| Glossary | |
| * A * | |
| Agreement of Sale | Also known as "Contract of purchase," sales agreement," etc. This is a contract in which the seller of a home agrees to sell and the buyer agrees to purchase the home under certain conditions set forth in the contract. |
| Amortization | The repayment of a mortgage loan; for the transfer or sale of property. |
| Appraisal | An estimate of the value of a home or property. |
| Asbestos | Asbestos was once used in older homes for insulation and other building material purposes.When found to be in friable condition, asbestos bearing materials may only be removed by a licensed professional asbestos abatement contractor. . |
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| * B * | |
| Bankruptcy | This usually occurs when a person's assests are turned over to a trustee to pay off their debts because they are not able to pay off the money they owe; in extreme cases, all debts may be discharged. |
| Branch Circuits | The term for the distribution wiring within the dwelling. |
| Budget | A person's personal record of their income with a plan of how it is to be spent during a certain time period. |
| Buidling Codes | The safety standards that need to be in place for your home or area when any construction or reconstruction is going to be done to your home. |
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| * C * | |
| Carbon Monoxide | Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that displaces oxygen in your body. It is usually formed by the incomplete burning of carbon based compounds. Carbon Monoxide has 200 times the affinity to your red blood cells that oxygen has and so prevents your body from getting enough oxygen; potentially to the point of death. |
| Carpenter Ants | Carpenter ants burrow into wood to make nests, but do not feed on the wood. They commonly nest in dead portions of standing trees, stumps, logs, and sometimes wood in houses. Carpenter Ants can cavitate the wood in your house faster than termites. |
| Ceiling Stains | This usually indicates a past or present leak in the roof, plumbing lines or excess condensation at air conditioning ductwork. |
| Chimney | A passage extened from a building or home, from where smoke or gas escapes from a fire or furnace. |
| Closing Costs | Fees and expenses that a buyer pays when completing the purchase of a house. |
| Credit Report | A report that lists all past and present credit information. It shows the timeliness of your repayment and gives you your history on all your credit information. |
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| * D * | |
| Door Casing and Trim | This is the frame and trim around the door on the interior side of the wall. |
| Downpayment | This is a portion of the home's purchase price that is paid first and is not part of the mortgage loan. |
| Downspout | This is a conduit that is used to carry roof water down from the gutters. |
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| * E * | |
| Eaves | The portions of the roof that projects beyond the outside walls of a building. It is also the bottom edges of a sloping roof. |
| Expansion Tank | In a hot water system, this is the tank that accommodates the increase in volume of heated water in the system. |
| Exterior Siding | The exterior finish of a home. Usually protects the exterior of the home from the the outdoor elements. Siding can be made of different materials such as stucco, wood, concrete, bricks, etc. |
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| * F * | |
| Flashing | A thin impervious sheet of material utilized in construction to prevent water penetration or direct the flow of water. Flashings are installed at roof hips and valleys, roof penetrations, joints between a roof and a vertical wall and in masonry walls to controll the flow of water and moisture. |
| Floor Joist | The sub-floor supports of the floor span; may be dimensional lumber joists, engineered wood joists, or metal joists. |
| Flue | A passage in a chimney used to convey smoke, gas, or fumes from a furnance, fireplace or boilder to the exterior atmosphere. There can be multiple passages and each one is known as a flue. Present chimney configurations require flue linings such as clay or metal however, older masonry chimneys may have unlined flues; a condition that is conducive to problems such as chimney deterioration and flue fires. |
| Forced Air Heating System | In a forced hot air heating system, the heat exchanger in a furnace is warmed by burning fuel. The hot air is then blown by a fan that is timed to cycle on and off with the furnace. The ambient house air is recirculated through the heat exchanger until the desired interior temperature is achieved. |
| Foundation | This is the base of poured concrete, masonry or cement slab that supports the structure of the home. |
| Friable | When applied to asbestos or asbestos bearing materials, this term designates a condition wherein loose asbestos fibers are being released. |
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| * G * | |
| Girder | A large principal beam of steel, reinforced concrete, wood or a combination of these, used to support other structural members at isolated points along its length. |
| Glaze | To install glass panes in a window or door by applying glazing compound or other material to hold the glass in place. |
| Grade | The surface or slope of the ground |
| Gutter | The horizontal channel that captures the run off from the roof; it is connected to the downspout. |
| * H * | |
| Header | This is a structural component (wood, metal or masonry) designed to support the wall load over a window, door or other opening. |
| Home Inspection | A home inspection is an objective visual examination of the accessible physical structure and mechanical systems of a home, from roof to foundation. |
| Hot Water Heater | This is a device for producing hot water. Some common types are oil, gas, or electric water heater combined with a storage tank. There are also tankless coil heaters that are used with a boiler. |
| * I * | |
| Insulation | This is material that is installed in the home’s walls, ceilings and/or floors to retain heat during the heating season and to keep the home from absorbing excess heat during the cooling season. |
| Interior Finish | The interior exposed surfaces of a building such as wood, plaster, and brick or applied materials such as paint, paneling, mirrors, or wallpaper. |
| Irregular pitch | A type of roof whose slope does not have a constant rise per foot throughout. |
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| * J * | |
| Jamb | An exposed upright member on each side of a window frame, or door lining. |
| Jalousie Window | A window shutter or blind having stationary or adjustable slats angled so as to permit ventilation and provide shade while simultaneously preventing the entrance of rain. |
| Joist | One
of a series of parallel beams, used to support ceiling and floor loads,
and supported in turn by larger beams, girders, or bearing walls. |
| * K * | |
| Kerf | A notch or slit made in wood; typically in window components, door jambs or stops to accommodate the attachment of weather-stripping. |
| Keystone | The stone at the top or middle of an arch or vault that is wider at the top than at the bottom; it enters like a wedge and binds the work. |
| * L * | |
| Lally or Lolly Column | A trade name for a metal pipe column from 3" to 6" in diameter that is sometimes filled with concrete; typically utilized to support a girder. |
| Lead | Lead is a highly toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around our homes. Lead may cause a range of detrimental health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. |
| Leader | A pipe running from the gutter (channel that collects water that drips off the roof) to the ground. |
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| * M * | |
| Masonry | Construction components composed of shaped or molded units, usually small enough to be handled by one man and fashioned from stone, ceramic brick, or tile, concrete block or other similar building materials. |
| Mildew | Mildew is a fungus that grows on the surfaces of objects, and in decaying materials. |
| Mold | Mold is considered to be any of the various fungi that often cause disintegration of organic matter. |
| * N * | |
| Nonbearing Wall | A wall designed to carry no load other than it's own weight. |
| * O * | |
| Oil Burner | A fuel-oil burning heat producing unit installed in an air or water heating unit; e.g. – a domestic water heater, hot air furnace or boiler (hot water or steam). |
| On grade | A structural component (e.g. - a concrete floor slab or deck) resting directly on the ground. |
| Open Circuit | The absence of a direct connection between two points in an electrical network. |
| Outlet | The point in an electrical wiring circuit at which the current is supplied to an appliance or device. |
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| * P * | |
| Parapet | This is the portion of an exterior wall that extends above the roof line. |
| Partition | A dividing wall within a building, usually non-load-bearing. |
| Pier | This is typically a column of masonry that is rectangular in cross section and provides support for another structural member. |
| Pointing | The filling and finishing of joints in a masonry wall. |
| Powder Post Beetle | These are wood destroying insects that lay their eggs in wood. They usually leave holes in the wooden structure so that their offspring can exit the wood. |
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| * Q * | |
| Queen Post | Either of a pair of two vertical posts set between the rafters and the base, or tie beam of a truss at equal distances from the apex. |
| Quirk | In architecture, a groove running lengthwise in a molding. |
| * R * | |
| Radon Gas | Radon Gas is a radioactive gas that comes from the natural decay of uranium in the soil. This gas if found in homes can prove to be extremely hazardous if the amount present is higher than what is considered safe (4pCi/L of air and above); pCi/L (Pico curies per liter) is a unit of measurement for radioactivity. A Pico curie is equivalent to the radioactivity present in one trillionth of one gram of pure radium. |
| Refinance | To provide new financing by discharging an existing mortgage with the proceeds from a new mortgage; usually obtained at a lower interest rate. |
| Relief Valve | A pressure activated valve held closed by spring tension and designed to automatically open to relieve pressure in hydronic piping or heating or storage units. |
| Roofing | This is the finished surface that can be found on the top of the home. It is the covering for the house's top exterior framing. It has to be made of materials that can withstand harsh weather and the outdoor elements. |
| Roof Sheathing | Any sheet or board material, such as plywood or particle board, connected to the roof rafters to act as a base for shingles or other roof coverings. |
| * S * | |
| Septic Tank | A watertight receptacle that receives the discharge from a domestic sewage system |
| Sill | The horizontal member of the bottom of a window or exterior door frame. This can also be the lowest member of the frame of the general structure of the house which rests on the foundation. |
| Sill Plate | This is the wood member that is set onto the foundation of the house to provide a surface upon which to erect the flooring and walls. |
| Soffit | The underside of a part or member of a structure, such as roof overhang, beam stairway or arch. |
| Subfloor | This is the flooring that is set under the finished flooring and above the floor joists. |
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| * T * | |
| Termites | Termites are social insects that live in colonies and build their nests in the ground; in the northeast it is the Northeast Subterranean Termite. They attack wood and paper because cellulose is their main source of food. |
| Thermostat | A solid state or mechanical electric switch controlled by an element that responds to temperature; used in heating and/or cooling systems. |
| * U * | |
| Unbalanced Partition | A wall built with two layers of drywall on one side and a single layer on the other. Such an imbalance occurs when fire or sound insulation is just needed on one side. |
| * V * | |
| Vent | Any opening serving as an outlet or inlet for air. |
| Ventilation | A natural or mechanical process by which air is introduced into or removed from a space with or without heating, cooling or purification treatment |
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| * W * | |
| Walls | A vertical building element used primarily to enclose or separate spaces. |
| Waste pipe | A pipe to convey discharge from plumbing (primarily waste) lines into a private waste system or municipal sewer system. |
| Water main | The main supply pipe in a water system providing water for public or community use; typically to connect the municipal street water main to the individual dwelling. |
| * Y * | |
| Yard | An open or enclosed space around the exterior of the house typically utilized for gardening or recreational purposes. |
| * Z * | |
| Zinc | A bluish-white, metallic chemical element usually found in combination; often utilized as a protective coating for iron or steel (as in galvanized steel piping). |
| Zone | Any area of the dwelling considered as separate or distinct as a result of possessing separate heat and/or cooling systems and/or controls. |
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| ©2004 CMC Professional Services Inc. All rights reserved. | |
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