Remodeling Terminology & Definitions · P

The following is a list of industry related terminology which we at The Remod Squad® thought might be helpful to both homeowners and professionals alike. Definitions will be continually added to this list.

paint

A combination of pigments with suitable thinners or oils to provide decorative and protective coatings.

pan flashing

A water repellent product or assembly of products that form a pan below windows or doors that divert any unintended penetration of water safely to the exterior of the drainage plane.

panel

In house construction, a thin flat piece of wood, plywood, or similar material, framed by stiles and rails as in a door or fitted into grooves of thicker material with molded edges for decorative wall treatment.

parting stop or strip

A small wood piece used in the side and head jambs of double-hung windows to separate upper and lower sash.

partition

A wall that subdivides spaces within any story of a building.

penny

As applied to nails, it originally indicated the price per hundred. The term now serves as a measure of nail length and is abbreviated by the letter d.

perm

A measure of water vapor movement through a material (grains per square food per hour per inch of mercury difference in vapor pressure).

pier

A column of masonry, usually rectangular in horizontal cross section, used to support other structural members.

pigment

A powdered solid in suitable degree of subdivision for use in paint or enamel.

pitch

The incline slope of a roof or the ratio of the total rise to the total width of a house, i.e., an 8-foot rise and 24-foot width is a one-third-pitch roof. Roof slope is expressed in the inches of rise per foot of run.

pitch pocket

An opening parallel to the annual rings of growth, that usually contains, or has contained, either solid or liquid pitch.

pith

The small, soft core at the original center of a tree around which wood formation takes place.

plaster grounds

Strips of wood used as guides or strike-off edges around window and door openings and at base of walls.

plate, sill plate

A horizontal member anchored to a masonry wall; Sole plate: bottom horizontal member of a frame wall; Top plate: top horizontal member of a frame wall supporting ceiling joists, rafters, or other members.

platform framing

A system of framing a building in which floor joists of each story rest on the top plates of the story below or on the foundation sill for the first story, and the bearing walls and partitions rest on the sub floor of each story.

plough

To cut a lengthwise groove in a board or plank.

plumb

Exactly perpendicular; vertical.

ply

A term to denote the number of thicknesses or layers of roofing felt, veneer in plywood, or layers in built-up materials, in any finished piece of such material.

plywood

A piece of wood made of three or more layers of veneer joined with glue, and usually laid with the grain of adjoining plies at right angles. Almost always an odd number of plies are used to provide balanced construction.

pores

Wood cells of comparatively large diameter that have open ends and are set one above the other to form continuous tubes. The openings of the vessels on the surface of a piece of wood are referred to as pores.

preservative

Any substance that, for a reasonable length of time, will prevent the action of wood-destroying fungi, borers of various kinds, and similar destructive agents when the wood has been properly coated or impregnated with it.

primer

The first coat of paint in a paint job that consists of two or more coats; also the paint used for such a first coat.

purlin

A piece of wood which sits on the principal rafters, and has been positioned horizontally to support common rafters on a roof; horizontal timbers that connect rafter trusses; longitudinal roof timbers carried by roof trusses which give support to the common rafters.

putty

A type of cement usually made of whiting and boiled linseed oil, beaten or kneaded to the consistency of dough, and used in sealing glass in sash, filling small holes and crevices in wood, and for similar purposes.