UK/USA Tile Terms Translator

[Rob Z]

On another thread, Fred used the term Set Out in a way that makes me think it's the same as what we call Lay Out.

As in, do your lay out (the plan) for how all the tile is going to be set, the cuts, balanced around main feature in the room, etc.

 

[Rob Z]

Hey Lucius,

I spent some time on the Rubi site ....I see quite a few things that are named differently from what I hear the guys say here. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Rob Z]

Maybe I should add in here some of the terminology that we use for framing houses, or at least the terms that the tile setter needs to know for his or her work.

For us, all the wood that goes into building a house is called the FRAMING. This is both a noun and a verb, and all of this work is done by FRAMERS. Any wood product that goes into the framing of the house is called LUMBER. We only use the British word TIMBER for a stand of harvestable trees that are quite large and tall, and when really large pieces of wood are used for building barns or houses in the old-fashioned way, which then is refered to as TIMBER FRAME CONSTRUCTION.

I read the word NOGGIN here, for which we use the words CLEAT or BLOCKING. BRIDGING is any wood or metal that is used in a cross-brace fashion between the FLOOR JOISTS. Floor joists are any lumber that are stood on the narrow end and span across a room to support the floor. BTW, noggin for us is a word for your head, such as I got a bonk on the noggin when I stood up under that *@&! cabinet and hit my head. :lol:

SUBFLOOR is any wood product that lies flat on top of the floor joists. Most subfloor is either tongue and groove plywood or OSB (oriented strand board). We nickname OSB as "Beaver Barf" or "Vertical Mulch" because we don't like it that much.:lol: In the days before plywood, subfloor was almost always laid down as dimensional lumber such as 1x6's and 1x8's (measured in inches). SHEATHING is any wood product that is used to clad the exterior of the house (behind the siding, brick, stone, etc) or the roof (as base for shingles).

UNDERLAYMENT is any finished surface that is laid on top of the subfloor as prep for vinyl, tile, etc. Underlayment is usually some sort of good quality plywood that can receive vinyl flooring or a tile membrane of some sort, and is the second layer over the subfloor plywood or OSB.

I read about MDF being used in the UK for floors, but here MDF is only used for some moldings and some cabinets products.

Nails that secure framing and subfloor are called SINKERS.

STUDS are the vertical pieces of lumber that form the walls. On the top and bottom of all stud walls are PLATES , and over door and window opeings are HEADERS. The studs that hold up the header are the JACKS and the studs on the sides of the headers are the KINGS. CRIPPLES are any short studs that fill in between a header and the top plate or the bottom of a window opening and the bottom plates.

A short framed wall between a tub and a shower (for example) is called a KNEE WALL, although in the Western US they call it a PONY WALL.

I might think of more and will add it later.

 

[mikethetile]

hi rob

framing....................................stud work

lumber.....................................timber

bridging....................................herringbone struts

sheathing.................................cladding

sinkers.....................................lostheads

studs.......................................standards

plates......................................head.............at top
sill................at bottom

headers...................................lintols

jacks, kings, and cripple are terms used in roof construction as the name for various rafters

knee wall..................................dwarf wall