Note: Please see July 10, 2009 post for A-K
Lag Screw: A lag screw is a screw with a square or hexagonal head. Sometimes called a lag bolt. They are larger and stronger than regular screws.
Lower Girt: A girt is a lower beam. In a post and beam home, it can be a decorative beam on the inside wall of the house about 36” above the floor.
Milled Stool Cap: A window sill which is shaped (milled) during fabrication.
Mortise and Tenon: A mortise (hole or space) is cut in a post to receive a corresponding projection tenon from a beam.
Plumb: Vertical.
Purlins: A horizontal timber used between timber rafters or sometimes a decorative beam above floor beams.
Rabbet: A cut or grove on the edge of a piece of wood to help form a joint with a second piece of wood.
Rake and Fascia: Rake boards trim the gable (sloping) edge of a roof and fascia boards trim the eave (horizontal edge).
Rebar: Steel bars which are used in concrete foundations for strengthening.
Scarf Joints: Two ends of wood pieces are angle cut so as to interlock making the joint shed water out and down, away from the structure.
Sill: Pressure treated, rot-resistant piece of lumber between the foundation and the first floor deck.
Skirtboards: Horizontal trim at the foundation level used with shiplap pine siding.
Soffit: The finish board or area underneath the overhang of a roof.
Thermax Chamfer Strip: Wedge shaped pieces of rigid insulation placed just inside the intersection of wall and roof panels, or at the ridge.
Tongue and Groove: Formed by a groove cut in the edge of a material (usually wood) to receive a corresponding projection from the next piece of material in the course.
Valley: The intersection of two (not parallel) roofs creates one or more areas (valleys) of rooftop that tend to gather rain and snow, therefore must be flashed.
Wall Panels: Wall components which are pre-fabricated. Closed panels have wood sheathing applied to both the inside and the outside of the panel. Sometimes the interior surface is gypsum board instead of wood sheathing. Open panels have covering only on one side.