Paint –

Blistering – The forming of bubbles or blisters on the painted surface while the paint coat is still elastic.

Checking – The act of cracking in paint.

Colloidal Paints – A paint made with pure pigments and without fillers. The pigments are not ground, but are reduced to extremely fine particles and colloidally suspended in the vehicle.

Drier – A volatile liquid assisting the paint mixture to dry.

Filler – Consists of a drying vehicle and an inert filler to level out the pores or cells of coarse grained wood such as oak.

Incompatibility – Successive paint coats of radically different composition causing premature failure of the final coat.

Peeling – The final stage in the failure of a coat of paint due to excessive moisture in the wood behind the paint, or to incompatibility of successive coats. Some types of multi-pigment paints fail by peeling.

Pigment – The solid ingredient of paint giving it colour and contributing to the body of the paint.

Plastic – A coating applied by brush or spray, containing plastic resins.

Priming Coat – The first coat of paint applied to the new surface.

Varnish – A coating containing natural or synthetic varnish resins that will reveal the grain and natural or stained colour of the wood it protects.

Vehicle – The liquid ingredient that, upon drying, gives adhesion of pigment particles to each other and to the object being painted and contributes to the body of the coat.

Pane – A sheet of glass cut to size for use as a window light. A panel.

Panel – A large sheet of lumber, plywood, or other material. A thin board with all its edges inserted in a groove of a surrounding frame of thicker material. A portion of a flat surface recessed below the surrounding area, distinctly set off by moulding or some other decorative device. Also a section of floor, wall, ceiling or roof, usually prefabricated and of large size, handled as a single unit in the operation of assembly and erection.

Panelboard – Defined under “Electrical Terms”.

Panel Heating – Defined under “Heating”.

Panel-Point – Defined under “Truss”.

Panel Radiator – Defined under “Heating”.

Panic Bolt – A special form of door-bolt located at the middle of the door that is released by pressure. Commonly used on exit doors. 

Parapet – A wall serving as a guard at the edge of a roof, terrace, bridge, etc.

Parapet Wall – That part of an exterior wall, party wall or fire wall extending above the roof line.

Parging – A coat of plaster or cement mortar applied to masonry or concrete walls.

Parquet – Flooring made in geometrical designs with small pieces of wood.

Parting Strip (Bead) – A thin strip of wood set into the head and jamb of a window frame for holding the sash apart.

Partition – The interior wall separating one part of a house from another; usually a permanent inside wall that divides a house into various rooms.

Partition Types –

Bearing – A partition that supports any vertical load in addition to its own weight.

Dwarf – A partition of less than normal full height. A row of short studs to provide intermediate support for a long roof span.

Fire – A partition designed to restrict the spread of fire between adjoining rooms or areas.

Non-Bearing – A partition extending from floor to ceiling that supports no load other than its own weight.

Party Wall – See “Wall, Party”.

Pebble Dash – A term used for finishing the exterior walls of a structure by dashing pebbles against the freshly applied mortar mixture; also called rough cast.

Peeling – Defined under “Paint”.   

Perch – A measure used in stonework, being 24 ¾ cubic feet or 16 2/3 cubic feet according to locality and custom.

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

Pigment – Defined under “Paint”. 

Pilaster – A column of pier forming an integral part of a wall and partially projecting from the wall face.

Pile – Height of carpet fibres.

Pile – A heavy timber of pillar of metal or concrete, forced into the earth or cast in place to form a foundation member.

Pitch – (a) Also “Slope”. Inclination to the horizontal plane.

(b)   Dark-coloured bituminous or resinous substances consisting of fusible, viscous to solid, distillation residue of tars, especially coal tars.

Pitched Roof – Defined under “Roof Types”.

Plain Concrete – Unreinforced concrete.

Plank Framing – Defined under “Wood Framing”.

Plaster Board – A rigid board made of gypsum plaster covered on both sides with heavy paper.

Plate – See definition “Wall Plate”. A shoe or base member, as of a partition or other frame. A small relatively flat member usually of metal placed on or in a wall to support girders, rafters, etc. A non-structural protective unit, such as push-plate, kick-plate, etc.

Platform Framing – A system of framing a building on that floor joists of each storey rest on the top plates of the storey below (or on the foundation sill for the first storey) and the bearing walls and partitions rest on the sub-floor of each storey.

Plot – See “Building Site”. 

Plot Plan – A plan of a building site used to show the lot size and locate the building, side yard dimensions, grade elevations and essential services.

Plough – To cut a groove.

Plumb – Vertical, to make vertical.

Plumb Line – A strong, heavy string or cord with a weight on one wend. It is used to establish a perpendicular line.

Plumbing – The pipes, fixtures and other apparatus for the water supply, venting and the removal of water-borne wastes.

Plumbing System – Defined under “Plumbing Terms”

Plumbing Terms –

Air Gap – The vertical distance between the lowest point of a water supply inlet and the flood level rim of the fixture of device into that the inlet discharges.

Appliance – A receptacle or equipment that receives or collects water, liquids or sewage and discharges water, liquids or sewage either directly or indirectly to a drainage system.

Backflow – The flow of water or other liquids, mixtures or substances into the distributing pipes of a potable supply of water from any source or sources other than its intended source and may be produced by the differential pressure existing between two systems either or both of that are at pressures greater than atmospheric.

Back Siphonage – The flowback of water from a plumbing fixture or vessel or other sources into a water supply pipe due to a negative pressure in such pipe.

Branch – A soil-or-waste pipe that

(a) Is in one storey,

(b)   Is connected at its upstream end to the junction of two or more soil-or-waste pipes, or to a soil-or-waste stack, and

(c)  Is connected at its downstream end to another branch, a soil-or-waste stack, or a building drain.

Building Drain – That part of the lowest horizontal piping that conducts sewage, clear water waste, or storm water to a building sewer.

Building Sewer – A pipe that is connected to a building drain 3 feet outside of a wall of a building to conduct sewage, clear water waste or storm water to a public sewer or private sewage disposal system.

Building Trap – A trap that is installed in a building drain or building sewer to prevent circulation of air between a drainage system and a public sewer.

Circuit Vent – A vent pipe that is connected at its lower end to a branch and at its upper end to a vent stack or is terminated in open air.

Cleanout – A pipe fitting that is intended to provide access to a pipe to permit pipe cleaning.

Combined Sewer – A sewer that is intended to conduct sewage, clear water waste and storm water.

Drainage System – An assembly of pipes, fittings, fixtures, traps, and appurtenances that is used to convey sewage, clear water waste or storm water to a public sewer or a private sewage disposal system, but does not include subsoil drainage pipes.

Dry Well – A covered pit with open-jointed linings through which drainage from roofs, basement floors or areaways may seep or leach into the surrounding soil.

Fixture – A receptacle, appliance, apparatus or device in a plumbing system that may discharge sewage or clear water waste, and includes a floor drain.

Interceptor – A receptacle that is installed to prevent oil, grease, sand, or other materials from passing into a drainage system.

Leader – A pipe that is installed to carry storm water from a roof to a building storm drain or sewer or another place of disposal.

Main Vent – The principal soil or waste stack in a plumbing system that connects the system to the open air.

Nominally Horizontal – At an angle of less than 45° with the horizontal

Offset – A combination of elbows or bends that brings one section of the pipe out of line but parallel with the other section.

Plumbing System – A drainage system, a venting system and a water system.

Potable Water – Water that is safe for human consumption.

Roughing-In –The plumbing system that is enclosed in the walls, ceilings and under the basement floor.

Septic Tank – A sewage settling tank intended to retain the sludge for sufficient time to secure satisfactory decomposition of organic solids by bacterial action.

Sewage – Liquid waste that contains animal, mineral or vegetable matter in suspension or solution.

Soil-or-Waste Stack – A vertical soil-or-waste pipe that passes through one or more storeys and includes any offset that is a part of the stack.

Stack Vent – A vertical vent pipe that is an extension of a soil-or-waste stack.

Subsoil Drainage Pipe – A perforated pipe that is installed underground to intercept and convey ground water.

Sump – A tank or pit that receives and holds the discharge from a drainage pipe.

Trap – A fitting or device that is designed to hold a liquid seal that will prevent the passage of gas but will not materially affect the flow of a liquid.

Venting System – An assembly of pipes and fittings that connects a drainage system with outside air to assure circulation of air and the protection of trap seals in the drainage system.

Water Closet – A toilet.

Water Service Pipe – A pipe that is in a water system and conveys water from a public water main or a private water source to the inner side of the wall or floor through which the system enters the building.

Ply – Used to denote the number of thicknesses of building paper, or in plywood, the thicknesses of wood veneer; as three ply, five ply, etc.

Plywood – A piece of wood made of two or more layers of veneer joined with glue and usually laid with the grain of adjoining piles at right angles. To secure balanced construction, it is customary for an odd number of piles to be used.

Portland Cement – A hydraulic cement, commonly used in the building trades, consisting of silica, lime and alumina intimately mixed in the proper proportions, then burned in a kiln. The clinkers or vitrified product, when finely ground, form an extremely strong cement.

Potable Water – Defined under “Plumbing Terms”.

Power Circuit – Defined under “Electrical Terms”.

Prefabricated Construction – Defined under “Construction Types”.

Priming – Defined under “Paint”.

Private – When used with respect to a room or other space within a building, means that such room or space is intended solely for the use of an individual tenant or family.

Profile – An outline drawing of a section especially a vertical section through a structural part; a contour drawing.

Public – When used with respect to a room or other space within a building, means that such room or space is intended to be used in common by the occupants of the building, their guests or tradesmen.   

Puddle – To compact clay by wetting, so as to render it firm and solid.

Purlin – Defined under “Truss Terminology”.

Putty (Carpentry) – A plastic substance used by glaziers, painters and finish carpenters for sealing glass in sash and filling small holes in wood such as those left by nails.

Pyramid Roof – Defined under “Roof Types”.