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Self build ABC - Glossary of self built homes Category: Architecture and Buildings > Self build homes Date & country: 03/12/2007, UK Words: 163

Abutment
Wall rising above the roof slope, separating roof sections.

Airbrick
A brick with holes to provide ventilation.

Angle bead
Steel strips fixed to provide a continuous guide when plastering.

Architrave
A frame fitted around a door or window to hide the gaps between the lining and wall.

Massing
The outline of a dwelling's external shape and form.

Lintel
Horizontal section of timber, concrete or metal, installed to the top of a door- way or window opening, designed to support the structure above.

Line-boards
Timber boards laid on the ground and used to mark out the widths and position of inner and outer walls and the foundations (setting-out), prior to excavating.

Leaf
The inner or outer wall of a cavity wall construction.

Leasehold
Land ownership restricted to a number of years and with conditions written in a lease.

Lath
A long slender piece of economical timber.

Lath and plaster
Old-fashioned method of plastering a wall or ceiling using slender timbers to construct a narrow gauge frame as a base for the wet plaster.

Land-locked
A plot of land with no independent route providing access onto it and no obvious means of creating one. Examples include surplus areas of an owner's private garden.

Land bank
A supply of potential development plots purchased and retained by builders, which allows them to trade and construct on a continuous basis by moving on to the next plot as completion occurs on the current one.

Land certificate
A document issued by the Land Registry giving details of who owns the land. However, a land certificate should not be accepted as absolute proof of ownership as it may be out of date. 'Office copy entries' are accepted by solicitors to prove ownership.

Joist
A beam that supports a ceiling or floor.

Joist hanger
A fabricated metal slot installed in a wall to keep a joist securely in position.

Kite
The kite-shaped tread mostly used where stairs turn a comer.

Infill site
The redevelopment of land that has adjacent buildings, for example along a row of terraced houses where one has been demolished or where a gap always existed.

Jamb
Vertical side post of a window or doorway.

Herringbone strutting
The type of cross bracing used between floor joists to increase stiffness.

Hip
The sharp edge of a roof from ridge to eaves where the two sides meet.

Hipped roof
A roof with sloping ends instead of vertical ones.

Header
Brick or block laid across a wall to bond together its two sides. It also means the exposed end part of a brick.

Gable end
The gable shaped canopy over a door or window or a wall topped with a gable.

Hard landscaping
Elements include paths, driveways, garden walls and patios.

Freehold
Property held until the end of time.

Gable
Triangular upper part of a wall at the end of a ridged roof.

Framed construction
A structure built with a strong skeleton frame made of timber or steel, against which a brick outer shell is added.

Footings
The foundations of a structure.

Footprint
The 'footprint' of the building refers to those parts within the external walls.

Formwork
Temporary boards used to keep wet mixtures, such as concrete, in a particular shape until it sets.

Floor plate
A plate constructed from steel or timber bedded in mortar and designed to withstand heavy loads.

Flashing
Waterproof material covering joints between walls and roofs, usually shaped out of lead.

Floating coat
The first coat of thick plaster put on a wall to cover irregularities.

Fascia
Boards installed to a roof to protect the ends of trusses or rafters and on which gutters are attached.

Finial
Ornamental timber section added to the highest point of barge boards or hanging from stair newels on landings.

Flange
A flat plate at the end of a pipe or beam, through which a bolted joint can be made.

English bond
A particularly strong method of building walls by laying bricks together in staggered alternating courses using headers and stretchers.

Escutcheon
A protective plate around a keyhole or door handle.

Dwarf wall
A low wall, for example one constructed to support joists under the ground floor.

Easement
A legal right to use or cross over land owned by someone else.

Eaves
The lowest section of a roof, overhanging a supporting wall.

Dry joint
A brick or timber joint that is not bonded with mortar or adhesive.

Dry lined
An internal partition or cladding constructed usually with a timber frame and plasterboard.

Ducting
A system of shafts or tubes designed to carry and protect cables or pipes.

Damp-proof course
A waterproof membrane installed in walls and floors to pre- vent moisture causing damage by rising upwards through the structure. Also termed 'damp course' or 'DPC'.

DPC
The standard and widely used abbreviation for damp-proof course.

Curtilage
A small area forming part of, or parcel with, the dwelling that it contains or is attached to.

Dado
Panels fixed to the lower half of internal walls.

Dado rail
Decorative and/ or functional rails, usually made from moulded timber, fitted traditionally to internal walls to protect them from damage by chairs.

Coving
The concave decorative moulding that joins a ceiling to the walls.

Cornice
A decorative addition to the top and projecting from the face of an internal or external wall.

Course
A single layer of bricks or blocks.

Covenant
An agreement to do or not do something contained in a deed. Covenants can be made by the current or any prior owner of the land, for example to maintain boundary walls or fences.

Coping
The topmost part of a wall, often designed with a sloping surface to throw off rainwater.

Corbel
A projection extending to support a load above it.

Contemporary design
Modern materials, shapes, colours and fabrics.

Conveyancing
The legal process involved in buying and/ or selling land or property.

Contaminated land
Land with a prior history in which residues of toxic substances, chemical waste or manufacturing by-products are contained within the soil structure.

Completion notice
A certificate issued by the architect to authorise a payment to a main contractor. The completion certificate establishes the value of retention money to be held over a defects period and a copy can be sent with the VAT claim, to enable this to be processed.

Completion certificate
A notice issued by the local authority after the final visit by the building inspector, confirming that the dwelling complies with building regulations.

Cleared site
A plot of land that is now clear but which has previously had one or more industrial, manufacturing or other operations conducted upon it, resulting in potential contamination of the soil structure.

CGT
See Capital gains tax.

Charge certificate
If there is a mortgage on land, a charge certificate is issued instead of a 'land certificate' by the Land Registry.

Chase
Inscribing or cutting a groove into brick, plaster or other material, usually so that a cable or pipe can be embedded into it.

Ceiling binder
A tie running between the joists or trussed rafters.

Cavity tray
A damp-proof crossing the cavity of a wall at an abutment, rising from the roof side upwards at least 150mm before passing through the wall.

Cavity ties
Galvanised metal fixings used to bond the external and internal structural walls together.

Cavity insulation
Ideally fitted when cavity walls are built with material usually consisting of sheets of expanded polystyrene.

Casing
Boards fixed in door openings to hide the wall edges and support the door.

Cavity
The gap between the internal and external walls of a building.

Capstone
Coping on top of a wall.

Carcassing
Timber used in structural sections of a building, such as roof rafters and floor joists.

Casement
A window hinged on one of its vertical edges.

Capped chimney
A sealed chimney, to prevent birds and rain getting in.

Capital gains tax
Tax payable to the Inland Revenue from the sale of property or other assets.

Capital growth
The increase in value of a property over a period of time.

Capillary action
The process by which the surface of a liquid in a very narrow spaces such as porous masonry. Rising damp is created through this action.

Cant
Angle between two walls, less or greater than a right angle.

Cantilever
Beam fixed at one end.

Butt
To push or fit together.

Buttress
Additional bracing wall or projecting support. It is often set at right angles to the main wall and usually tapers towards the top.

Blockwork
Wall built with blocks.

Bolster
Hardwood cap placed over a post to increase its load-bearing capacity.

Brandering
Battening to level ceiling joists prior to fixing laths.

Bat
Usually half the normal length of a brick.

Batt
A slab of insulation.

Batten
Small section of timber to which sheet materials, slates and roof tiles are fixed.

Block
Masonry unit, which is larger than a brick and is designed to improve construction speed.

Barge foot
Additional section of timber under or behind a barge board.

Base slab
A raft foundation or concrete slab under a structure.

Balustrade
Collective term including hand-rail, baluster rails and sections of step on which they are mounted.

Barge boards
Fixed to the gable end of a roof to protect the roof timbers against wet and windy weather.

Article 4
Allows the council, in certain circumstances, to restrict permitted development rights.

Backland development
Development of land such as back gardens and private open space, usually found in residential areas. This type of land is land-locked.

Baluster
Vertical rails supporting a handrail.

Mullion
The vertical sections of material that divide a window frame into smaller lights.

Newel
The main post supporting the end of a balustrade.

Nog
A wooden peg.

Nogging
Short cross-pieces of timber used to brace studs.