Wall
Any of various upright constructions presenting a continuous surface and serving to enclose, divide, or protect an area.
Bearing wall
A wall capable of supporting an imposed load, as from a floor or roof of a building.
Nonbearing wall
A wall supporting no load other than its own weight.
Exterior wall
A wall forming part of the envelope of a building, having one face exposed to the weather or to earth. Also called EXTERNAL WALL.
Interior wall
Any wall within a building, entirely surrounded by exterior walls.
Partition
An interior wall dividing a room or part of a building into separate areas.
Bearing partition
An interior wall carrying a structural load.
Nonbearing partition
An interior wall supporting no load other than its own weight.
Screen
A movable or fixed device, especially a framed construction, designed to divide, conceal, or protect.
Movable partition
A partition capable of being moved to different locations. Also called DEMOUNTABLE PARTITION.
Canton
A pilaster or similar feature projecting from a corner of a building.
Pilaster
A shallow rectangular feature projecting from a wall, having a capital and a base and architecturally treated as a column.
Engaged column
A column built so as to be truly or seemingly bonded to the wall before which it stands.
Return wall
A short wall perpendicular to the end of a longer wall.
Coping
A finishing or protective cap or course to an exterior wall, usually sloped or curved to shed water.
Splayed coping
A coping that slopes only in one direction. Also called WEDGE COPING.
Saddle coping
A coping that slopes to either side of a center ridge. Also called SADDLEBACK COPING.
Parapet
A low, protective, wall at the edge of a terrace, balcony, or roof, especially that part of an exterior wall, fire wall, or party wall that rises above the roof.
Gable wall
A wall bearing or crowned by a gable.
Basement wall
A foundation wall that encloses a usable area under a building.
Party wall
A wall used jointly by contiguous structures, erected upon a line dividing two parcels of land, each of which is a separate real-estate entity.
Pier
A vertical supporting structure, such as a section of wall between two openings or one supporting the end of an arch or lintel.
Discharging arch
An arch above another structural member to relieve its load. Also called RELIEVING ARCH.
Lintel
A beam supporting the weight above a door or window opening.
Template
A horizontal timber or stone set in a wall to receive and distribute the pressure of a girder or beam. Also, templet.
Blind wall
A wall having no windows, doorways, or other openings.
Frame house
A house constructed with a skeletal framework of timber, usually sheathed with siding or shingles.
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.
Wall plate
A horizontal member built into or laid along the top of a wall to support and distribute the load from joists or rafters. Also called RAISING PLATE.
Top plate
The uppermost horizontal member of a framed wall on which joists or rafters rest.
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 finish materials.
Stud wall
A wall or partition framed with studs and faced with sheathing, siding, wallboard, or plasterwork. Also called stud partition.
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.
Cripple
Any framing member that is shorter than usual, such as a stud above a door opening or below a window sill.
Center-to-center
From the centerline of element, member, or part to the centerline of the next. Also called on center.
Soleplate
The bottom horizontal member of a framed wall upon which a row of studs is erected. Also called shoe, sole, sole piece.
Platform 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 the foundation wall. Also called western frame.
Pony wall
A dwarf wall supporting floor joists.
Dwarf wall
A wall less than a full story in height.
Corner brace
A diagonal brace let into studding to reinforce the corner of a frame structure.
Let in
To insert into the surface of a stud, wall, or the like as a permanent addition.
Corner post
An assembly of two or three studs spiked together at the intersection of two framed walls to provide a nailing surface for finish materials.
Backing
A narrow wood strip fixed to the corner of a framed partition to provide a nailing surface for finish materials.
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.
Ledger strip
A piece attached to the face of a beam at the bottom as a support for the ends of joists.
Ribbon
A thin, horizontal board let into studding to carry the ends of joists. Also called ledger, ribband.
Balloon frame
A wooden building frame having studs that rise to 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.
Anchor bolt
Any of the various rods or bolts embedded in masonry or concrete to hold, secure, or support a structural member.
Sill
The lowest horizontal member of a frame structure, resting on and anchored to a foundation wall. Also called mudsill, sill plate.
Box sill
A sill for a building frame, composed of a plate resting on a foundation wall and 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 joists or header at the outer edge of the plate.
Sill sealer
A resilient, fibrous maters placed between a will and a foundation wall to reduce air infiltration.
Termite shield
Sheet metal installed atop a foundation wall OT around pipes to prevent the passage of termites.
Siding
A weatherproof material, such as shingles, boards, or units of sheet metal, used for surfacing the exterior walls of a frame building.
Corner board
The board against which siding is fitted at the corner of a frame structure.
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.
Rake
A board or molding placed along the sloping sides of a gable to cover the ends of siding.
Sheathing
A rough covering of boards, plywood, or other panel materials applied to a frame structure to serve as a base for siding, flooring, or roofing.
Structural sheathing
Sheathing capable of bracing the plane of a framed wall or roof.
Diagonal sheathing
A sheathing of boards applied diagonally for lateral strength.
Boarding
A structure of boards used for sheathing or subflooring.
Building paper
Any of various papers, felts, or similar sheet material used in construction to prevent the passage of air or moisture.
Board and batten
Siding consisting of wide boards or plywood sheets set vertically with butt joints covered by batten.
Vertical siding
Siding consisting of matched boards applied vertically.
Colonial siding
Siding composed of plain, square-edged board laid horizontally so that the upper overlaps the one below.
Bevel 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. Also called lap siding.
Dolly Varden siding
Beveled siding rabbeted along the lower edge to receive the upper edge of the board below it.
Drop siding
Siding composed of boards narrowed along the upper edges to fit into rabbets or grooves in the lower edges, laid horizontally with their backs flat against the sheathing or studs of the wall. Also called novelty siding, rustic siding.
Paneling
A series of panels, especially decorative wood panels, joined in a continuous surface.
Surround
An encircling area or border.
Panel
A distinct portion, section, or division of a wall, wainscot, ceiling, or door, especially of any surface sunk below or raised above the surrounding area, or enclosed by a frame or border.
Wainscot
A facing of wood paneling, especially when covering the lower portion of an interior wall.
Mullion
A vertical member dividing the panels in wainscoting.
Dado
The lower portion of an interior wall when faced or treated differently from the upper section, as with paneling or wallpaper.
Flush panel
A panel having a surface in the same plane as the surrounding frame.
Raised panel
A panel having a center portion thicker than the edges or projecting above the surrounding frame. Also called fielded panel.
Sunk panel
A panel having a surface recessed below the surrounding frame or surface.
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.
Quirk
A groove or acute angle dividing a bead or other molding from adjoining members or surfaces.
Bolection
A raised molding for framing a panel, doorway, or fireplace, especially when the meeting surfaces are at different levels.
Curtain wall
An exterior wall supported wholly by the structural frame of a building and carrying no loads other than its own weight and wind loads.
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.
Girt
A horizontal member spanning between exterior columns to support wall sheathing or cladding.
Safing
A noncombustible material placed in an opening to prevent the passage of fire, as between a curtain wall and a spandrel beam.
Spandrel
A panel-like area in a multi-story frame building, between the sill of a window on one level and the head of the window immediately below.
Spandrel beam
A beam spanning between columns and supporting the outer edge of a floor or roof.
Backup wall
An assembly of materials used behind a curtain wall to provide the required degree of fire resistance.
Unit system
A curtain wall system consisting of pre-assembled, framed wall units that may be preglazed or glazed after installation.
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.
Stick system
A curtain wall system in which TUBULAR METAL mullions and rails are assembled piece by piece on-site to frame vision glass and spandrel units.
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.
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.
Unit-and-mullion system
A curtain wall system in which one or two story high millions are installed before preassembled wall units are lowered into place behind the millions.
Retaining wall
A wall of treated timber, masonry, or concrete for holding in place a mass of earth; can fail by overturning, sliding or settling. Also called breast wall.
Surcharge
An additional or excessive load or burden, as that of earth above the level of the top of a retaining wall.
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 overturning and sliding.
Riprap
A layer of broken stones thrown together irregularly on an embankment slope to prevent erosion.
Revet
To face a sloping surface or embankment with stone or other material.
Revetment
A facing of masonry or other suitable material for protecting an embankment against erosion.