Construction Terms F,
Construction Terminology F
Construction Terms F speaks to construction terminology F and construction phrases.
It is quite simply a list of common home and commercial building construction terminology used by architects, consultants and contractors of all kinds enabling them to speak the same language.
Fabricator The company that prepares structural steel members for erection; any entity that assembles building components prior to arrival on the construction site.
Facade An exterior face of a building.
Face Brick A brick selected on the basis of appearance and durability for use in the exposed surface of a wall.
Face Nail A nail driven through the side of one wood member into the side of another.
Face Shell The portion of a hollow concrete masonry unit that forms the face of the wall.
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Fahrenheit A temperature scale on which the boiling point of water is fixed at 212 degrees and the freezing point at 32 degrees.
Fanlight A semicircular or semielliptical window above an entrance door, often with radiating muntins that resemble a fan.
Fascia The exposed vertical face of an eve.
Fast Track Construction A method of providing design and construction services in which design and construction overlap in time; also called phased construction.
Faying Surface The contacting surfaces of steel members joined with a slip-critical connection.
Felt A thin, flexible sheet material made of soft fibers pressed and bonded together. In building practice, a thick paper or a sheet of glass or plastic fibers.
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Fema
FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA is a
government agency responsible for managing and providing aid in the event of a
disaster in a certain part of the country.
Ferrous Metal
Any
iron based metal.
Ferrous Steel In common usage, steel unprotected fro corrosion by either galvanizing or alloying.
Fibrous reinforcing Short fibers of glass, steel or polypropylene mixed into concrete to act as either microfiber reinforcing or microfiber reinforcing.
Fieldstone Rough building stone gathered from river beds and fields.
Figure The surface pattern of the grain of a piece of smoothly finished wood or stone.
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Filigree Precast Concrete A hybrid concrete system in which precast concrete sections are used as permanent formwork for cast in place concrete.
Fillet A rounded inside intersection between two surfaces that meet at right angles.
Fillet Weld A weld at the inside intersection of two metal surfaces that meet at right angles.
Financial Statement
A document which sets out the assets, income, expenses and debts
of a person or company to allow a third person to assess that person or
corporation's financial health (i.e. when considering lending money to that
person or corporation).
Fine Aggregate Sand used in concrete, mortar or plastic plaster mixes.
Fine Grained Soil Soil with particles 0.003 inch (0.075 mm) or less in size: silts and clays.
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Finger Joint A glued end connection between two pieces of wood, using an interlocking pattern of deeply cut fingers. A finger joint creates a large surface for the glue bond, to allow it to develop the full tensile strength of the wood it connects.
Finial A slender ornament at the top of a roof or spire.
Finish Exposed to view, material that is exposed to view.
Finish Carpenter One who does finish carpentry.
Finish Carpentry The wood components exposed to view on the exterior of a building, such as window or door casings, baseboards, bookshelves and the like; may also refer to exterior finish carpentry, such as exterior trim, deck railings and similar items.
Finish Coat The final coat of paint or other finishing system.
Finish Coat Plaster The final coat of plaster applied over gypsum base or one or more applications of base coat plaster.
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Finish Floor The floor material exposed to view as differentiated from the subfloor, which is the loadbearing floor surface beneath.
Finish Lime A fine grade of quicklime used in finish coating gypsum plasters and in ornamental plaster work also called lime putty.
Finish Nail A relatively thin nail with a very small head, used for fastening trim and other finish woodwork items.
Fire Area In the international Building Code, an area within a building bounded by fire resistant construction. Fire area size, occupant load, and location within the building are used to determine automatic sprinkler requirements.
Fire Barrier In the International Building Code, a fire resistant wall intended to deter the spread of fire, used to separate exit stair enclosure, differing occupancies and fire areas.
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Fireblocking Wood or other material used to partition concealed spaces within combustible framing, intended to restrict the spread of fire within such spaces.
Firebox The part of a fireplace, stove or furnace in which fuel is combusted.
Firebrick A brick made to withstand very high temperatures, as in a fireplace, furnace or industrial chimney.
Firecut A sloping end cut on a wood beam or joist where it enters a masonry wall. The purpose of the firecut, is to allow the wood member to rotate out of the wall without prying the wall apart if the floor or roof structure burns through in a fire.
Fire Door A fire resistant door used in fire resistance rated partitions and walls.
Fire Partition In the International Building Code, a fire resistant wall intended to deter the spread of fire used to separate tenant spaces, dwelling units and corridors from surrounding areas of a building.
Fireproofing Material used around a steel or concrete structural element to insulate it against excessive temperatures in case of fire.
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Fire Protective Glazing Fire rated glass for use in fire doors, fire windows and other protected openings that does not meet all of the requirements for use as a fire resistance rated wall assembly.
Fire Rated Glass Glass that is capable of retaining its integrity in an opening after being exposed to fire.
Fire Resistance Rating The time in hours or fractions of an hour, that a material or assembly will resist fire exposure as determined by ASTM E119.
Fire Resistant Noncombustible, slow to be damaged by fire, forming a barrier to the passage of fire.
Firestopping A
component or mastic installed in an opening through a floor to retard the
passage of fire; frequently used interchangeably with fireblocking.
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Fire Wall A wall extending from a foundation to roof, required under a building code to separate buildings or parts of uildings as a deterrent to the spread of fire.
Fire Zone A legally designated area of a city in which construction must meet established standards of fire resistance and combustibility.
Firing The process of converting dry clay into a ceramic material through the application of intense heat.
First Cost The cost of construction, not including operational costs.
Fixed Window Glass that is immovable mounted in a wall.
Firm Offer
An offer to purchase delivered to the potential Vendor by a
potential Purchaser who will not negotiate any changes to the offer.
First Lien
The registered legal claim which stands first in line to enjoy the
proceeds of a sale of the property. Liens generally are ordered according to
time or registration but various statutes allow some liens (realty taxes) to
jump to the head of the line.
First Refusal
The ability to make an offer for a property before the
owner puts it up for sale on the open market.
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Flame Spread Rating A measure of the rapidity with which fire will spread acdoss the surface of a finish material as determined by ASTM standard E84.
Flagstone Flat stones used for paving or flooring.
Flange A projecting crosspiece of a wide flange or channel profile, a projecting fin.
Flash Cove A detail in which a sheet of resilient flooring is turned up at the edge and finished against the wall to create an integral baseboard.
Flashing A thin continuous sheet of metal, plastic, rubber or waterproof used to prevent the passage of water through a joint in a wall, roof or chimney.
Flat Grain Lumber Dimension lumber sawed in such a way that annual rings are oriented close to parallel with the face.
Flat Seam A sheet metal roofing seam that is formed flat against the surface of the roof.
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Flemish Bond Brickwork laid with each course consisting of alternating headers and stretchers.
Flip
The rapid turnover of a piece of property by one person who buys
it for a certain price then sells it soon thereafter for more.
Flitch Sliced Veneer
A thin sheet of wood cut by
passing a block of wood vertically against a long sharp knife.
Float A small platform suspended on ropes from a steel building frame to permit ironworkers to work on a connection; a trowel with a slightly rough surface used in an intermediate state of finishing a concrete slab; as a verb; to use a float for finishing concrete.
Float Glass Glass sheet manufactured by cooling a layer of molten glass on a bath of molten tin.
Floating Floor Wood or laminate flooring that is not fastened or adhered to the subfloor.
Floating Foundation A foundation placed at depth such that the weight of the soil removed is close to the weight of the building being supported.
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Flocculated Having a fluffy microstructure such as that of clay particles in which the platelets are randomly oriented.
Flood Insurance
A policy of insurance that specifically covers damage due to flood
waters, required in designated flood areas.
Flood Test The submersion of a horizontal waterproofing system, usually for an extended period of time, to check for leaks.
Flue A passage for smoke and combustion products from a furnace, stove, water, heater or fireplace.
Fluid Applied Roof Membrane A roof membrane applied in one or more coats of a liquid that cure to form an impervious sheet.
Fluoropolymer A highly stable organic compound used as a finish coating for building cladding.
Flush Smooth, lying in a single plane.
Flush Door A door with smooth planar faces.
Flux A material added to react chemically with impurities and remove them from molten metal. Fluxes are used both in steelmaking and in welding. Welding fluxes serve the additional purpose of shielding the molten weld metal from the air to reduce oxidation and other undesirable effects.
Fly ash Dust collected in the stacks of coal fired power plants, used as a supplementary cementitious material in concrete and mortar.
Flying Formwork Large sections of slab formwork that are moved by crane.
Fly Rafter A rafter in a rake overhang.
F Number An index number expressing the statistical flatness or levelness of a concrete slab.
Foil Backed Gypsum Board Gypsum board with aluminum foil laminated to its back surface to act as a vapor retarder and thermal insulator.
Folded Plate A roof structure whose strength and stiffness derive from a pleated or folded geometry.
Footing The part of a foundation that spreads a load from the building across a broader area of soil.
Forced Air System A furnace and/or cooling coil and ductwork that heat and/or cool air and deliver it, driven by a fan, to the rooms of a building.
Form Deck Thin, corrugated steel sheets that serve as framework for a reinforced concrete deck.
Foreclose
The act of a bank or lending institution calling for the early
payment in full of a loan. This process is usually brought about when payments
are not made on a loan resulting in default.
Form Release Compound A substance applied to concrete formwork to prevent concrete from adhering.
Form Tie A steel or plastic rod with fasteners on either end, used to hold together the two surfaces of formwork for a concrete wall.
Form Tie Hole A depression, typically conical in shape, in a cast-in-place concrete wall that remains after the protruding portions of a form tie are removed.
Formwork Structures usually temporary, that serve to give shape to poured concrete and to support it and keep it moist as it cures.
Foundation The portion of a building that transmits structural loads from the building into the earth.
Framed Connection A shear connection between the steel members made by means of steel angles or plates connecting to the web of the beam or girder.
Framing Plan A diagram showing the arrangement and sizes of the structural members in a floor or roof.
Framing Square
An L shaped measuring tool used by carpenters to lay out right angle
cuts as well as more complicated cuts, such as those required for stairs and
sloping roof rafters.
Framing Inspection
A framing inspection is an inspection performed by a
building official to check for any discrepancies in the framing work completed.
Free and Clear
A description of title to property which is unencumbered
and subject to no competing claims.
Freestone Fine grained sedimentary rock that has no planes of cleavage or sedimentation along which it is likely to split.
Free Water In wood water held within the cavities of the cells.
Freeze Protection Admixture A concrete or mortar additive used to allow curing under conditions of low ambient temperature.
French Door A symmetrical pair of glazed doors hinged to the jambs of a single frame and meeting at the center of the opening.
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Frictional Soil A soil such as sand that has little or no attraction between its particles and derives it strength from geometric interlocking of the particles also called a cohesionless soil.
Frit Ground up coloured glass that is heat fused to lights of glass to form functional or decorative patterns.
Frost Line The depth in the earth to which the soil can be expected to freeze during a severe winter.
Fully Restrained Moment Connection A steel frame moment connection sufficiently rigid such that the geometric angles between connected pieces remain unchanged during normal loading; previously referred to as an AISC Type 1 connection.
Furring Channel A formed sheet metal furring strip.
Furring Strip A length of wood or metal attached to a masonry or concrete wall to permit the attachment of finish materials to the wall using screws or nails; any linear material used to create a special separation between a finish material and underlying substrate.
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