Wall Tie - A galvanized iron strip used to tie a veneer wall to its backing wall.
Wainscot - A paneling applied to the lower portion of a wall.
Waste Pipe - The name generally applied to all household drainage pipes.
Water Closet - Commode
Water Table - Similar to a drip cap in function, sometimes found around the perimeter of a house near the ground line.
Tail Beam - Joist supported by header at both ends, from a header in a floor opening to the sill header.
Terra Cotta - A mixture of sand and baked clay commonly used to make pipe for sewage disposal systems. A mixture of sand and baked clay used to form a shingle used on certain styles of architecture.
Terrazzo - A colorful flooring material made of cement and marble chips or certain stones. After the floor has hardened it is ground and polished to a smooth and durable finish.
Saddle - A small ridged roof designed to carry water away from the back side of a chimney.
Sash - An individual window unit (comprised of rails, stiles, lites, muntins) that fits inside the window frame.
Schematic - An electrical diagram of electrical symbols.
Scuttle - An opening in the ceiling leading to an unfinished half-story.
Septic Tank - A concrete or bituminous- covered metal tank where sewage is digested by bacterial action.
Palladian - A motif having three openings, the center one being arched and larger than the other two.
Palladian window - A three part window featuring a large ached center and flanking rectangular sidelights.
Paneling - The lining of a wall with a wainscot.
Parapet - That portion of the wall that extends above the roof (wall surrounding a flat roof).
Parget - Roughest, plaster. (Parging is a colloquial term referring to the application of cement plaster.)
Jack Stud - A stud adding to the support of roof rafters.
Jamb - The vertical members of a window or door frame.
Jenkins-head Roof - A gabled roof with its apex truncated by a small hipped roof.
Joist - Wood framing members, usually set 16" apart on center, carefully chosen to support all "live" and "dead" loads.
Keystone - The central, topmost stone of an arch.
Knee Wall - A wall supported by jack studs in half- story construction.
Dado - The zone between a chair rail or lower part of a sill and the baseboard.
Damper - An adjustable metal plate controlling convection currents in a fireplace.
Dead Load - The weight of things and materials that are always present at the same place in a building.
Deadening Felt - A thin sheet of felt between the sub-floor and the finished floor.
Dental - A molding motif that projects from the edge of a roof line or cornice.
Eave - The projecting lower edge of a roof.
Elevation - An orthographic view of some vertical feature of a house. (Front, rear, side, interior elevation)
Entablature - The area above an entryway in which the transom is contained.
Excavate - To dig out a volume of earth for a basement, footings or foundation.
Expansion Tank - A tank located near the heating plant of a hot water system used to help balance the pressure.
Campanile - Bell tower, often set some distance away from its church.
Canopy - A projection or hood over a door, window, niche, etc.
Cantilever - A projecting elements, such as a beam or porch, supported at a single point or along a single line by a wall or column, stabilized by s counterbalancing downward force around the point of fulcrum.
Capital - The elaboration at the top of a column, pillar, pier or pilaster.
Bailey - Castle courtyard and surrounding buildings.
Balcony - A platform projecting from an upper story and enclosed by a railing.
Balloon Framing - A common type of house framing using a box sill and ribband (if a second floor exist).
Baluster - Any of the small posts that make up a railing as in a staircase; may be plain, turned, or pierced.
Balustrade - The combination of railing held up by balusters.