Glossary

1:1:6 mortar 1 part cement 1 part lime and 6 parts sand by volume.

1:2:9 mortar 1 part cement 1 part lime and 9 parts sand by volume. 1:2:9 is prone to premature failure, 1:1:6 is a better option.

2-way switching A method of wiring switches so that a lamp can be turned on or off from more than one switch.

3:1 mortar 3 parts sand to 1 part cement by volume.

ac a/c or a.c.

1. alternating current
2. air conditioning

Acrylic

1. Type of plastic
2. Type of paint

AF Across Flats. Most commonly used imperial nut & spanner measurement system.

Airbrick Brick or block containing many ventilation holes. Used to ventilate underfloor cavities, rooms containing a gas fire, and less often chimney stacks and cavity walls.

Alkyd the chemistry of most oil based household gloss paints.

Alkyd putty a glazing putty

Allen key hexagonal profile L shaped bar used for driving screws with a hexagonal recess.

Aluminium oxide a low cost grit widely used for sandpaper and grinding wheels.

Angle grinder a high speed hand held disc grinder used for grinding, cutting, and with wire brushes, mortar rakes etc.

Arc

1. semicircular curve
2. electrical conduction across insulation breakdown, often through air.

Artex A filler/plaster material popularly used to create stippled and combed ceiling finishes. Its popularity arose from the absence of any plastering skill needed to create such finishes, and the consequent lower cost of artexed ceilings compared to plastered.

Asbestos Asbestos is any one of several tough natural fibres. The word is usually used to refer to asbestos cement.

Ashathene An obsolete plastic cable, a precursor to pvc.

Asphalt Hardwearing flooring made from Bitumen and clay.

Auger a self feeding drill bit for wood. Designed for very low rotational speed with high torque. A good choice for hand drilling wood. Commonly available in sizes of 6mm and up. See Drill Bits

Baby oil Mineral oil with added perfume. See Mineral oil

Ball pein hammer Hammer with ball shaped striking face. Possibly named as a result of indiscriminate use.

Ballast

1. Stone & other rubble used to form a hard stable base
2. Current control device used to run a fluorescent tube or other discharge lamp.

Barrel Lock barrel.

Batten Strip of wood applied to wall or ceiling, to which usually plasterboard is applied. Used to even up uneven walls and to permit insertion of insulation behind plasterboard.

BC Bayonet Cap

Beam

Bench grinder A bench mountable grinder used primarily for sharpening tools.

Bimetal

1. Mechanical type of thermostat. Reliable, low cost, and lacking extra features. Need a neutral connection to avoid excess hysteresis. Compare electronic thermostat.
2. saw tooth type used on handsaws

Bipin

Bitumen a black sticky gloop derived from petroleum oil.

Blockboard

Blowlamp

Bolster

Bolt

Bond

1. adhesion
2. pattern of brickwork

Bonding

BR building regulations.

Bradawl

Breeze Block

Brick acid see Hydrochloric acid

Brilliant white

Broken white

BSF An uncommon imperial nut measurement system.

Bubble wrap Insulation that deteriorates in the presence of UV.

Burnt sand mastic a sand & linseed oil mastic used between wood frames & masonry.

Butyl putty another glazing putty

Butyl rubber a long lived plastic used as pond liner & flat roof covering

BZP Bright Zinc Plated

Cabinet Scraper

Cable Electrical wire not intended for regular flexing. Has solid single core copper conductors. see also flex.

Cable clips

Cable ties

Camber

Camden

Card Level - a more versatile low cost replacement for a spirit level

Carpet tape

Car body filler A tough durable filler made from polyester resin & inert fillers.

Cartridge see nozzle

Cartridge Gun

Cellulose thinners

Cement Dye These are added to cement mixes to colour them. Colours vary in their durability, black becomes washed out and streaky in time, whereas iron oxide (dull red) is permanent.

Cement mixer

Central Vacuum A vacuum cleaning system using a fixed vacuum pump plus built in plumbing to convey this vacuum around the building. Popular in the states, it has several advantages over a portable vacuum cleaner.

CFL Compact Fluorescent Lamp. Energy saving lamp used in place of filament lamps.

Cill aka sill.

Circline circular fluorescent tube

Circular saw Saw using a large circular saw blade. Fast cutting, but unable to cut curves.

Cherry picker

Chipboard A relatively low performance sheet material made from wood sawdust & wood chips stuck together with glue.

Chisel Also see cold chisel, plugging chisel, bolster,

Chocolate block, choc block screw connector strip for mains cables.

Cladding

Clamp

Clayboard Clay walling board with paper surfaces. Superior sound absorption to plasterboard. See also: plasterboard

Club hammer

Clunch a hardened chalk stone occasionally used for building

CO

1. Carbon Monoxide, a lethal odourless colourless gas sometimes produced by combustion
2. Conservation Officer

Cob Various types of earth based walling.

Cobbles, cobblestones small rounded top stones used for paving and roads. Gives a very poor surface, uneven and slippery. Long superceded for most uses, but still used where it is desirable to keep people away.

Cold chisel Chisel for masonry use

Compressor Machine delivering compressed air.

Concrete

1. A usually hard tough bulk building material usually made from cement, sand and stone. Other ingredients are sometimes also used.
2. Less often the term is used to describe any hard masonry-like composition material, which need not contain cement.

Condensation Water deposited by the air on cold surfaces, such as windows or walls.

Condensate Condensed water produced by condensing boilers, dehumidifiers, fridges, freezers and air conditioning units. Gas boiler condensate is acidic.

Conduit a tubing system of some sort for carrying something around a building, usually electrical wiring.

Contactor

Corbel

Core drill see Drill Bits

Corrugated fixing

Countersink see Drill Bits

CPC Circuit Protective Conductor, earth conductor, earth wire.

Crescent Wrench the most common type of adjustable spanner

Crosscut saw saw blade optimised to cut at right angles to wood grain. Used in electric mitre saws.

Customer Primary source of inconvenience, payments and senseless complaints. Person expecting owt for nowt.

Dado

Daub earth plaster. See wattle & daub

dc

Dehumidifier Machine for extracting humidity from the air. See also: humidistat

Denib

Diamond disc

Die grinder

Dimmer device for reducing the efficiency of filament bulbs.

Distemper A lime based interior paint now coming back into favour due to its soft matt appearance and low manufacturing cost. Removed by washing with hot detergent, making it ideal for detailed cornicing, as it avoids paint build up and loss of detail.

Distressed Looking knackered. A deliberate style of paint finish.

Divertor

Dog clamp A [ shaped clamp hammered into 2 pieces of wood to hold them together during glue setting.

Door Chain See also spyhole

Dowel A straight stick of (usually) wood used to accurately locate 2 pieces of wood together, and to fix them together, usually with glue.

Dowel bit aka Lip & spur drill bit, qv.

Dremel a brand name, but widely used to mean any brand of small high speed rotary tool, typically taking tools of upto around 1" diameter with 3.2mm shank. Many types of tools are used with these.

Earth

1. Soil. See topsoil, subsoil.
2. Electrical connection to earth / ground.

Earthcrete Earth plus cement powder. Used to stabilise soil before adding gravel.

Earth leakage the flow of mains current to earth, sometimes via a human. Earth current is often fault current, though not always.

Efflorescence Salt deposits on the surface of brick, plaster, stone or mortar.

Eggshell An oil based paint with a semi matt finish. Harder wearing than emulsion.

ELCB Device to cut electrical power in the event of certain earth leakage faults. There are 2 significantly different types of ELCB, current operated and voltage operated. Now superceded by RCDs, the designation 'ELCB' indicates an old device.

Electrocution Death by electric shock.

EML expanded metal lath, sometimes called gauze.

Emulsion popular wall paint based on PVA, titanium dioxide and pigment.

Enamel any type of hard sufaced paint

Epoxy a tough synthetic resin mainly used as a glue. Araldite is a well known brand.

Equipotential bonding

ES Edison Screw. The most common size of screw-in lightbulb base.

Essex Flange see also: Surrey flange

Eternit synthetic slate, asbestos cement based.

Extinguisher

Extractor fan that moves air from building interior to the exterior. See also: HRV

Feeler gauge Tool containing a set of assorted thicknesses of metal sheet. Used for measuring very small gaps.

Felt

1. non-woven wool cloth
2. ...

Fibre cement a fibre reinforced cement, usually found in sheet form. Asbestos used to be the most common fibre used, now glass fibre is probably the most common choice. Fibre cement is often loosely called 'asbestos.'

Fibreglass plastic and glass fibres, used mainly for baths and roof coverings

Filament lamp Traditional light bulb containing a white hot filament.

Fire cement

Flange

Flap wheel A disc with abrasive flaps attached. Used with an angle grinder.

Flashing Metal strip used to shed water at roofing joins. Usually lead but may also be copper or aluminium.

Flat bit A low cost, low performance, easily made drill bit. see Drill Bits

Flex flexible electrical cable. The flexibility results from using stranded conductors.

Flitch Beam Steel and wood sandwich beam.

Float glass The flat defect-free glass used for domestic glazing today.

Fluorescent lamp A highly energy efficient type of lighting.

Flux several materials used to enable solder to wet the metal being joined.

Flying Freehold

Footing Nothing to do with dancing.

Framing square

Freehold Outright ownership of house & land. See leasehold.

Fuse Thin piece of wire which melts when excess current is passed, thus breaking the circuit. A fuse's rated current is the current it will pass indefinitely, not the current at which it fuses, which is significantly higher.

Gang

Gloss

1. having a shiny surface
2. paint that has a shiny surface when set.

Goggles Protective eyewear. See 'direct vent' and 'indirect vent'

Going

Gravel

Grinder see angle grinder, bench grinder, die grinder.

Grommet

Ground rent see leasehold

GRP Glass Reinforced Plastic, fibreglass. See fibreglass

Gulley

Gypsum a pink powder widely used as plaster. See also lime plaster, mud plaster.

HAC High alumina cement

Halogen lamp a high temperature filament lamp. Popularly used as downlighters.

Hardboard Thin woodfibre sheet material. Lacks good rigidity. See also: Pegboard, MDF.

Header tank

Heat exchanger

Holesaw

Hose clip Any one of a number of types of clip designed to attach a hose firmly to a tube. See also: Jubilee clip.

HRV Heat Recovery Ventilation. Forced ventilation which recovers some of the otherwise lost heat using a crossflow heat exchanger.

HTI High Temperature Insulation

Humidistat Device that switches electrical power according to humidity level. Usually switches power on when RH goes above its threshold value.

Hydraulic lime a fast setting lime used to make mortar for exposed locations and in permanently wet situations. Sets in wet conditions.

Hydrochloric acid A strong acid used to remove cement, limescale, grease, pipe blockages, and organic matter. Also known as brick acid.

Hydronic a heating system that uses water as the heat transfer fluid. Most British central heating systems are hydronic.

Intumescent strip Strips fitted to some doors that swell during a fire to seal the door to frame gap.

Iron oxide low cost pigment used to give dull red or brown colour. Iron oxide is what makes red bricks red.

Japan black a tough low cost black paint. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Black

Jetty building storey jutting out further than its supporting walls. Common feature of medieval wood frame buildings.

Jeweller's screwdriver Miniature screwdrivers mainly used for repairing appliances.

Jigsaw An electric saw with low cutting speed and in most cases not very good ability to follow a straight line. Best used for cutting curves.

Joist Wood beams supporting floor or wall.

Jubilee Clip A tightenable metal band designed to attach a hose firmly to a tube. The device is tightened with a screwdriver.

Junction box Box containing connection points for cables. Fire resistant.

Knockdown joint aka KD joint. 2 plastic blocks held together by a screw. Used to make joints where repeated disassembly is desired.

Knotting Compound

L&P Lath & plaster, a construction of walls & ceilings.

Lagging (thermal) insulation

Laminate layered material. Most often used to describe wood flooring laminate, which is generally a thin layer of real wood on a chipboard base.

Lamp black Soot, a formerly widely used black pigment.

Lath Lightweight material used as a semirigid backing for plasterwork.

• Wood: Thin strips of wood, usually oak or other hardwood.
• Metal: EML.
• Reed roll is also sometimes used as lath. See L&P.

Lathe Machine for turning and working wood or metal, or sometimes other material.

Lead A dull grey soft malleable metal used for roofing, flashing, and previously for waterpipes.

Lead paint any paint containing lead. Some lead paints are now banned.

Leasehold see ground rent

LED

Lime A white powder, Calcium hydroxide. Makes mortar, paints, plaster, stabiliser, and cement mortar modifier.

Limelite a cement plaster containing cement, lime and chopped fibre. Not an equivalent substitute for lime plaster or lime mortar.

Lime plaster A plaster mix based on lime. Usually also contains either sand or chalk.

Lime putty a putty made by mixing bagged (hydrated non-hydraulic) lime and water, and storing while excluding air. Mainly used to make mortars & paints.

Limestone A soft light coloured stone.

Limewash Paint made from lime putty & water. Suitable for ceilings.

Line

1. Live wire
2. Rope
3. ...
4. ...

Linseed normally refers to linseed oil, extracted from flax seeds and used in a minority of paints, mastics, varnishes and putties. The pleasant smell of linseed is characteristic.

Lip & spur a drill bit for wood that doesn't wander. Also known as a dowel bit. see Drill Bits

M3, M4, M6, M8, M10, M12 metric bolt thread types. The number after the 'M' is the width of the thread in millimetres.

M3.5 the size & thread of screws used with standard UK electrical accessory faceplates.

Marble A pretty but weak stone.

Marine Ply A grade of plywood with greater water resistance than WBP.

Matt no surface shine or glossiness

MCB Miniature Circuit Breaker, a pushbutton overcurrent cutout that replaces a fuse

MDF Medium Density Fibre. A wood fibre sheet material. Very vulnerable to water damage. See also: Hardboard

Melamine A plastic. The term usually refers to melamine veneered chipboard.

Mercury Lamp

Metal Halide Lamp

Meter see multimeter, water meter,

Machine oil oil for lubricating machinery & preventing rust on steel goods during storage. Mineral oil. See baby oil.

Masking tape A low tack tape that may be peeled off without residue or damage. Most masking tapes will not peel cleanly if left on for long.

Masonry drill Drill bit for masonry.

MICC Mineral insulated cable. A very high temperature rated rigid cable. Widely used for fire critical circuits. Known as pyro. Hygroscopic.

Mineral oil A light stable oil with various uses. See machine oil. See Baby oil.

Minton a well known brand of high quality Victorian floor tiling

Mitre saw

1. A handsaw with cradle enabling accurately angled cuts to be made in wood etc. Typically only 2 or 3 angles are provided for.
2. A powered circular saw mounted on a turntable able to cut wood etc at selectable accurate angles. A continuous range of angles is normally provided for.

Monkey wrench An old type of adjustable spanner. See also Crescent Wrench.

Monumental Mason Stonemason whose primary speciality is gravestones.

Mortar rake An abrasive coated rod fitted to angle grinders ad used to remove mortar between bricks. see

Mortgage A means of ensuring you pay over twice the price for your house, but can pay over many years.

Mosaic Tiling typically made with lots of very small tiles. Mosaics may also be made with stones.

Moulding plane A plane that produces a moulded shape in the workpiece instead of a flat finish. Mostly replaced now by routers and spindle moulders.

Mud plaster Earth containing clay used as plaster.

Multimeter electrical meter that measures voltage, current (amps) and resistance. A worthwhile purchase for almost any DIYer.

Nail fatigue, nail sickness When many nails are corroding through on a slate roof. Causes an increased rate of slate falls.

Nail plate A metal plate with many nail-like spikes used to join wood rafters and joists.

Neon screwdriver Simple voltage indicator. It is unsafe to rely on these when dealing with mains, as they give both false positive and false negative results.

Nozzle

NVQ Not Very Qualified

Oilstone grinding stone intended to be used with oil. Some oilstones do not survive long if used without oil. See also waterstone

Olive A copper gland forming a waterprof joint when compressed against copper pipe. Used in compression joints. Not edible.

OPC Ordinary portland cement

OSB Oriented Strand Board.

Paint guard Handheld plastic strip used to keep paint off nearby surfaces or objects while painting. Simple ones may be made from strips of 2 litre soft drink bottles.

Paint kettle small handled paint container. Makes holding & moving the paint easier, reduces the amount of spillage in case of accident, and avoids drying and contamination of the main reservoir of paint.

Papercrete novel building material made from paper, clay, cement, sand, and sometimes other materials.

PAR

1. Wood: planed all round. Compare PSE.
2. Glass: polished all round.

Parapet

Pargetting 3d decoration in external plasterwork. Traditional in East Anglia.

PAT Portable Appliance Test, electrical goods safety test.

Patio Cleaner

Pattress Backbox for electrical accessories (light switches, sockets, etc)

Pea shingle

Pegboard: Hardboard with a matrix of holes. Metal hooks may be inserted into the holes for hanging tools. See also: Hardboard.

Perspex A clear plastic sometimes used for windows.

PFA Pulverized Fly Ash. The ash from coal burning that goes up the chimney. See also bottom ash.

Phosphated a tough black non-rusting finish used on some screws.

Picture rail Rail normally above head height for hanging pictures. Similar to dado rail but with a different profile and higher up.

Piece rate payment per task, not per hour.

Piss coat watered down first coat of paint.

Pitch

1. number of turns per inch of a screw thread
2. variety of pine
3. bituminous black gloop

Plane

Plaster An indoor smooth wall finishing coating. Based on gypsum, lime cement or mud.

Plaster floor an unusual type of suspended floor made from composite plaster

Plasterboard flat sheet of plaster with paper surfaces.

Plasterboard fixing Also see hollow wall anchor

Plasterboard nail A short stubby small headed nail intended for fixing plasterboard to wooden studs. Not recommended.

Plasterboard screw screw for fixing plasterboard. Has bugle head to avoid rucking, sharp hard point to pierce steel framing, non-rusting finish, and philips head to disengage from driver once home.

Pliolite plastic resin paint for exterior use.

Plug

1. electrical plug-in connector, such as mains plugs used on electrical appliances
2. expanding plastic sleeve placed in masonry hole to enable a screw to grip. Plugs made from fibre, wood or metal are also used.
3. to fill a hole

Plumb bob Weight with a central point on a string, Indicates the vertical.

Picture rail

Pointing

Polarity

Polyisocyanurate a type of high performance plastic foam insulation.

Polypropylene

Polystyrene a plastic used as a lower cost type of plastic foam insulation.

Pozzolan substance that changes the set of lime to produce a harder mortar. Examples include clay, ground tiles, brick dust, trass, flyash. Pozzolan may also be used with cement and allows some reduction of cement use.

PP period property

Primer

Profile gauge

Programmable thermostat A combined programmer and thermostat that allows different temperatures to be set for different times. Normally electronic. Used with central heating and air conditioning.

Programmer Timer for central heating and hot water. May be electronic or mechanical.

PSE Planed square edge wood. Planed all round with corners all 90 degrees.

PTFE Tape A thin slippery soft non-stick tape used to make threaded plumbing joints watertight or gastight.

• Yellow PTFE tape: PTFE tape approved for gaswork.

PU polyurethane, a type of glue

Pullsaw Saw that cuts on the pull stroke. Permits use of a thinner blade. A thinner cut equals less energy use, if other factors are equal.

Punch

Purlin

Putty a stiff setting mixture. See lime putty, linseed putty, alkyd putty,

PVA multipurpose building glue.

PVC see also: upvc

PVP

Quicklime

Raft Foundation A type of building foundation used on unstable ground. Floor and sides of the foundation are all tied together with reinforcement. The intent is that in case of ground movement, the whole structure will move as one, avoiding any damage.

Rafter Wood beams supporting a roof

Rasp A coarse wood file used for shaping wood.

Rawlplug a brand of wall plug

RCBO an MCB & RCD in one device

RCD device that cuts the power if it detects earth leakage. See also RCD Rewiring Tips

R clip

Reciprocating saw Powered saw with linear blade supported at one end that moves back and forth.

Reed Roll Reeds joined with metal wire to make a flexible sheet. Sold for fencing. Sometimes also used as lath.

Relay

Render mortar coating on wall. Usually a cement mortar, sometimes lime mortar.

Repair plate Metal plate with holes in, used to repair woodwork by fixing in place with screws.

Repointing Replacing the outer edge of mortar between bricks, blocks or stone in a wall.

Resin tough durable glues, including epoxy resin, vinyl ester resin,

Resin Terrazzo A modern type of terrazzo comprising a thin layer (typically a quarter inch) of stone in resin.

RH Relative Humidity. Percentage of

Ripsaw Saw blade optimised to cut along the grain of wood.

Riser

Road base Various material mixes used for road bases

• ABC MAG: A specified road base mix of stone, sand clay and dirt that can be used to make an [economical interior floor].

Rodding Clearing a drain with a drain rod.

Rodding eye waste pipe fitting that permits rodding access.

RSJ Steel beam. also see UB

Rub down sand down

Rubble scrap broken masonry.

Rubble bag heavy duty version of plastic bin bag, suitable for disposal of rubble.

Rub-r-Slate A low cost floor surfacing compound

Rust Convertor Phosphoric acid gel used to turn rust into a stable paintable compound. All loose rust must be removed first.

Sand see silver sand, building sand, sharp sand,

Sanding Block

Sarking Water shedding boarding under the roof covering.

Sash

SBC Small Bayonet Cap. Miniature version of the more popular bayonet cap used on mains light bulbs.

Scabbling making a stone into a rough rectangle with axe or hammer

Scraper paint scraper, cabinet scraper

Screed

Scutch hammer used for chopping bricks

Scythe A handled blade for cutting grass and crops.

• Short handles scythes have a small single handed handle
• Long handles scythes have a 2 handed handle several feet long

SDS A drilling system which uses hammer blows directly onto the end of the drill bit for better driling performance. SDS uses its own type of chuck and bits, which are incompatible with conventional drills. Not all hammer drills are SDS.

Self Levelling Compound

SES Small Edison Screw. The 2nd most common size of screw-in lightbulb base, smaller than ES.

Set square

Setts see cobbles

Shed garden building, builders merchants, diy merchants

Silicone a soft synthetic plastic much used for sealing around baths, showers and sinks. Silicone contains acetates which encourage mould growth. See also Putties & Mastics

Silk

Sill cill

Slate A natural stone widely used for roofing.

Socket

1. electrical outlet into which a plug can be inserted.
2. tool which grips a nut or bolt. Fits on the end of a socket bar, of which a few types exist.

Sodium Lamp 2 diffrernt types of very high efficacy yellow and pink lighting. Much used for road lighting.

Soil pipe

Solder Metal alloy used to join pipes and sometimes wiring. Lead & tin solder has long been used, but is no longer permitted for potable water piping.

Soleplate

Solvent weld plastic pipe joined by applying a solvent. This melts the plastic together.

Spiral saw

Spirit level indicates level accurately. Consists of a vial of liquid fixed to a bar. Some indicate vertical as well as horizontal, and some also fixed angles between the 2. Some have a series of vials indicating various angles close to horizontal, such as 1 degree, 2 degrees etc

Spyhole or door viewer. Small wide angle lensed lookout hole fitted to exterior doors for security. See also Door Chain.

SRPC Sulphate Resisting Portland Cement. Cement used where it may come into contact with ground water, which often contains sulphate, and damages ordinary portland cement.

Staging Presenting a house to make it appeal to buyers.

Stainless steel various types of non rusting steels, which vary in their rust resistance.

Stilson Large type of wrench. It grips when turned one way and loosens when turned the other.

Stonemason Skilled stone worker.

Stopper

Stringer

Striplight Linear lamp, either fluorescent or filament

Stud Woodwork in a wood framed partition wall.

Sub suncontract

Subsoil Soil below top layer, does not contain humus. Does not support plant growth on its own. May be converted to topsoil by mixing in a generous amount of organic matter, such as weeds, grass clippings, paper, food scraps, manure, etc, and giving the material time to break down to form humus.

Suffolk Pink A traditional pink lime paint pigmented with blood.

Sugar soap Used ror cleaning paintwork before repainting. Not edible, does not contain sugar,

Sulphamic acid A descaler

Surrey flange See also Essex flange

Switchbank Bank of 2 or more switches. Permits much greater control over lighting etc than just a single switch. Compare 'dimmer.'

Switchboard

Switchfuse

SWMBO She who thinks she must be obeyed

T&E Twin & Earth. 3 core PVC cable used for most fixed house wiring.

Tablesaw

Tack Cloth A rag treated so that dust sticks to it. Designed to remove dust etc from surfaces before painting.

Tamp

Tar

TCT Tungsten Carbide Tipped. A very hardwearing fast feeding cutting technology. Used widely on power saw blades & masonry drill bits.

Tea an implied part of payment for all jobs.

Teeth sucking Indication of high costs ahead, usually warning sign of a rip off.

Tenon saw

Terrace

1. row of joined houses
2. stepped ground
3. bad news kids (or is that 'terrors'?)

Terrazzo Stone set in concrete, cut and polished to give a perfectly smooth surface in which sections through the stone are visible at the surface. Horizontal metalwork is sometimes incorporated into the surface. Terrazzo makes a beautiful flooring, and the ingredients are low cost, but a little care is needed over cleaning materials and methods to avoid permanent staining.

Textured paint

Thermidistat

Thermostat Device that switches at a set temperature. Mostly used to maintain an approximately constant temperature.

• Electrical: Used to switch heating or cooling on.
• Plumbing: used to blend hot and cold water to achieve an approximately constant output temperature.

Ties see cable ties, wall ties,

Timberboard

Timer

Timber wood

Titanium Aluminium Nitride an extra hard drill bit coating.

[[Superhard Drills|Titanium Nitride an extra hard drill bit coating. Gold coloured. See also Drill Bits

Titanium Oxide White pigment used in modern paints and white bar soap.

Toggle

• Expansion fixing:
• Hollow wall fixing:

Tongue & groove

Topcoat The final coat of paint

Top hat washer A plastic tophat shaped washer used under taps

Topsoil top layer of soil containing organic matter. Supports plant growth.

Torch

1. hand held light.
2. blowlamp.

Torque Wrench

Tower Tower shaped access scaffolding. Usually freestanding.

Track

1. Low grade road for vehicular access
2. line of conductive carbon across an electrical insulator

Tracked Vehicle or machine using tracks in place of wheels, enabling movement over very rough ground.

Trap plumbing device that catches solids. Mostly found underneath sinks, baths and showers. Need occasional emptying.

Trass a pozzolan used with cement and lime mixtures.

Trip Any button or switch operated electrical cut-out, such as MCB, RCD, RCBO. A colloquial term.

Truss

TT Earthing system using a local earth rod, or less often a pipe or grid.

Tuck Pointing A style of pointing in which the bulk of the pointing mortar matches the wall colour, and a thin straight line of contrasting mortar is embedded into the bulk mortar. Traditionally used to make uneven irregular walls look neater.

Twist drill most common type of drill bit. see Drill Bits

UB Universal Beam. As RSJ, though with minor differences in detail

Uher/ufer A method of creating a very low resistance local earth connection, and eliminating potential differences between concrete floors and CPC during fault conditions, all at no significant cost.

Undercoat

Underpin to deepen a building's foundations.

Upright refers to upright timbers, eg in a partition wall.

uPVC A rigid plastic, easily scratched and brittle when cold. Discolouration is occasionally seen.

VA Volts multiplied by amps gives VA. This equals power for some loads, but is not equal to power for non-resistive loads.

Vent device admitting fresh air, ie something with a hole in it.

Vinyl A plastic found in film form and invariably used for nasty purposes

VIR Indian rubber electrical wiring. Common half a century ago.

Voltstick Simple voltage indicator. It is unsafe to rely on these when dealing with mains as they give both false positive and false negative results.

Voussoir wedge shaped brick or stone used in an arch

Wall plate

Wall ties Ties that link the 2 leaves of a cavity wall. Usually metal, but stone or brick ties may be found on some older properties.

Warm air a heating system using warm air as the heat transfer medium. Popular in the states, but not in Britain.

Waterbutt

Waterstone grinding stone intended to be used with water. See also oilstone.

Water table The level of groundwater in the locality

Wattle' woven twig wood partition

Wattle & daub woven twig wood partition coated with earth based plaster.

WBP Water & Boil Proof. A grade of plywood. Not the same grade as marine ply.

Weep Hole Small holes in a wall for any water in the cavity to drain out.

Weld cement a high strength high cost mortar

Whitewash chalk & glue paint

Whiting chalk powder. Used in paints, mastics, some plaster.

Whitworth A nut size measurement system standard from the 1800s, still occasionally used.

Wire brush Brush with steel or brass bristles.

• Steel: used for removing cement smears, and sometimes for raising the grain of wood
• Brass: used for removing dirt from suede

Wire wheel

Woodchip A textured wallpaper consisting of 2 sheets of paper with wood chippings sandwiched between them. Used to disguise rough wall surfaces.

Woodworm any of a number of wood boring insect species

Screwshoe An easy shoe modification giving better grip on sub-zero sites.

More Glossaries

Lighting Glossary

Listed Building Basics

Nuts & Bolts FAQ

Wood finishing FAQ

Glossary of Conservation Terms

Glossary of Architectural Terms