ANCHOR BOLTS Also known as J-bolts, anchor bolts are bolts imbedded in the foundation walls as soon as the concrete has been poured. Their function is to tie the sills and framing of the house to the foundation walls in order to protect against upward and lateral forces of the wind. The hooked ends of the anchor bolts are inserted into the foundation walls before the concrete sets. The threaded ends of the bolts protrude upwards. When the concrete has cured, holes for the threaded ends of the bolts are drilled through the sills and these members are laid into place. Nuts are attached to the bolts and tightened to secure the sills to the foundation walls. Anchor bolts are usually 12” to 16” in length and ½” in diameter. In addition, the term, anchor bolt, can be used in reference to any of several types of bolts inserted and fixed into masonry to anchor timbers or metal members. See also FOUNDATION WALL SILL TIE

BACKFILL To return excavated earth to the trench surrounding a building's exposed foundation after the foundations have been completed, or to another hole or depression. Backfilling is not done before the first floor framing is complete and the subfloor has been laid. Without this bracing, the foundation wall could collapse. When used as a noun, the term refers to the soil and other material used to refill the excavation. See also BACKHOE EXCAVATE EXCAVATION FILL

BARGEBOARD A board, usually decorated by carving, which serves as a vertical face to cover the ends of the rafters at the edge of a gabled roof below the eaves. The bargeboard originally was used to prevent rain from entering the building below the roof edge. Subsequently, the bargeboard became a decorative element. It is sometimes termed gableboard, vergeboard, or jigsaw woodwork. In its most decorative form, a bargeboard is termed gingerbread. At a cornice, it is known as a fascia board. See FASCIA GABLE GABLE ROOF GINGERBREAD RAFTER ROOF

BEAM, COLLAR One of several horizontal members, often 1” by 6” boards, bracing a roof truss by connecting opposite roof rafters at their lower ends. A collar beam adds rigidity to the roof structure. This is particularly important if roof spans are long or slopes are flat. The collar beams help to take some of the load from the exterior walls caused by the weight of snow on the roof. They also serve as ceiling joists for second floor rooms. Collar beams may not be required for every rafter when slopes are steep and spans are short. They are not required at all if prefabricated roof trusses are used. See also BEAM RAFTER STRUT TRUSS

BOND, STRETCHER A method of brick construction. With this method, all bricks are laid into place lengthwise and parallel to the wall or building. However, the joints between bricks do not coincide with those of bricks above or below. This bond is used extensively for brick veneering and partitions in which the thickness is only that of a single brick.

When face brick is laid in stretcher bond as an exterior tier and backed by common brick, it must be bonded to the backing by galvanized metal ties. These ties are used on every second or third brick on a course as part of the mortar joint and on every other course. The ties are simply laid across both tiers before the mortar is applied. See also COMMON BOND ENGLISH BOND FLEMISH BOND GARDEN BOND GARDEN WALL BOND HEADER BOND HERRINGBONE BOND TIE TIER

BUILDING, SHELL A speculative industrial or commercial building in which interior walls and ceiling have been completed, rough plumbing has been done, and electric service has been connected. The interior floor of a shell building may remain undone. Similarly, the interior wall finishing, partitions, finished plumbing, electrical distribution lines, and fixtures have not been installed. Once a tenant or purchaser has been found, these aspects can be completed to his specific needs. See also BUILDING SPECULATIVE BUILDING

CASING The trim or molding used at the jambs around interior door openings, and the interior sides of windows and exterior door frames. It conceals the junction of door or window frame and wall finish. Also, any frame or framework, especially one enclosing a door or window. See also DOOR CASING DOOR JAMB

CHIMNEY FLASHING A strip or sheet of metal (or other material) used to cover joints or angles at the junction of roof and chimney in order to prevent water from entering the building. Flashings are used where a vertical structure interrupts the slope of the roof. See also CANT STRIP CHIMNEY COUNTERFLASHING FLASHING

COMMITMENT, TAKE-OUT A standby commitment provided to a developer or builder by a lender of permanent financing. Although the lender of long term financing is prepared to provide the permanent financing, the developer must find a construction loan before he can proceed further. Armed with a written commitment, termed a take-out commitment, from the lender of long term financing, a developer is better able to secure a construction loan. The written commitment from the permanent lender attests that permanent financing will be provided when the project is completed. Accordingly, when the project has been completed, the permanent lender advances the funds, which he committed, and the developer repays the construction loan. The take-out commitment is usually contingent upon the fulfillment of certain conditions, such as selling or renting a certain minimum percentage of units. A lender, who provides a take-out commitment, usually charges a non-refundable fee for giving the commitment. It is payable when the commitment is made. A take-out commitment is sometimes called a take-out letter. See CONSTRUCTION LOAN TAKE-OUT TAKE-OUT LOAN

CONSTRUCTION, BOX FRAME A construction method used for concrete buildings. In this method, the overall structural frame is established by creating individual cells or rooms joined vertically and horizontally. The cross walls of individual cells or rooms must be strong enough to support their own weight and the weight of loads above. As a result, the heights of such structures are limited. The most common use of this method is in the construction of low rise apartment flats and similar buildings. Reinforced concrete slabs serve as walls and floors. Box frame construction has been largely replaced by an open frame system in which the walls serve no load-bearing function. Box frame construction is also known as cellular framing or cross-wall construction. See REINFORCED CONCRETE

CORNER CAP The equivalent of a corner board for a house that has aluminum siding. The term is used in reference to a long, aluminum angle, which fits over the exterior corner of a house to conceal the ends of the aluminum siding of two outside walls. Four corner caps are required for a square or rectangular shaped house that is sided in aluminum, whereas a house using board exterior siding requires eight corner boards (two per corner). See ALUMINUM SIDING CORNER BOARD

DRAIN, BASEMENT This is the lowest drain in a house. It drains the basement floor. Like other house drains, a basement drain uses a P-trap to keep out odors from the sewer pipe into which it empties. It has a venting pipe on its upstream side (house side). This venting pipe usually is the main soil stack. The basement drain is also known as the sump. See also DRAIN P-TRAP SOIL STACK SUMP VENTING

FISHPLATE One of a pair of metal or plywood plates bolted or nailed to each of two timbers, rails, or other members, which have been butted or lapped together, thereby fastening the ends of the members together. Fishplates are sometimes used to join opposite rafters at their junction near the ridge line. See also ANCHOR BUTT JOINT RAFTER RAIL TIMBER

FLASHING Sheet metal, heavy asphalt, or other flexible materials used to cover joints and angles in roof and walls as protection against water, particularly where vertical and sloping surfaces meet. See also CANT STRIP CHIMNEY FLASHING RAGGLE VALLEY FLASHING

HEADER A brick or stone placed at a right angle to the direction of a wall so that its end or short side is visible. Header can also refer to a beam over a doorway, arch, or window (i.e., a lintel); a timber in a floor or roof and to which joists are nailed; a horizontal member serving as the lower part of the frame of a window opening; or a pipe that leads to two or more branch pipes. See also HEAD DOUBLE HEADER LINTEL STRETCHER

JOIST HANGER A U-shaped metal bracket used to connect a joist to a header joist, or a joist to a beam, at a 90 degree angle. In the second example, the bracket is nailed to the beam. The joist is inserted into the metal U. Then, the bracket is nailed to the joist. The use of a joist hanger eliminates the need for toenailing and makes for greater accuracy. See ANCHOR BEAM HEADER JOIST JOIST RAIL HANGER TOENAILING U-BRACKET

PILE A post-like foundation member used in construction since earliest times. Today, piles of timber, steel, or concrete are driven into the ground in order to support structures. They are essential when building on unstable soils, or on stable soils if the structure must support an extremely heavy load. The term, pile, is also used in reference to the height of carpet fibers. See also FOUNDATION FOUNDATION WALL PIER

PLUMB LINE A pointed weight of lead, steel, or brass attached to one end of a strong, heavy cord or string and used (suspended) by builders, plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, etc. as a means of checking that vertical surfaces are straight and true. A plumb wall means that the wall surface is true vertically. Plumb bobs are classed by weight. Typical weights are 4 to 16 ounces. See PLUMB

RATIO, FLOOR AREA (FAR) A ratio calculated by dividing the total combined area of all floors of a structure by the area of the building site. For example, a five-story building, which has an area of 6,000 sq. ft. per floor on a 40,000 sq. ft. site, has a floor area ratio of 0.75 or 75%. The allowable height of a new building is determined by this ratio. That is, the total square footage of a building may not exceed a specified multiple of the square footage of the building lot. A zoning ordinance will spell out this restriction. Consequently, the floor area ratio is used to calculate the land requirements for a building well in advance of construction. Conversely, the floor area ratio is used to calculate the maximum allowable size of building, which may be constructed on a specific piece of land.

For example, if the floor area ratio of a proposed building is 8.5, the building may be limited to twenty stories of 10,000 square feet of usable space per story. Alternatively, the building might be limited to forty stories of 5,000 square feet. Bonuses in the form of a higher FAR are sometimes available to a developer. These depend upon the concessions to the city or amenities, which the developer includes in his plan and that the city planning commission perceives to be desirable. See also BUILDING SITE SKYSCRAPER

ROOF, BUILT-UP A roofing surface comprised of three to five layers of asphalt felt laminated with coal tar, pitch, or asphalt. The top is finished with fine gravel embedded in asphalt or tar. A built-up roof is probably the most common covering for flat or low pitched roofs. Such roofs are installed by roofing companies, which specialize in this work. The roofs may be called 10, 15, or 20-year roofs, depending upon the method of application used. See also CANT STRIP ROOF SATURATED FELT

ROUGH OPENING An opening in a wall frame to receive a door or window, which often are fully assembled at the factory, including their frames. Such openings are purposely oversized in order to provide space for the thickness and clearance of window and door frames and the finish floor, with accurate aligning of the door or window undertaken later. For example, the rough opening for doors on a house’s main floor may be 6 feet 8 inches in height. The dimensions of a rough opening for a double-hung window are typically calculated as the glass width plus 6 inches and the glass height plus 10 inches. See also DOOR FRAME WINDOW

SHAKE A rough, unshaven shingle split by hand from a block of cedar. A shake sheds water better than does a wood shingle, which is cut from wood by saw. Shakes are used both for roofing and siding material. They are usually thicker than shingles and have a more rustic appearance. See also ROOFING SHINGLE WOOD SHINGLE

STAKING The implanting of stakes in the ground at pre-arranged locations and intervals. The stakes serve as a boundary or guide for subsequent stages of development of the land. For example, when clearing land for a right-of-way, trees must be removed from the course appearing on the blueprints prepared by the engineer. A surveyor stakes the boundaries for the operators of the heavy equipment to follow. Similarly, staking is undertaken in the preparation of a building site after the land has been made ready for construction. The designer and/or landscape contractor use stakes to mark the edges, corners, and centerlines of hard materials and the locations of future trees and shrubs. Staking should be performed accurately and according to the plan. See also GRADE LEVEL STAKE GRUB SITE PREPARATION SITING STAKE SUBDIVIDING SUBDIVISION

STRINGER A heavy timber, generally horizontal, which supports other members of a structure. The best known uses of stringers in a home are the two heavy boards (sometimes saw-toothed), which form the framework of a stairway. The treads (steps) and risers (facing pieces) are attached to the stringer. Stair stringers are also termed carriages or horses.

The word, stringer generally describes a heavy plank (e.g., 2” by 10” or 2” by 12”) which has been cut to receive each individual riser and tread. It is also known as an open stringer. In contrast, the word, carriage, is used in reference to an uncut plank to which triangular pieces are glued and nailed in order to receive the treads and risers. See CARRIAGE

TILE, CERAMIC A thin piece of baked clay, glazed or unglazed, used as a covering for floors or sheathing for walls. Although ceramic tiles have embellished palaces and mosques throughout history, they are largely associated today with kitchens and bathrooms. However, they are also used for work surfaces, entrance halls, and kitchens. Ceramic tile is durable, water-resistant, easy to clean, and available in a wide range of colors, patterns, shapes, sizes, and weights. Tiles range in size from one-inch squares to 12-inch squares, although a 4-inch square is standard. Ceramic tile typically is sold in individual pieces, but is available in sheets of tiles bound together by grout or plastic.

Although some tile is manufactured from pure clay or gypsum, most is made from a mixture of clay, shale, or gypsum, with other ingredients, such as sand, vermiculite, talc, and water, in order to control shrinkage of the tile and to extend the clay. The resulting mixture is formed into bisques (biscuits) and then fired. Ceramic tile can be classified by its water absorption property as non-vitreous tile, semi-vitreous tile, vitreous tile, or impervious tile.