.   On Center(O/C)   The measurement of spacing for studs, rafters, and joists in a building from the center of one member to the center of the next.   Paralam   A manufactured structural wood beam. It is constructed of pressure and adhesive bonded wood strands of wood. They have a higher strength rating than solid sawn lumber.     Peak   The highest point on a roof.   Penny Nail   As applied to nails, it originally indicated the price per hundred. The term now series as a measure of nail length and is abbreviated by the letter "d". Normally, 16d (16 "penny") nails are used for framing     Pitch   Different variations of inclines or slopes, as of roofs or stairs. Rise divided by the span.   Plate       Platform Framing   A system of framing where the joists for one story of a building sit on top of the walls of the previous story.   Pony Wall   See Knee Wall   Plumb Cut   Exactly vertical and perpendicular.     Rafter   One of a series of structural members of a roof designed to support roof loads. The rafters of a flat roof are sometimes called roof joists.   Ribbon   Normally a 1 X 4 board let into the studs horizontally to support the ceiling or second-floor joists.   Ridge   The horizontal line at the junction of the top edges of two roof surfaces where an external angle greater than 180 degrees is formed.   Ridge Cap   The last shingles on the roof. These help to seal the peak of the roof.     Ridge Vent   Opening cut into the roof of a structure to allow air to escape from the attic.     Rise   The vertical distance from the eaves line to the ridge. Also the vertical distance from stair tread to stair tread (and not to exceed 7 ½").   Roll Roofing   Essentially, roll roofing is asphalt shingles, just in a 3 foot roll. Often used for low slope roofs, or placed into the valley of a roof to help channel water.     Rough Sill   The framing member at the bottom of a rough opening for a window. It is attached to the cripple studs below the rough opening.     Run   The horizontal distance from the eaves to a point directly under the ridge. One half the span.     R-Value   A measure of insulation. A measure of a materials resistance to the passage of heat. The higher the R value, the more insulating "power" it has. For example, typical new home's walls are usually insulated with 4" of batt insulation with an R value of R-13, and a ceiling insulation of R-30.   Scabbed   When 2 pieces of lumber are held together by a third shorter piece, attached to the side of the first 2.     Shake   A wood roofing material, normally cedar or redwood. Produced by splitting a block of the wood along the grain line. Modern shakes are sometimes machine sawn on one side. See shingle.     Sheathing   The structural covering that consists of boards or prefabricated panels that are attached to the exterior studding or rafters of a structure.   Shingle   Roof covering of asphalt. Asbestos, wood, tile, slate, or other material cut to stock lengths, widths, and thickness'   Sill   The lowest member of the frame of a structure, usually horizontal, resting on the foundation and supporting the uprights of the frame. Also the lowest member of a window or outside door frame.     Soffit   The underside of such members of a building as staircases, overhangs, cornices, beams, and arches. Also called drop ceiling and furred-down ceiling.   Slope   The ratio of vertical rise to horizontal run for inclined members.     Sole Plate   The bottom plate in wall framing     Species   The type of wood, such as spruce or fir. Each species has different characteristics as well as strengths and weaknesses.     Span   The distance between structural supports such as walls, columns, piers, beams, girders, and trusses.   Sub floor   The framing components of a floor to include the sill plate, floor joists, and deck sheeting over which a finish floor is to be laid.     Square   A unit of measure-100 square feet-usually applied to roofing and siding material. Also, a situation that exists when two elements are at right angles to each other. Also a tool for checking this.   Starter Strip   Asphalt roofing applied at the eaves that provides protection by filling in the spaces under the cutouts and joints of the first course of shingles.   Stringer   The framing member that supports the treads and risers in a set of stairs. Can also be the outside joist in a floor system   Stud   One of a series of vertical wood or metal structural members in walls and partitions.     Tail Cut   see eave cut   Telepost   A metal, upright, vertically adjustable supporting member, circular in shape, attached to a structural beam and used to level floor joists to a horizontal position.   Tension (stress)   The opposite of compression.     Thermal Bridging   The loss of heat through solid materials such as a wall stud.   Toe Nail   To drive a nail at a slant with the initial surface in order to permit it to penetrate into a second member.     Top Plate   In construction, the horizontal member nailed to the top of the partition or wall studs. In your cupboard, something that you can eat off of.   Trimmer Joist   The extra floor system member that is placed on either side of a floor opening, such as a stairwell. It helps to carry the load of the missing joists to the surrounding floor system members.     Trimmer Stud   The vertical stud that supports a header at a door, window, or other opening.     Truss   A structural unit consisting of beams, bars, and tie members usually arranged to form triangles. Provides rigid support over wide spans with a minimum amount of material.   Underlayment   A ¼" material placed over the sub floor plywood sheeting and under finish coverings, such as vinyl flooring, to provide a smooth, even surface. Also a secondary roofing layer that is waterproof or water-resistant, installed on the roof deck and beneath shingles or other roof-finishing layer.   Wood Shakes   A wood roofing material, normally cedar or redwood. Produced by splitting a block of the wood along the grain line. Modern shakes are sometimes machine sawn on one side. See shingle.   Wood Shingles   Roof covering of asphalt. Asbestos, wood, tile, slate, or other material cut to stock lengths, widths, and thickness'.   Xanadu   Low budget high profile 70's movie starring Olivia Newtron Bomb and some guy who's career hit the toilet bowl after that flick.