NPA explains jargon used by builders.

If you don't know your purlin from your pointing, our jargon-busting glossary of builders' terms should help. NPA has included an exterior wallcoatings glossary at the end. (to be updated)

Architrave - Moulding round opening such as door or window

Arris - Sharp external angle - usually 90 degrees

Baluster - Alternative term for Banister

Barge Board - Wide board fitted on edge of tiles following the slope of the roof

Bead - Small convex moulding

Bib Tap - Tap fed by horizontal supply - as in a garden tap

Blown or Live - Plaster that has lost its bond with the wall

Bond - Arrangement of bricks to ensure stability of brickwork

Buttress or Pier - Thickening of wall to form a vertical projection to strengthen it

Cavity Wall - Usual construction for external walls comprising an inner and outer leaf with a space between for insulation

Cistern - Tank for storing water - usually located in the attic

Cleat - cable fixing for phone wire, etc

Coping - Protective finish to the top of a wall

Corbelling - Successive projecting courses of brickwork

Cove or Cornice - Moulding around room at junction of wall and ceiling

Dado Rail - Horizontal moulding part way up a wall

Deal - Term for piece of square-sawn softwood

Distemper - Wall paint made from water, pigment and glue (traditional)

Drip - Moulding or groove in overhanging member to prevent water creeping back

Eaves - Overhang of roof beyond wall below

Efflorescence - Unsightly powdery white salts brought to surface of brickwork

Flashing - Metal sheet used to deflect water at junction between roof and wall

Flat Arch - An arch that is almost completely horizontal

Flaunching - Cement mortar filler round the top of a chimney stack

Flue - Tube conveying smoke or fumes from fireplaces or appliances

Flush Door - Door with completely flat faces

Footlifter - Wedge used to lift boards for nailing to wall

Formation Level - The deep point in an excavation for a drive or path

Frog - Indent on bed face of a brick

Gauged Brickwork - Fine brickwork with very thin joints

Gable or Verge - Upper part of an outer wall at the end of a pitched roof

Glazing Bar - Thin bar shaped to receive pane of glass

Gravity Fed System - Central heating system that circulates water by gravity and water expansion

Header - The end face of a brick

Header Tank - Small open cistern (tank) that feeds water to central heating system

Herringbone - Zigzag pattern of brickwork

Hip - Line of adjoining sections of pitched roof at external angle of building

Hipped Roof - Pitched roof, the ends of which are also sloped

Hip Tile - Roof tile shaped to cover hip of roof

Jamb - The side of an opening in a wall for a door or window

Joist - Support for floor and ceiling
Knotting - Varnish to stabilise knots in wood

Lean-to Roof - Sloping roof supported along its highest part by a taller adjoining wall

Light - Subdivision of a window - fixed or opening. Opening light can be top or side hung

Lintel - Concrete or steel beam over opening to support wall above

Loose-Fill Insulation - loose material for insulating cavity walls and lofts

Mansard Roof - Form of pitched roof designed to provide more space for rooms

Megger - Test meter used by electricians

Mezzanine - Extra floor - possibly inserted between floor and ceiling of very tall room

Mitre - Angled joint (similar to joint in picture frame)

Module - Dimensional co-ordination of components

Muck - Brickie term for mortar

Mullion - Upright post in window

Newel - Vertical post at top and bottom of staircase

Nogging - Short wooden stiffeners inserted between joists

Nosing - Rounded edge of a stair tread projecting beyond the riser

Parapet - Low wall at the edge of a roof

Pebble Dash - Roughcast wall finish with stones bedded in rendered wall

Pilaster - Projecting part of a square column which is attached to wall

Pitch - Slope of roof - expressed as an angle or ratio

Plain tile - Rectangular "flat" roofing tile

Plaster - Applied wall finish

Plasterboard - Prefabricated sheets of plaster for walls and ceilings

Plinth - Projecting base to external walls

Purlin - Horizontal beam, part way up a rafter to prevent sagging

Rafters - Series of structural timbers rising from eaves to ridge to support pitched roof covering

Rail - Horizontal member in door or fence

Relieving Arch - An arch constructed above a lintel or beam to take weight of wall above

Render - External sand-cement coating for walls

Reveal - Vertical side of door or window opening

Ridge - Top of a pitched roof

Ring Main - Power circuit for sockets
Rise - Vertical distance between two adjacent stair treads

Riser - Upright part of a stair OR vertical water pipe from the mains

Roof Truss - Prefabricated structural timer framework to support roof

RSJ - Rolled steel joist

Sash - Framework for glass - in particular double-hung sliding sash window

Screed - Layer of fine concrete used to provide smooth surface prior to floor finish

Sarking Felt - Waterproof felt under roof tile battens

Second Fix - Items fitted following plastering - including joiner, cupboards and plumbing/electrical fittings

Sill - Bottom horizontal member of a door or window frame

Skim - Finishing coat of plaster

Skirting - Horizontal board at junction between floor and wall

Soffit - Visible underside of a projecting surface

Span - Horizontal distance covered by a beam or lintel etc.

Spoil - Material dug out during excavation

Stack - Vertical pipe carrying waste from sinks and toilets

Stocks - Hand or machine-made bricks made in a mould

Stretcher - The side face of a brick

String - Sloping board carrying the treads and risers of a staircase

Tarmac - Bitumen macadam coating aggregate for drive/path surfaces

Timber Frame - Type of house construction usually finished with brickwork outer skin

Tread - Horizontal part of a stair

TRV - Thermostatic radiator valve

Voussoir - Wedge-shaped brick used in arch construction

Wainscot - Wooden lining to the walls of a room (traditional)

THE ABOVE IS FROM THE FMB WEBSITE. NPA does not infer membership of this organisation, we provide this for reference.

Terms and phrases used in the exterior wall coating industry

The following section has been authored by the editor of NEVER PAINT AGAIN and as such, you may only quote or reproduce this article with our prior permission.

* Bagging: A sand and cement slurry with a PVA adheisive (Like Unibond) added. This prepares a surface like pebbledash or tyrolean, for the application of subsequent coatings or paints whilst at the same time glueing loose pebbles to the wall.

* Slushing: A primer, usually waterproof and resin or spirit based, to complement the surface of the wall, and give added protection. Can be sprayed, brushed or rollered on. It is essential to prime a wall in most cases, before an application of an exterior textured masonry coating is applied or it wont last the expected time.

* Frosty: A somewhat derogatory but well-meaning term used to describe sharp salesman's dream, an elderly OAP, with lots of money and needing to spend on the outside of her house!

Very outdated and unethical.

Amazingly some textured coating companies prey on people like this all the time. Dear reader, you have no idea the uphill struggle it has been to bring a sense of respectability to the rather niche "wallcoatings" industry.

* A spreads: A positive and well liked nickname for a plasterer or rendering contractor.

* A sparky or sparks. Same as above for electricians.

* The Fibre: A term used by some asbestos removal contractors to refer to each others profession.

* Pine end or Gable end: The pointed end walls of a house in which the side view of the wall looks like a triangle.

* Crew foreman, crew supervisor, application crew leader: terms used to describe a skilled tradesmen whose normal job is to apply spray-on exterior masonry coatings. Often employs a labourer to help out. (see below) Many are also skilled painters and decorators also.

* labourer, mucca, hoppo, skivvy, lad, navvy, numpty, kid, trainee, s*** shoveller (!), the brew boy (making tea), assistant: Range of terms, er.......mostly derogatory but mainly well-meaning, describing the assistant in a typical spray on UK wallcoating team. Often a good opportunity to gain a foothold in the exterior coating or building industry. THE AUTHOR OF THIS WEBSITE DID THE SAME JOB 22 YEARS AGO!

* The yard: Usually a builders merchant or DIY store nearby. Good for the essentials.

* Dry as a bone here: Term used to describe a customer who, despite the builder or wallcoatings crew working very hard on the house, no tea or any drink is ever offered. NOTE: PLEASE GIVE BUILDERS AND WALLCOATINGS INSTALLERS LOTS OF CUPS OF TEA! IT GETS THE JOB DONE QUICKER.

* Greasy spoon, caff, nosebag: A term for a builders cafe, and there are some cracking ones around if you know. Wallcoatings crews are usually well travelled and can quote hundreds of cafe's off the top of their head! (sometimes with full UK postcode, prices, the general smell of the place, and how fit (or indeed, how ugly) the girl behind the counter was!)

* A holiday: A piece of wall or section of wall that an inexperienced labourer had not correctly painted with primer.

* Digs: Cheap bed and breakfast accommodation suitable for builders. There are some very good ones around, and there are some terrible and very seedy places. Luck or local knowledge essential. To a travelling sub-contractor, it can make the difference between and enjoyable job and a nightmare job.

* Deposit: usually paid at the time of placing an order with a wallcoating company. Check they are genuine before you part with money, don't ever deal in cash. From the companies point of view, it avoids time wasters, gives both parties a solid commitment to doing the work, and also in many cases, pays for the salesman's commission, and why not indeed, they do a job too!

* Hawk: Nothing to do with birds of prey, a hawk is the square board thing with the short single handle sticking underneath. A renderer or plaster loads a small amount of his mortar on the hawk and takes portions at random whilst plastering. Used with a "laying-up" trowel to render a wall.

* Masking up: The process of covering all areas on a house not to be sprayed. Expert maskers (like myself) can use masking when doing a house in 2 or 3 different colours, to make sure overspray and colour bleeding doesn't occur. Masking paper has a host of other uses too. This paper, especially contaminated with surplus coating or paint, should ideally be NOT placed on a bonfire, definitely not left out for the bin men, and certainly never left at the site to fester and decay over time: This waste should be taken to a licensed waste disposal site.

* Quote chaser: Derogatory term for what seems to be a potential customer however they fall into 2 categories:

1) Bored and lonely: This person likes nothing more than to call in representatives for not only exterior coatings, but damp proofing, blinds, computer systems, security systems, double glazing, conservatories, the list goes on. Well scripted in cancelling the next day and stopping cheques and always tell you so much about their rights, you think you have a steady stream of lawyers as customers.!. Often, and with respect, a pain in the neck and often enjoy directing malice directed at legitimate people. Thankfully these people are rare.2) The undecided: This person knows by reading this website or speaking to a wallcoatings or UPVC sales rep, that a wallcoating is expensive, yet if a company quotes them £5,000 or something, they are convinced they can get it cheaper, although when 10 people have quoted them and not one company could offer the job to him for 500 cash, the penny drops!

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The above glossary is under construction.