Construction Terms D
Construction terminology D
Construction Terms D speaks to construction terminology D and construction phrases D.
It is quite simply a list of common home and commercial building construction terminology used by architects, consultants and contractors of all kinds enabling them to speak the same language.
Damper A flap to control or obstruct the flow of gases; specifically a metal control flap in the throat of a fireplace or in an air duct.
Damp Proofing A coating intended to resist the passage of water, commonly applied to the outside face of basement walls or to the inner face of a cavity in a masonry cavity wall.
Dap A notch at the end of a piece of material.
Darby A stiff straight edge of wood or metal used to level the surface of wet plaster or concrete.
Daylighting Illuminating the interior of a building by natural means.
Dead Load Permanent loads on a building, including the weight of the building itself and any permanently attached equipment.
Construction Terms D
Deadman A large and/or heavy object buried in the ground as an anchor.
Debt Ratio
Also known as Debt-to-Income ratio. A comparison of the total
monthly payments of all of the borrower's debts (including the mortgage) with
the gross monthly income of the borrower, used to assess borrower's ability to
pay mortgage.
Decking
A
material used to span across beams or joists to create a floor or roof surface.
Deed
A legal document conveying title to a property.
Deed Trust
A legal instrument
conveying legal title to a property to a trustee, may contain statements as to
powers of trustee, duties of trustee etc.
Deep Foundation A building foundation that extends through upper strata of incompetent soil to reach deeper strata with greater bearing capacity.
Construction Terms D
Deformation A change in the shape of a structure or structural element caused by a load or force acting on the structure.
Deformed Reinforcing Bar Steel reinforcing bars with surface ribs for better bonding to concrete.
Depreciation
The lessening of the value of a property over time
Depressed Strand
A
pretensioning tendon that is pulled to the bottom of the beam at the center of
the span to follow more closely the path of tensile forces in the member.
Derrick Any of a number of devices for hoisting building materials on the end of a rope or cable.
Construction Terms D
Design/Bid/Build Project Delivery A method of providing design and construction services in which the design and construction phases of the project are provided by different entities usually used in combination with sequential construction.
Design/Build Project Delivery A method or providing design and construction services in which the design and construction phases of the project are provided by a single entity, frequently used in combination with fast track construction.
Dew Point The temperature at which water will begin to condense from a mass of air with a given moisture content.
Dewatering The extraction of water from an excavation or its surrounding soil.
Diamond Saw A tool with a moving chain, belt, wire, straight blade or circular blade whose cutting action is carried out by diamonds.
Diaphragm Action A bracing action that derives from the stiffness of a thin plane of material when it is loaded in a direction parallel to the plane. Diaphragms in buildings are typically floor, wall, or roof surfaces of plywood, reinforced masonry, steel decking or reinforced concrete.
Construction Terms D
Die An industrial tool for giving identical form to repeatedly produced or continuously generated units, such as a shaped orifice for giving form to a column of caly, a steel wire, or an aluminum extrusion, a shaped punch for making cutouts of sheet metal or paper; or a mold for casting plastic or sheet metal.
Die-cut Manufactured by punching from a sheet material.
Differential Settlement Subsidence of the various foundation elements of a building at differing rates.
Diffuser A louvre shaped so as to distribute air about a room.
Dimension Lumber Lengths of wood, rectangular in cross section, sawed directly from the log.
Dimension Stone Building stone cut to a rectangular shape.
Disbursement
An expenditure of money.
Construction Terms D
Distribution Rib A transverse beam at the midspan of a one way concrete joist structure, used to allow the joists to share concentrated loads.
Discount Rate
A basis for interest rates, the rate charged by the Federal
Reserve System on loans to banks.
Divider Strip A strip of metal or plastic embedded in terrazzo to form control joints and decorative patterns.
DMR
Department Of Marine Resources is a government agency that
enforces laws pertaining to water quality
Dome An
arch rotated about its vertical axis to produce a structure shaped like an
inverted bowl: a form used to make one of the cavities in a concrete waffle
slab.
Dormer A structure protruding through the plane of a sloping roof, usually containing a window and having its own smaller roof.
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Double Glazing Two parallel sheets of glass with an airspace between.
Double Hung window A window with two overlapping sashes that slide vertically in tracks.
Double Shear Acting to resist shear forces at two locations, such as a bolt that passes through a steel supporting angle, a beam web, and another supporting angle.
Double-skin Facade An exterior wall system consisting of two separate glass skins separated by an interstitial space; also called dual wall facade or double skin wall.
Double Strength Glass Glass that is approximately 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick.
Double Tee A precast concrete slab element that resembles the letters TT in cross section.
Construction Terms D
Dovetail Slot Anchor A system for fastening to a concrete structure that uses metal tabs inserted into a slot that is small at the face of the concrete and larger behind.
Dowel A short cylindrical rod of wood or steel; a steel reinforcing bar that projects from a foundation to tie it to a column or wall, or from one section of a concrete slab or wall to another.
Down Payment
Money required by banks secure a loan. The down payment will
reduce the principal amount of the loan. This will insure that the buyer has
some amount of monetary investment in the house.
Downspout A vertical pipe for conducting water from roof to a lower level, also called a leader.
Drainage Removal of water.
Drainage Backfill Crushed stone or gravel backfill materials with good drainage characteristics, placed around a foundation to facilitate drainage.
Draped Tendon A post tensioning strand that is placed along a curving profile that approximates the path of the tensile forces in a beam.
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Drawing Shaping a material by pulling it through an orifice, as in the drawing of steel wire or the drawing of a sheet of glass.
Drawn Glass Glass sheet pulled directly from a container of molten glass.
Draw
Disbursements of money that are made from a construction loan
during the construction of a house. These are usually made at specified stages of
the construction.
Drift Lateral deflection of a building caused by wind or earthquake loads.
Drift Pin A tapered steel rod used to align bolt holes in steel connections during construction.
Drip A discontinuity formed into the underside of a window sill or wall component to force adhering drops of water to fall free of the face of the building rather than to move farther toward the interior.
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Dropchute A flexible hoselike tube for placing concrete; used to break the fall of the concrete and prevent segregation.
Drop Panel A thickening of a two way concrete structure at the head of a column.
Drying Shrinkage Shrinkage of concrete, mortar or plaster, that occurs as excess water evaporates from the material.
Dry-Pack Grout A low-slump cementitious mixture tamped into the space in a connection between precast concrete members.
Dry-Press Process A method of molding slightly damp clays and shales into bricks by forcing them into molds under high pressure.
Dry-Set Mortar A tile setting mortar formulated with Portland cement, sand and water retention compounds, used in thin set tile applications.
Dry Systems Systems of construction that use little or no water during construction, as differentiated from systems such as masonry, plastering and ceramic tile work.
Dry Well An underground pit filled with broken stone or other porous material from which rainwater from a roof drain system can seep into the surrounding soil.
Duct A hollow conduit, commonly of sheet metal, through which air can be circulated, a tube used to establish the position of a post tensioning tendon in a concrete structure.
Due On Sale
A clause in a mortgage which requires that the mortgage be paid
out in full upon the sale of the house.
DWV Pipe Drain
waste vent pipe; the part of a plumbing system of a building that removes
liquid wastes and conducts them to the sewer or sewage system.
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