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BEFORE THE ARCHITECT

lexicon — dictionary

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This dictionary is a work of love.  Pure, unadulterated love.  It'll take a lifetime to finish off this puppy.  So don't get your hopes up too high.  The AG just told that guy up above there'll be no end to his shoveling for a while to come.  He took it well.  Shows character.

The Autocad Granddad first-off referred to this prospective section as a glossary.  But that term glossary was too limiting.  It crowded him, you know?  Dictionary worked for him.  You'll see.  Someday.

And you're going to have to cut the old boy some slack on this cybersheet.  The subject matter is exclusively architectural designing and drafting . . . self-styled.  (N.B.: most words here will be nouns unless otherwise specified.)  The words chosen for entry into this dictionary come from a special list that the AG keeps for just such purposes.  Only the AG knows.  No, not even the Shadow.  Only the AG.

If you're looking for really good dictionaries of architecture and construction, please consider these —

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/architecture.htm.

http://www.truss-frame.com/truss-glossary.html

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A way to the words —

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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A
Architect One who spends humongous amounts of money on his own time to get guild and government OKs to draw things for humongous amounts of money on your time.
Architecture Structured space.

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B
Band Joist framing members at their perimeter.  AKA Ribbon, head joists and end joists.
Bending
  1. A force to alter an existing shape, as in curving a straight shape or vice versa.
  2. A reason rebar is set in foundations. 
Benjamin Moore The best paint the Autocad Granddad's used down all the years.
Bondo
  1. A carpenter's true friend.
  2. Fine name for your best hunting dog.
Building Codes MINIMUM standards of construction.
Building Inspector A government worker whom you might reckon as an adversary, but never, never, never as an enemy.  This is so, grasshopper, because in the former instance you should be able  either to withstand the challenges or to learn something new from him and in the latter instance you will suffer.

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C
Carpentry
  1. The single most complicated building trade.
  2. The one building trade on which more trades rely than any other.
Ceiling vault See:  Vaulted ceiling.
Cementitious siding A builder's blessing.
Chair rail Originally, continuous moulding strip of wood set horizontally to protect from chair damage to a wall.  Now, mid-level wall moulding set in strips horizontally, singly or built up, located anywhere in any room, made of anything.
Clinched Nail A nail longer than attached material which nail as exposed on the material's backside is hammered at right angle to and flat with the material, making for a much stronger fastening particularly in regard to withdrawal strength.
Cloudy
  1. What you do want when it's time to paint outside.
  2. What you do not want from an exterior, clear caulk when it gets cold outside. 
Coffer Raised panel, however done and wherever located.
Compression
  1. A pushing force at opposition, as in squeezing.
  2. The reason why piers are reinforced with rebar, the bearing force on a wall partition, etc.
Concrete driveway That which Southern contractors cannot build properly.
Contracts
  1. To honest, responsible parties — a basis for agreement and understanding.
  2. To a crook, sleaze, or loser — meaningless.
  3. To a lawyer — meaning anything that suits the lawyer's client. 
CPVC A plumber's blessing, especially in retrofits, so long as you don't have to look at it when you're finished.

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D
Dectron A company to contact for managing air in a pool, pond, spa, hot tub or other water feature enclosure.
Design 
  1. v. Forming and shaping of structures in space.
  2. n. That aspect of construction which Before The Architect makes intellectually accessible.
Designer One who designs.
Design Standards
  1. What ought to be built, not what must be built.
  2. The difference between the complexities of focused, responsible, experienced consideration and simple certification. 
Door Generally, a physical closure to a passage.
Doors Something else that no one makes best.  See:  Windows.
Doorway Vertical plane of room entry and exit.  AKA Passage.
Draft  v. tr. Draw.
Draftsman One who drafts.

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E
Engineer Engineer

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F
Force
  1. A push or a pull.
  2. The one physical fact of design, drafting, and construction life to be dealt with as seriously as safety.
Form
  1. That which is (or should be) causally related by antecedence to Function.
  2. The result of design.
Function
  1. That which is (or should be) causally related by precedence to Form.
  2. The result of life.

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G
Geocel The sealant that'll work way past when you're too cold to use it.  Underwater, too.

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H
Home Inspector A person between several rocks and hard places, e.g., real estate brokers who do not want a deal-killing inspection or inspector (so you'd better not find something that'll kill the deal or you won't get hired again); buyers completely ignorant of design and construction; numerous building codes; overlapping building codes; conflicting building codes; poorly written building codes; changing building codes; pressures to do extensive physical discovery and analysis in a very brief time period; the threat of litigious owners; the threat of litigious insurance companies; the threat of revoked licenses; the threat of revoked insurance; natural human inability to see through ceilings, walls and floors (among other places), the recognition of the differences between design standards and building codes; the trump of experience over the written word. 

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J
Jamb Roughly 1"x frame at right angles to and containing both sides and atop a door or window.
Joist Load-bearing structural member, horizontally oriented, underlying a floor or ceiling.  The plural is neither joistes nor joisteses, it is joists.

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L
Lift
  1. A force contrary to gravity, most often elevating.
  2. A reason that rafters are fastened to top plates, another reason mud and sill plates are bolted to a foundation.  See:  Sheer.
Lexel
  1. The right caulk when you need to paint it later and you have to make it work right away, even when it's a little damp.
  2. The caulk that'll break your heart for closing too fast when you don't know how to handle it.

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M
MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) The Environmentalists answer to wood, just so long as you sand it with more care than powdering a baby's bottom, get over the dimpled displacement every time you air-drive a nail into it, and brush it off meticulously before caulking and painting so it doesn't look like the neighbor's kid was your trim sub.
Moment A force that rotates or bends a structural member
"Money's no object.  Not a problem."   Does not rhyme with "Big hat, no cattle," but it ought to.

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P
Parallel Chord Truss Floor truss.
Passage Vertical plane of room entry and exit.  AKA doorway.
Pediment Originally, a gable end including decorative trim.  Now, also any decorative structure of any shape set over a door or window outside or inside.
Physical Force See:  Force.
Plan
  1. That which is done, let to rest and reflection, and then done again.
  2. An expectation of design.
Plumber Someone who does it his own way.
Politician Generalized, notable for exceptions: Buck-sucking vote vulture. 

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R
Remodel Realign architectural form to function.
Ribbon Joist framing members at their perimeter.  AKA Band.

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S
Saddle
  1. Decorative covering at passage floor level.
  2. Form of floor or flooring transition.

 AKA Threshold, Transition.
Shear
  1. A pushing or pulling force applied along a plane of contact. 
  2. The reason deck posts are anchored at their bases, mud sills and sill plates are bolted to a foundation, etc.
Shellac In spray form, superb means for closing wood knots from bleeding preparatory to painting inside or outside.
Silicon
  1. A caulk that you cannot paint.
  2. A caulk with plenty of substitutes.
  3. A caulk with limited applications.
  4. A caulk that's tough to remove.
  5. A caulk that never hardens completely.
SIPS Structural Insulated Panels AKA foam core panels AKA sandwich(ed) panels AKA structural foam panels
South The direction in which the back of your house ought to be faced generally, if you can possibly help it.
Structure  Organization, sometimes symbolic and sometimes substantial and sometimes both.
Style An identifiable design.

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T
Tension A pulling force at opposition.
Threshold
  1. Decorative covering at passage floor level.
  2. Form of floor or flooring transition.

 AKA Transition, Saddle.
Thrust
  1. A nonlinear pushing force.
  2. The reason for ceiling joists and collar beams – they keep bearing walls from being pushed outward by roof structures – they hold the walls in place.
Torque
  1. A twisting force.
  2. The reason doubled framing members are plated with repeated, close nailing patterns, the reason a bearing partition is strapped or otherwise braced, etc.
Franklin's Titebond The best adhesives on the planet.
Tradesman Someone who knows more than you think he does, works harder than you realize, and — when masterful at his work, is better at what he does than you are at what you do, nine out of ten.
Transition Generally, decorative form of covering at floor and flooring butts at a passage or elsewhere.  For Passage Transitions See:  Saddle; Threshold.

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V
Vanity Dressing table.  (Not the whole area around the table, not the room in which the table sits or is affixed — just the piece of furniture.)
Vaulted ceiling Technically, any ceiling with a pitch of 2/12 or more.  Many styles, e.g., barrel, box or channel, dome, and groin.  NB:  Attend closely to insulation codes and ventilation mechanics.
Vergeboard [Seemingly most common reference especially in Victorian style to] End rafter outset from plate lines, a/k/a fly rafter, verge rafter, barge rafter 

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W
Wainscot Narrowly, wood panel on a wall or a lower wall finish when different from the upper wall finish.  Broadly, any lower wall covering to a height less than the ceiling, to include ceramic tile, natural stone, mirror, MDF, paint, cloth such as burlap, PVC, etc.
Windows Something that no one makes best.  See:  Doors.
White Lightening The caulk to beat all caulks for almost everything.  See Geocel and Lexel.

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Y
"You do what needs doing." See:  "Money's no object."

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