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.

• alternating current
• air conditioning

Acrylic

AF Across Flats. Imperial nut measurement system.

Airbrick

Alkyd the chemistry of most oil based household gloss paints.

Alkyd putty a glazing putty

Allen key hexagonal

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

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

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

Ashathene An obsolete plestic 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

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.

Barrel Lock barrel.

BC

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

• adhesion
• pattern of brickwork

Bonding

BR building regulations.

Bradawl

Breeze Block

Brick acid hydrochloric acid

Brilliant white

Broken white

BSF

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

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 - versatile low cost replacement for a spirit level

Carpet tape

Cartridge

Cellulose thinners

Cement mixer

CFL

Cill

Circline circular fluorescent tube

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

Cherry picker

Chipboard

Chisel Also see cold chisel, plugging chisel, bolster,

Chocolate block, choc block screw connector for mains cables.

Cladding

Clayboard Clay walling board with paper surfaces. See also: plasterboard

Club hammer

Clunch a chalk stone

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

CO conservation officer

Concrete

Condensation

Condensate

Core drill see Drill Bits

Corrugated fixing

Countersink see Drill Bits

CPC Circuit Protective Conductor, earth conductor, earth wire.

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

Dado

Daub earth plaster. See wattle & daub

dc

Dehumidifier

Denib

Diamond disc

Die grinder

Dimmer device for reducing the efficiency of filament bulbs.

Distemper lime based interior paint. Removed by washing with hot detergent, making it ideal for detailed cornicing, as it avoids paint build up and loss of detail. Vapour permeable.

Distressed Looking knackered.

Dog clamp

Dremel a brand name, but generally used to mean a very small high speed rotary tool, typically taking t of upto around 1" having 3.2mm shank. Many types of

Earth

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

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

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

Efflorescence Salt coming out of brick, stone or mortar.

Eggshell

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.

Electrocution

EML expanded metal lath, sometimes called gauze.

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

Enamel hard paint

Epoxy

Equipotential bonding

ES

Extinguisher

Extractor

Felt

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

Flange

Flap wheel

Flashing

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

Flex flexible electrical cable. The flexibility results from using multiple strand conductors.

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

Fluorescent lamp See Fluorescent Lighting

Flux

Flying freehold

Footing Nothing to do with dancing.

Framing square

Freehold Outright ownership

Fuse

Gang

Gloss

Goggles

Going

Gravel

Grinder see angle grinder, bench grinder, die grinder.

Grommet

Ground rent see leasehold

GRP Glass reinforced plastic, fibreglass

Gulley

Gypsum

HAC High alumina cement,

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

Hardboard

Header tank

Heat exchanger

Holesaw

HTI High Temperature Insulation

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

Hydrochloric acid

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

Iron oxide pigment used to give dull red or brown colour

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.

Jigsaw electric saw with low cutting speed and in most cases poor ability to follow a line.

Joist Wood beams supporting floor or wall.

Junction box fire resistant box containing connection points for cables.

L&P Lath & plaster, a method of creating walls & ceilings.

Lagging

Laminate layered material. Most often used to describe wood flooring laminate with chipboard base.

Lamp black Soot, a formerly widely used black pigment.

Lath

Lathe

Lead paint any paint containing lead.

Leasehold see ground rent

LED

Lime

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

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

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

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

Lip & spur a drill bit for wood that doesn't wander. 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 soft stone.

Matt

MCB miniature circuit breaker, a pushbutton device that replaces a fuse

MDF

Melamine A plastic. Usually refers to melamine veneered chipboard.

Meter see multimeter, water meter,

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

Masking tape

Masonry drill Drill bit for masonry. see Drill Bits

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

Mineral oil see machine oil. Baby oil is mineral oil.

Minton a well known type of Victorian quality tiling

Mitre saw

Monkey wrench

Mortar rake see Drill Bits

Mortgage

Mosaic Tiling typically made with lots of very small tiles.

Moulding plane

Multimeter electrical meter that measures volts, amps and ohms. 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

Neon screwdriver Simple voltage indicator. It is unsafe to rely on these when dealing with mains.

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

OPC Ordinary portland cement

Paint guard

Paint kettle small handled paint container.

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

PAR

Pargetting

PAT Portable Appliance Test, electrical goods safety testing.

Pattress

Pea shingle

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

• .
• .
• variety of pine.

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 nail intended for fixing plasterboard. Not recommended.

Plasterboard screw screw for fixing plasterboard. Has bugle head to avoid rucking, sharp 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

• mains plug as used on electrical appliances
• to fill a hole
• expanding plastic sleeve placed in masonry hole to enable a screw to grip. Plugs made from fibre, wood or metal are also found.

Plumb bob

Picture rail

Pointing

Polarity

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

Programmer

PU polyurethane, a type of glue

Pullsaw

Punch

Purlin

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

PVA multipurpose building glue.

Rafter Wood beams supporting a roof

Rasp

Rawlplug a brand of plug

RCBO MCB & RCD in one device

RCD device that cuts the power if it detects earth leakage.

Reciprocating saw

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

Repair plate

Repointing

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

RH Relative Humidity. Percentage of

Ripsaw

Riser

Rodding Clearing a drain with a drain rod.

Rodding eye waste pipe fitting that permits rodding access.

RSJ also see UB

Rub down sand down

Rubble scrap broken masonry.

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

Sand see silver sand, building sand, sharp sand,

Sarking

Sash

SBC

Scraper paint scraper, cabinet scraper

Screed

Scutch hammer used for chopping bricks

Scythe

SDS

SES

Set square

Setts see cobbles

Shed garden building, builders merchants, diy merchants

Silicone

Silk

Sill

Slate

Socket

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.

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, door viewer.

SRPC Sulphate resisting 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 resistnace.

Stilson

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.

Suffolk Pink A traditional pink lime paint pigmented with blood.

Sugar soap Not edible, does not contain sugar.

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

SWMBO She who thinks she must be obeyed

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

Tablesaw

Tack rag

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

Terrazzo

Thermidistat

Thermostat

Ties see cable ties, wall ties,

Timberboard

Timer

Timber wood

Titanium Nitride an extra hard drill bit coating. Gold coloured. see Drill Bits

Titanium Oxide White pigment used in modern paint and bar soap.

Toggle

Tongue & groove

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

Torch

• blowlamp.
• hand held light.

Torque wrench

Trap

Trass

Truss

TT Earthing system using a local earth rod.

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

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

Underpin to deepen a building's foundations.

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

uPVC

Vent

Vinyl

Voltstick Simple voltage indicator. It is unsafe to rely on these when dealing with mains.

Wall plate

Wall ties Generally metal ties that link the 2 leaves of a cavity wall. Stone or brick ties may be found on some older properties.

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

Water table The level of groundwater in the locality

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

Weld cement a high strength high price mortar

Whitewash chalk & glue paint

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

Whitworth

Woodchip

Woodworm any of a number of wood boring insect species

More Glossaries

Conservation Glosary: http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/research/glossary/i.html

Lighting Glossary

Listed Building Basics

Nuts & Bolts FAQ: http://www.boltscience.com/pages/glossary.htm

Wood finishing FAQ: http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/article039.htm