Construction Terms Sghi speaks to construction terminology 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.
Shading Coefficient The ratio of total solar heat passing through a given sheet of glass to that passing through a given sheet of glass to that passing through a sheet of clear double strength glass, mostly replaced in contemporary energy calculations by solar heat gain coefficient.
Shaft An unbroken vertical passage through a multistory building used for elevators, wiring, plumbing, ductwork and so on.
Shaft Wall A wall surrounding a shaft.
Shake A wood roofing material, normally cedar or redwood. Produced by splitting a block of the wood along the grain line. Modern shakes are sometimes machine sawn on one side. See shingle.
Shake On Hardener A dry powder that is dusted onto the surface of a concrete slab before troweling to react with the concrete and produce a hard wearing surface for industrial use.
Construction Terms Sghi
Shale A rock formed from the consolidation of clay or silt.
Shallow Foundation A building foundation located at the base of a wall or a column bearing on soil relatively close to the ground surface.
Shear A deformation in which planes of material slide with respect to one another.
Shear Block Plywood that is face nailed to short (2 X 4's or 2 X 6's) wall studs (above a door or window, for example). This is done to prevent the wall from sliding and collapsing.
Shear Connection A connection designed to resist only the tendency of one of one member to slide past the other and not as in a cement connection to resist any tendency of the members to rotate with respect to one another, in steel frame construction known as a simple connection.
Shear Panel A wall, fore or roof surface that acts as a deep beam to help stabilize a building against deformation by lateral forces.
Shear Stud A piece of steel welded to the top beam or girder so as to become embedded in the fill over the beam and cause the beam and the concrete to act as a single structural unit.
Shear Wall A stiff wall that imparts lateral force resistance to a building frame.
Sheathing, Sheeting The structural wood panel covering, usually OSB or plywood, used over studs, floor joists or rafters/trusses of a structure.
Shed Roof A roof containing only one sloping plane.
Sheet Metal Work All components of a house employing sheet metal, such as flashing, gutters, and downspouts.
Construction Terms Sghi
Sheet Metal Duct Work The heating system. Usually round or rectangular metal pipes and sheet metal (for Return Air) and installed for distributing warm (or cold) air from the furnace to rooms in the home.
Sheet rock- Drywall-Wall Board or Gypsum A manufactured panel made out of gypsum plaster and encased in a thin cardboard. Usually 1/2" thick and 4' x 8' or 4' x 12' in size. The 'joint compound'. 'Green board' type drywall has a greater resistance to moisture than regular (white) plasterboard and is used in bathrooms and other "wet areas".
Shelf Angle A horizontal steel angle attached to the wall or spandrel of a building to support a masonry facing.
Shim A small piece of scrap lumber or shingle, usually wedge shaped, which when forced behind a furring strip or framing member forces it into position. Also used when installing doors and placed between the door jamb legs and 2 X 4 door trimmers. Metal shims are wafer 1 1/2" X 2" sheet metal of various thickness' used to fill gaps in wood framing members, especially at bearing point locations.
Shingles Roof covering of asphalt. asbestos, wood, tile, slate, or other material cut to stock lengths, widths, and thickness'.
Shingles, Siding Various kinds of shingles, used over sheathing for exterior wall covering of a structure.
Shiplap A board with edges rabbeted so as to overlap flush from one board to the next.
Shop Drawings Detailed drawings prepared by a fabricator to guide the shop production of such building components as cut stonework, steel or precast concrete framing, curtain wall panels and cabinwork.
Shoring Temporary vertical or sloping supports of steel or timber.
Short Circuit A situation that occurs when hot and neutral wires come in contact with each other. Fuses and circuit breakers protect against fire that could result from a short.
Construction Terms Sghi
Shotcrete A low slump concrete mixture that is deposited by being blown from a nozlle at high speed with a stream of compressed air, pneumatically placed concrete.
Shrinking Compensating Cement Specially formulated cement used to counteract the drying shrinkage and normally occurs during curing.
Shrinking Reducing Admixture A concrete additive that reduces drying shrinkage and the cracking that results.
Shrinkage Temperature Steel Reinforcing bars laid at right angles to the principal bars in a one way slab for the purpose of preventing excessive cracking caused by drying shrinkage or temperature stresses in the concrete.
Shutter Usually lightweight louvered decorative frames in the form of doors located on the sides of a window. Some shutters are made to close over the window for protection.
Side Hinged Inswinging Window A window that opens by pivoting inward on hinges at or near a vertical edge of the sash.
Sidelight A tall, narrow window alongside a door.
Side Sewer The portion of the sanitary sewer which connects the interior waste water lines to the main sewer lines. The side sewer is usually buried in several feet of soil and runs from the house to the sewer line. It is usually 'owned' by the sewer utility, must be maintained by the owner and may only be serviced by utility approved contractors. Sometimes called sewer lateral.
Siding The finished exterior covering of the outside walls of a frame building.
Siding Nail A nail with a small head used to fasten siding to a building.
Construction Terms Sghi
Siding, (lap siding) Slightly wedge-shaped boards used as horizontal siding in a lapped pattern over the exterior sheathing. Varies in butt thickness from ½ to ¾ inch and in widths up to 12".
Silica Fume Very finely divided silicon dioxide, a pozzolan, used as an admixture in the formulation of high strength, low permeability concrete also called microsilica.
Silicone A polymer used for high range sealants, roof membranes and masonry water repellants.
Sill (1) The 2 X 4 or 2 X 6 wood plate framing member that lays flat against and bolted to the foundation wall (with anchor bolts) and upon which the floor joists are installed. Normally the sill plate is treated lumber. (2) The member forming the lower side of an opening, as a door sill or window sill.
Sill Cock An exterior water faucet (hose bib).
Sill Plate (mudsill) Bottom horizontal member of an exterior wall frame which rests on top a foundation, sometimes called mudsill. Also sole plate, bottom member of an interior wall frame.
Sill Seal Fiberglass or foam insulation installed between the foundation wall and sill (wood) plate. Designed to seal any cracks or gaps.
Simple Caulk and Seal A method similar to the airtight drywall approach for constructing a light frame building enclosure that is resistant to the free flow of air, but requiring less coordination between framing and sealing operations than the airtight drywall approach.
Simple Connection A steel frame shear connection with no useable resistance to rotation, previously referred to as an AISC Type 2 connection.
Single Hung Window A window with two overlapping sashes the lower of which can slide vertically in tracks and the upper of which is fixed.
Construction Terms Sghi
Single Ply Roof Membrane A sheet of plastic or synthetic rubber used as a membrane for a low slope roof.
Single Strength Glass Glass approximately 3/32 imch (2.5 mm) thick.
Single Tee A precast slab element whose profile resembles the letter T.
SIP Structural insulated panel.
Sitecast Concrete that i poured and cured in its final position in a building, cast in place.
Construction Terms Sghi
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