Wall

Flush bead

A bead having its outer surface at the same level as the adjoining surfaces.

Cock bead

A bead that projects above or beyond the adjoining surfaces.

Spandrel beam

A beam spanning between columns and supporting the outer edge of a floor or roof

Lintel

A beam supporting the weight above a door or opening.

Corner board

A board against which siding is fitted at the corner of a frame structure.

Rake

A board or molding placed along the sloping sides of a gable to cover the ends of the siding.

Crib

A cellular framework of squared timbers, or steel or concrete members of similar form, assembled in layers at right angles, often filled with earth or stones and used in the construction of foundattions and retaining walls.

Engaged column

A column built so as to be truly or seemingly bonded to the wall before which it stands..

Splayed coping or wedge coping

A coping that slopes only in one direction.

Saddle coping or saddlebacked coping

A coping that slopes to either side of a central ridge

Panel system

A curtain wall system consisting of preformed metal, cut stone, precast concrete, or panelized brick wall units, which may be preglazed or glazed after installation

Unit system

A curtain wall system consisting of pressembled, framed wall units that may be preglazed or glazed after installation.

Unit and mullion system

A curtain wall system in which one- or - two story high mullions are installed before preassembled wall units are lowered into place behind the mullions. The framed wall units may be preglazed or glazed after installation

Stick systems

A curtain wall system in which tubular metal mullions and rail are assembled piece by piece on site to frame vision glass and spandrel units.

Column cover and spandrel system

A curtain wall system in which vision-glass assemblies and spandrel units are supported by spandrel beams between exterior columns clad with cover sections

Corner brace

A diagonal brace let into studding to reinforce the corner of a frame structure

Panel

A distinct portion, section, or division of a wall, wainscot, ceiling, or door, esp. Of any surface sunk below or raised above the surrounding area, or enclosed by a frame or border.

Pony wall

A drawf wall for supporting floor joists

Wainscot

A facing of wood paneling, esp. When covering the lower portion of an interior wall.

Coping

A finishing or protective cap or course to an exterior wall, usually sloped or curved to shed water

Shiplap

A flush, overlapping joint, such as a rabbet, between two boards joined edge to edge. Also the boarding joined with such overlapping joints.

Basement wall

A foundation wall that encloses a usable area under a building.

Gabion

A galvanized wire basket filled with stones and used in constructing an abutment or retaining structure

Quirk

A groove or acute angle dividing a bead or other molding from adjoining members or surfaces

Wall plate or raising

A horizontal member built into or laid along the top of a wall to support and distribute the load from joists or rafters

Girt

A horizontal member spanning between exterior columns to support wall sheating or cladding.

Template or templet

A horizontal timber or stone set in a wall to receive and distribute the pressure of a girder or beam

Frame house

A house constructed with a skeletal framework of timber, usually sheathed with sliding or shinges.

Deadman

A log, concrete block, or similar mass buried in the ground as an anchor

Clapboard

A long, thin board with one edge thicker than the other, laid horizontally as bevel siding.

Parapet

A low , protective wall at the edge of a terrace, balcony, or roof, esp. That part of an exterior wall, fire wall, or party wall that rises above the roof.

Firestop

A material or member built into a building frame to block a concealed hollow space through which a fire might spread from one part of the building to another.

Screen

A movable or fixed device esp. A framed construction, designed to divide, conceal, or protect.

Backing

A narrow wood strip fixed to the corner of a framed partition to provide a nailing surface for finish materials

Safing

A noncombustible material placed in an opening to prevent the passage of fire, as between a curtain wall and a spandrel beam.

Blocking

A number of small wood pieces inserted to space , join, or reinforce members of a building frame, fill the spaces between them, or provide a nailing surface for finish materials.

Raised panel or fielded panel

A panel having a center portion thicker than the edges or projecting above the surrounding frame.

Flush panel

A panel having a surface in the same plane as the surrounding frame.

Sunk panel

A panel having a surface recessed below the surrounding frame or surface.

Spandrel

A panellike are in a multistory frame building, between the sill of a window on one level and the head of a window immediately below.

Movable partition or demountable partition

A partition capable of being moved to different locations

Ledger strip

A piece attached to the face of a beam at the bottom as a support for the ends of joists.

Canton

A pilaster or similar feature projecting from a corner of a building

Bolection

A raised molding for framing a panel, doorway, or different levels..

Cantilever wall

A retaining wall of reinforced concrete or reinforced concrete masonry, cantilevered from and securely tied to a spread footing that is shaped to resist overtuning and sliding

Sheating

A rough covering of boards, plywood, or other panel materials applied to a frame structure to serve as base for siding, flooring, or roofing.

Paneling

A series of panels, esp. Decorative wood panels, joined in a continous surface.

Pilaster

A shallow rectangular feature projecting from a wall, having a capital and a base and architecturally treated as a column.

Diagonal sheating

A sheating of boards applied diagonally for lateral strength.

Return wall

A short wall perpendicular to the end of a longer wall.

Box sill

A sill for a building frame, composed of a plate resting on a foundation wall and a joist or header at the outer edge of the plate, as well as a soleplate for studs resting either directly on the joists or on the rough flooring.

L sill

A sill for a building frame, composed of a plate resting on a foundation wall and a joist or header at the outer edge of the plate.

Batten

A small board or strip of wood used for various building purposes, such as covering joints between boards, supporting shingles or roofing tiles, or providing a base for lathing.

Boarding

A structure of boards used for sheating or subflooring.

Cribbing or cribwork

A system of cribs for retaining earth or for a building being moved or having its foundation rebuilt

Ribbon or ledger, ribband, ribbon strip

A thin, horizontal board let into studding to carry the ends of joists

Mullion

A vertical member dividing the panels in wainscoting.

Pier

A vertical supporting structure, such as a section of wall between two openings or one supporting the end of an arch or lintel.

Gable wall

A wall bearing or crowned by a gable.

Bearing wall or load bearing wall

A wall capable of supporting an imposed load, as from a floor or roof of a building.

Exterior wall or external wall

A wall forming part of the envelope of a building, having one face exposed to the weather or to earth.

Blind wall

A wall having no windows, doorways or other openings.

Dwarf wall

A wall less than a full story in height

Retaining wall or breast wall

A wall of treated timber, masonry, or concrete for holding in place a mass of earth. Can fail by overturning, sliding, or settling

Stud wall or stud partition

A wall or partition framed with studs and faced with sheating, siding, wallboard, or plasterwork

Nonbearing wall or non load bearing wall

A wall supporting no load other than its own weight.

Party wall

A wall used jointly by contiguous structures erected upon a line dividing two parcels of land, each of which is a seperate real - estate entity.

Siding

A weatherproof material, such as shinges, boards, or units of sheet metal, used for surfacing the exterior walls of a frame building.

Platform frame or western frame

A wooden building frame having studs only one story high, regardless of the stories built, each story resting on the top plates of the story below or on the sill plates of foundation wall.

Balloon frame

A wooden building frame having studs that rise the full height of the frame from the sill plate to the roof plate, with joists nailed to the studs and supported by sills or by ribbons let into the studs

Surcharge

An additional or excessive load or burden, as that of the earth above the level of the top of a retaining wall

Discharging arch or relieving arch

An arch built above another structural member to relieve its load.

Backup wall

An assembly of materials used behind a curtain wall to provide the required degree of fire-resistance

Corner post

An assembly of two or three studs spiked together at the intersection of two framed walls provide a nailing surface for finish material

Surround

An encircling area or border.

Curtain wall

An exterior wall supported wholly by the structural frame of a building and carrying no loads other than its own weight and win loads

Bearing partition or load bearing partition

An interior wall carrying a structural load

Partition

An interior wall dividing a room or part of a building into separate areas.

Nonbearing partition or non load bearing partition

An interior wall supporting no load other than its own height

Spandrel glass

An opaque glass for concealing the structural elements in curtain wall construction, produced by fusing a ceramic frit to the interior surface of tempered or heat strengthened glass

Cripple

Any framing member that is shorter than usual, such as a stud above a door opening or below a window sill.

Stud

Any of a repetitive series of slender, upright members of wood or light- gauge metal forming the structural frame of a wall or partition.

Plate

Any of various horizontal timbers laid flat across the heads of studding or upon floors to support joists, rafters, or studs at or near their ends.

Anchor

Any of various metal devices used in curtain wall construction to secure a frame or panel to the building structure, usually allowing for adjustment in three dimensions.

Building paper

Any of various papers, felts, or similar sheet material used in construction to prevent the passage of air or moisture.

Wall

Any of various upright constructions presenting a continuous surface and serving to enclose, divide, or protect an area.

Interior wall

Any wall within a building, entirely surrounded by exterior wall

Dolly varden siding

Bevel siding rabbeted along the lower edge to receive the upper edge of the board below it.

Center to center or on center

From the centerline of one element , member, or part to the centerline of the next

Structural sheathing

Sheating capable of bracing the plane of a framed wall or roof..

Drop siding or novelty siding, rustic siding

Siding composed of boards narrowed along the upper edges to fit into rabbets or grooves in the lower edges, laid horizantally with their backs flat against the sheating or studs of the wall

Colonial siding

Siding composed of plain, square- edged boards laid horizontally so that the upper overlaps the one below.

Bevel siding or lap siding

Siding composed of tapered boards, such as clapboards, laid horizontally with the thicker lower edge of each board overlapping the thinner upper edge of the board below it

Vertical siding

Siding consisting of matched boards applied vertically.

Board and batten

Siding consisting of wide boards or plywood sheets set vertically with butt joints covered by battens..

Soleplate or shoe, sole, solepiece

The bottom horizontal member of a framed wall upon which a row of studs is erected

Dado

The lower portion of an interior wall when faced or treated differently from upper section, as with paneling or wallpaper.

Sill or mudsill, sill plate

The lowest horizontal member of a frame structure, resting on and anchored to a foundation wall

Top plate

The uppermost horizontal member of a framed wall on which joists or rafters rest.

Let in

To insert into the surface of a stud, wall or the like as a permanent addition.