This dictionary is a work of love.
Pure, unadulterated love. It'll take a lifetime to finish off this
puppy. So don't get your hopes up too high. The AG just told that
guy up above there'll be no end to his shoveling for a while to come. He
took it well. Shows character.
The Autocad Granddad first-off referred to
this prospective section as a glossary. But that term glossary was too limiting. It crowded him, you know? Dictionary worked for him.
You'll see. Someday.
And you're going to have to cut the old boy some slack on this
cybersheet.
The subject matter is exclusively home designing and
home drawing . . . self-styled. (N.B.: most words here will be nouns unless
otherwise specified.)
The words chosen for entry into this dictionary come
from a special list that the AG keeps for just such purposes.
Only the AG
knows. No, not even the Shadow. Only the AG.
If you're looking for really good
dictionaries of home design and home building, please consider these —
One who may spend humongous amounts of money on
own time to get guild and government OKs to draw things for humongous amounts of money on
your time.
Architecture
Structured space.
· · · · · · ·
B
Band
Joist framing members at their
perimeter. AKA Ribbon, head joists and end joists.
Bending
A force to alter an existing shape, as in
curving a straight shape or vice versa.
A reason rebar is set in foundations.
Benjamin Moore
The best paint the Autocad Granddad's
used down all the years.
Bondo
A carpenter's true friend.
Fine name for your best hunting dog.
Building Codes
MINIMUM standards of
home building.
Building Inspector
A government worker whom you might reckon as an
adversary, but never, never, never as an enemy. This is so,
grasshopper, because in the former instance you should be able
either to withstand the challenges or to learn something new from him and in the
latter instance you will suffer.
· · · · · · ·
C
Carpentry
The single most complicated building trade.
The one building trade on which more
trades rely than any other.
Ceiling vault
See: Vaulted ceiling.
Cementitious siding
A builder's blessing.
Chair rail
Originally, continuous moulding strip
of wood set horizontally to protect from chair damage to a wall.
Now, mid-level wall moulding set in strips horizontally, singly or built
up, located anywhere in any room, made of anything.
Clinched Nail
A nail longer than attached
material which nail as exposed on the material's backside is hammered at
right angle to and flat with the material, making for a much stronger
fastening particularly in regard to withdrawal strength.
Cloudy
What you do want when it's time to paint
outside.
What you do not want from an exterior, clear
caulk when it gets cold outside.
Coffer
Raised panel, however done and
wherever located.
Compression
A pushing force at opposition, as in
squeezing.
The reason why piers are reinforced with
rebar, the bearing force on a wall partition, etc.
Concrete driveway
That which Southern contractors
cannot build properly.
Contracts
To honest, responsible parties — a basis for
agreement and understanding.
To a crook, sleaze, or loser — meaningless.
To a lawyer — meaning anything that suits the
lawyer's client.
CPVC
A plumber's blessing, especially in
retrofits, so long as you don't have to look at it when you're finished.
· · · · · · ·
D
Dectron
A company to contact for managing air
in a pool, pond, spa, hot tub or other water feature enclosure.
Design
v. Forming and shaping of structures in space.
n. That aspect of home building which
Before The Architect makes intellectually accessible.
Designer
One who designs.
Design Standards
What ought to be built, not what must be
built.
The difference between the complexities of
focused, responsible, experienced consideration and simple
certification.
Door
Generally, a physical closure to a
passage.
Doors
Something else that no one makes
best. See: Windows.
Doorway
Vertical plane of room entry and
exit. AKA Passage.
Draft v. tr.
Draw.
Draftsman
One who draws.
· · · · · · ·
E
Engineer
Engineer
· · · · · · ·
F
Force
A push or a pull.
The one physical fact of design,
drawing, and
home building life to be dealt with as seriously as safety.
Form
That which is (or should be) causally related
by antecedence to Function.
The result of design.
Function
That which is (or should be) causally related
by precedence to Form.
A person between several rocks and
hard places, e.g., real estate brokers who do not want a deal-killing
inspection or inspector (so you'd better not find something that'll kill
the deal or you won't get hired again); buyers completely ignorant of design and
home building; numerous building codes; overlapping building codes;
conflicting building codes; poorly written building codes; changing
building codes; pressures to do extensive physical discovery and
analysis in a very brief time period; the threat of litigious owners;
the threat of litigious insurance companies; the threat of revoked
licenses; the threat of revoked insurance; natural human inability to see
through ceilings, walls and floors (among other places), the recognition
of the differences between design standards and building codes; the
trump of experience over the written word.
· · · · · · ·
J
Jamb
Roughly 1"x frame at right
angles to and containing both sides and atop a door or window.
Joist
Load-bearing structural member,
horizontally oriented, underlying a floor or ceiling. The plural
is neither joistes nor joisteses, it is joists.
· · · · · · ·
L
Lift
A force contrary to gravity, most often
elevating.
A reason that rafters are fastened to top
plates, another reason mud and sill plates are bolted to a
foundation. See: Sheer.
Lexel
The right caulk when you need to paint it
later and you have to make it work right away, even when it's a
little damp.
The caulk that'll break your heart for
closing too fast when you don't know how to handle it.
The Environmentalists answer to wood,
just so long as you sand it with more care than powdering a baby's bottom, get over
the dimpled displacement every time you air-drive a nail into it, and
brush it off meticulously before caulking and painting so it doesn't
look like the neighbor's kid was your trim sub.
Moment
A force that rotates or
bends a structural member
"Money's no object. Not a
problem."
Does not rhyme with "Big hat, no
cattle," but it ought to.
· · · · · · ·
P
Parallel Chord Truss
Floor truss.
Passage
Vertical plane of room entry and
exit. AKA doorway.
Pediment
Originally, a gable end including
decorative trim. Now, also any decorative structure of any shape
set over a door or window outside or inside.
Physical Force
See: Force.
Plan
That which is done, let to rest and
reflection, and then done again.
An expectation of design.
Plumber
Someone who does it his own way.
Politician
Generalized, notable for
exceptions: Buck-sucking vote vulture.
· · · · · · ·
R
Remodel
Realign home designing form to
function.
Ribbon
Joist framing members at their
perimeter. AKA Band.
· · · · · · ·
S
Saddle
Decorative covering at passage floor level.
Form of floor or flooring transition.
AKA Threshold, Transition.
Shear
A pushing or pulling force applied along a
plane of contact.
The reason deck posts are anchored at their
bases, mud sills and sill plates are bolted to a foundation, etc.
Shellac
In spray form, superb means for
closing wood knots from bleeding preparatory to painting inside or
outside.
The reason for ceiling joists and collar
beams – they keep bearing walls from being pushed outward by roof
structures – they hold the walls in place.
Torque
A twisting force.
The reason doubled framing members are plated
with repeated, close nailing patterns, the reason a bearing
partition is strapped or otherwise braced, etc.
Franklin's Titebond
The best adhesives on the planet.
Tradesman
Someone who knows more than you think
he does, works harder than you realize, and — when masterful at his
work, is better at what he does than you are at what you do, nine out of
ten.
Transition
Generally, decorative form of
covering at floor and flooring butts at a passage or elsewhere.
For Passage Transitions See: Saddle; Threshold.
· · · · · · ·
V
Vanity
Dressing table. (Not the whole
area around the table, not the room in which the table sits or is
affixed — just the piece of furniture.)
Vaulted ceiling
Technically, any ceiling with a pitch
of 2/12 or more. Many styles, e.g., barrel, box or channel, dome,
and groin. NB: Attend closely to insulation codes and
ventilation mechanics.
Vergeboard
[Seemingly most common
reference especially in Victorian style to] End rafter outset from plate
lines, a/k/a fly rafter, verge rafter, barge rafter
· · · · · · ·
W
Wainscot
Narrowly, wood panel on a wall or a
lower wall finish when different from the upper wall finish.
Broadly, any lower wall covering to a height less than the ceiling, to
include ceramic tile, natural stone, mirror, MDF, paint, cloth such as
burlap, PVC, etc.
Windows
Something that no one makes
best. See: Doors.
White Lightening
The caulk to beat all caulks for
almost everything. See Geocel and Lexel.
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