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Glossary

Area -

The superficial contents of any figure; an open space or court within a building.

Active Solar -

Use of solar hardware, panels, plumbing, gauges, etc.; to use the sun's energy to heat hot water or the home.

Atrium-

A court in the interior division of a building

Attic -

That part of a building within the roof framing, not inhabited; any unfinished space immediately below the roof of a building having less than eight feet.

Attic Truss -

A truss which forms the top story of a dwelling, but allows the area to be habitable by leaving it free of internal web members.

Basement -

A story, or portion thereof, partly but not more than one-half below the average grade of the ground surrounding the building.

Base Plan -

Pre-approved plan that has been reviewed by building officials and includes site specific engineering. The base plan program eliminates the plan review fee.

Bay Window -

Any window extending beyond the wall of a building a rectangular or polygonal window supported on a foundation extending beyond the main wall of the building.

Building Fee -

(License Fee) in consideration of payment of the building fee, which is part of the price you paid for this product, Northwest Home Designing, Inc. (Licensor), grants you the (Licensee) the right to use and construct one structure from these copyrighted documents.

Building Line -

A line beyond which property owners or others have no vested right to extend a building, without a provision in this code, or without permission and approval of the proper authorities.

Baluster -

A pillar or column supporting a handrail or coping, in a series forming a balustrade.

Cantilever -

An unsupported structural project, e.g. a cantilevered beam or balcony.

Capital -

the head of a column.

Clapboard -

A term used in the United States for weatherboarding overlapping horizontal boards covering a frame.

Classical -

The architectural originating in Greece or Rome, the rules and forms of which were revived to establish the renaissance in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Clearstory -

The upper wall of a building pierced by a row of windows.

Corbel -

A block projecting molding from a wall face, usually in brick or stone, often to support a beam.

Cornice -

A projecting molding running along the top of a building.

Dentils -

The line of teeth-like blocks of stone, suggesting the rafter ends of a flat roof, found, for example, under the cornice of a building of Ionic or Corinthian order.

Detail -

A part of a building drawn to a large scale in order to illustrate its construction.

Easement -

A right held by one property owner to make certain kinds of use of the property of another; i.e.; to cut time, mine minerals, or travel across.

Elevations -

A drawing showing any face of a building in a vertical plane.

Entablature -

The whole parts on top of a pillar or column composed of architrave, frieze, and cornice.

Escrow -

A contract or money deposited with a third party, to be held until the fulfillment of certain conditions; i.e. the closing of the sale of property.

Facade -

The face of a building.

Footing -

The spreading course at the base or bottom of a foundation.

Fascia -

A board or plate covering the ends of roof rafters.

Frame -

the name given to the wood-work of windows, doors, etc. and in carpentry, to the timber works supporting floors, roofs, etc.

Framing -

The rough timber work of a house including roof, floors, etc.

Grade -

The surface of the ground, adjoining a building; it is the average level of the ground.

Gallery -

Any long passage looking down into another part of a building, or into the court outside.

Gambrel Roof -

A roof with two pitches similar to mansard or curb roof.

Gable -

When a roof is not hipped or returned on itself at the ends, its ends are stopped by carrying up walls under them in a triangular form of the roof itself.

Gutter -

The channel for carrying off rain-water.

Height of a Building -

the vertical distance of the highest point of the roof, in case of flat roofs; and for high-pitched roofs the average of the height of the gable above grade of the curb of al streets.

Herring-Bone Work -

Bricks, tile, or other materials arranged diagonally in building.

Engineering:

1. The application of scientific and mathematical principles to practical ends such as the design, manufacture, and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes, and systems.
2. The profession of or the work performed by an engineer.

Header -

The large beam into which the common joists are framed in framing openings for stairs, chimneys, etc.

Hip-Roof -

A roof which rises by equally inclined planes from all four sides of the building.

I.R.C -

International Residential Code is the current national code. First adopted in 2004 w/the 2003 I.R.C. Edition - current edition 2006 I.R.C.

Joists -

The main floor framing members of a house.

Key-Stone -

the stone placed in the center of the top of an arch. The character of the key-stone varies in different colors.

Landing -

A platform in a flight of stairs between two stories; the terminating of a stair.

Load-Bearing -

Usually refers to a wall which is supporting other elements in a building (roof, floor, etc.)

Masonry -

Brick, stone, tile or terra-cotta laid in mortar or concrete.

Mullion -

A vertical member dividing a window or other opening into separate sections.

Niche -

a recess sunk in a wall, generally for the reception of a statue.

Orders -

An order in classical architecture consists of a column shaft and a capital supporting an entablature.

Oriel Window -

An upper story overhanging window normally carried on corbels.

Pediment -

The low-pitched gable above the entablature in classical architecture.

Permit -

Legal permission to build, as granted by a local government regulatory agency.

Portico -

A colonnaded space forming an entrance and centerpiece or the facade, with a roof supported on at least one side by column.

Quoin -

A term generally applied to the dressed stones laid at the corners of a building.

Rafters -

The joist to which the roof-boarding is nailed.

Render -

The application of stucco or cement mortar to the face of a wall to give a continuous finish.

Section -

A drawing showing a vertical "cut" through a building along a particular plane.

Set-Back -

A required distance a building must be from various property lines.

Site Plan -

A document that describes how a parcel of land is to be improved. It includes the outlines of all structures and site improvements, such as driveways, parking lots, landscaping, and utility connections.

Stucco -

Any material used as a covering for walls and the like, put on wet and drying hard and durable. The term is commonly used on outer walls.

Survey -

To determine the boundaries, area, or elevations of (land or structures on the earth's surface) by means of measuring angles and distances, using the techniques of geometry and trigonometry.

Title -

Legal right to the possession of property.

Topography -

Graphic representation of the surface features of a place or region on a map, indicating their relative positions and elevations.

Truss -

A number of members framed together to bridge a space.

U.B.C. -

Uniform Building Code preceded the International Residential Codes.

Variance -

An official permit to do something normally forbidden by building or zoning regulations.