Language of Architecture Archives - Designing Your Perfect House

Our Word of the Week – Ogee

Bill Hirsch — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 21:28:55 +0000

Ogee – Ogee, pronounced like saying the letters O.G., refers to a shape seen often in architecture, woodworking, and even aluminum gutters, of all places. An ogee shape is a curved shape that resembles an “s” shape (on its side) as shown below. It has two opposing curves that make up its length.

The shape you see on traditional mouldings (crown moulding or otherwise) and baseboard caps is often an ogee. Also, some gothic and Middle Eastern archways utilize the ogee form – curving up one side and mirrored down the other makes an archway. Even though the word is uncommon, the shape is fairly common in architecture. It is so common, it is even the shape of standard rain gutters.

Go ahead and impress your friends. Identify a shape as an ogee, instead of calling it curved or “s” shape. Or better yet, use the word in a game of Scrabble. I would bet your opponent will challenge you on it.

Two Versions of Ogee Shapes

There are two basic ogee curves. The more common is a version with the lower portion bulging out and the upper portion curving in. The accurate name for this is a Cyma Recta. This is very prevalent in American Colonial architecture. The second and less common version is the Cyma Reversa where the lower portion of the curve goes in and the upper portion bulges outward.

By the way, if you want to be architecturally accurate you will spell “moulding” this way with a “u” and not this way – molding.

I hope this information is helpful to you. You might want to get yourself a copy of my best-seller, Designing Your Perfect House. It is chockfull of valuable tips and advice that will save you many times the cost of the book on your house building or remodeling project. You might also like The Well-Centered Home: Simple Steps to Increase Mindfulness, Self-Awareness, and Happiness Where You Live. It will show you how to make your home a happy place.

The post Our Word of the Week – Ogee appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Learn Some House Framing Words – Studs, Joists, Rafters, I-Joists

Bill Hirsch — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 17:09:46 +0000

Do you know these house framing words? Studs, Joists, Rafters, LVL’s. I-Joists. OSB. Unless you are in the construction industry, these words may seem to be a foreign language to you. When an architect and builder sit down to discuss the plans for a building, they speak a common language, the language of construction. Sometimes I forget that those of us in the construction industry use words that are not common words. Many of these words are jargon or sounds like jargon. It can be embarrassing when a homeowner, who is probably a “non-construction” person, must keep asking what every third word means. Let’s take a few minutes to familiarize you with some of them so you can join in the discussion and know what everyone is talking about.

Here Are a Few Words that Relate to the Framing of a House.

Studs – These are the pieces of wood set vertically to frame walls. They are usually 2×4’s or 2×6’s, which means they are approximately 2″ by 4″ or 2″ by 6″ in size. Studs are usually eight, nine, or ten feet long.

Joists – Joists are the pieces of lumber that are placed horizontally to form the floors and ceilings. These are typically 2×8′ or 2x10s. In new construction they might be I-joists or wood trusses.

Beams – Beams are large pieces of lumber that support floors and roofs. Beams are used at large openings in walls and as the basic framework of the structure. Joists and rafters rest on beams and walls.

Rafters – These are the pieces of lumber set on an angle to form the structure of a sloping roof.

Sheathing – This is the 4′ by 8′ pieces of plywood or OSB board used for the subfloor, exterior wall, and roof surface.

Dimensional or Engineered Lumber

Some other house framing words you might hear your architect and builder use are Dimensional and Engineered Lumber. For centuries, houses were built with solid wood framing lumber. By “solid wood,” I mean boards and planks that have been cut right out of a tree trunk. Solid wood lumber is known as Dimensional Lumber. This is wood from solid logs of pine, spruce, hemlock, or other species that have been cut into standard, nominal sizes of 2”x4” on up to 2”x12.” The smaller 2×4’s and 2×6’s are still the predominate wood product used for studs in wood-framed walls.

The large sizes of dimensional lumber, 2×8’s and 2×10’s, had been the standard material for floor joists and roof rafters for centuries. But great advances have been made in the production of what’s called Engineered Lumber, i.e. lumber made of thin wood sheets and random sized wood strips bonded together with strong resins and adhesives. Engineered Lumber is widely used in the form of Plywood (the original engineered lumber product), Oriented Strand Board (OSB), I-Joists, and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) for those building components.

Plywood was probably the original Engineered Lumber product. It was invented in the 1800’s, but it was flimsy and hard to manufacture. It did not come into common use until after World War II, after it was used in the production of fighter planes. For decades it was used for floor and roof sheathing. It is still used that way, but not very often. It has been replaced by OSB sheathing almost universally.

OSB Sheathing

Here is a sheet of OSB Board in the photo above. It is made up of small strips of wood glued together with an adhesive resin under pressure. Most OSB Boards, such as Advantech, are virtually waterproof, won’t warp and swell, and are very strong. Floors built with Oriented Strand Board are stronger and less prone to deforming than plywood.

Engineered Framing Lumber

Engineered lumber is being used more and more for the framing of floors. It has several advantages over dimensional lumber. It is stronger. There are no weak spots, such as knots. Joists made of engineered lumber can be made to be much longer in length. Dimensional lumber is limited by the length of the logs that are available. Engineered lumber does not shrink like dimensional lumber can. It can be fabricated to be deeper (vertical dimension) to allow more room in floor cavities for insulation and mechanical systems. And it allows maximum use of lumber resources by making use of even the fragments of lumber that used to be discarded by the lumber mills.

An I-joist is made from Engineered Lumber. It consists of a piece of LVL lumber along the top and bottom edge and a vertical piece of OSB panel set vertically between the two. It resembles the letter “I” in cross section, like a steel I-beam. You can see these in the image at the top of this article. I-joists have become the preferred choice for framing floors because of their dimensional stability (they don’t shrink) and the greater depths (vertical dimension). The greater depth makes them stiffer and less bouncy than dimensional lumber floor joists.

Dimensional and Engineered Wood Beams

Beams are used to support the structure across large spans and to form the structure where bearing walls are not located. Traditionally, beams were one solid chunk of wood, usually cut from the center of a large log. But now, large logs are harder to come by and expensive. Engineered LVL beams have replaced dimensional lumber beams except where a decorative beam is desired.

An LVL beam looks like a very thick piece of plywood. You can see one in the image at the beginning of this article. They can be made quite long and thick, so they are used for long spans. Builders prefer working with them because they are easy to work with, can be cut and drilled with normal carpentry drills and saws, and they can be installed and connected just like a wooden beam would be installed. Plus, they don’t warp. This is a huge benefit.

For more “Construction Words,” check out my Glossary of Architectural Terms for these definitions and other mystifying words you hear tossed about by your builder and architect to become a savvy, informed client and customer.

The post Learn Some House Framing Words – Studs, Joists, Rafters, I-Joists appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Our Word(s) Of The Week: Plinth and Casings

Bill Hirsch — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 20:34:16 +0000

Our Word(s) Of The Week : Plinth and Casings

This week’s word of the week is actually going to be two words: Casing and Plinth. This is because we have a video to present that features both words. Before we get to that…

Casing: The casing is the trim around a door, a window, or an opening. The casing facilitates the transition from wall to door (or window, or opening). Casings can be found in many different styles and sizes.

Plinth: A plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, structure, or (in this case) a door casing rests. According to Gottfried Semper (famed, 19th Century, German architect), the plinth exists to negotiate between a structure and the ground. In the video you’ll see how this plinth sticks out from the baseboard where it meets the casing. This gives it the appearance of being a structural element – it appears that it’s holding something up.

The post Our Word(s) Of The Week: Plinth and Casings appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Shutter Dogs : Our Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 22:23:10 +0000

Shutter dog – To me this sounds like that stray dog looking for scraps, going from house to house. Don’t mind him. He’s just a shutter dog. Actually this is a tool used by houses everyday.

Functional exterior window shutters – meaning they can be swung shut to protect the windows – are held open during pleasant weather by pieces of wrought-iron or cast-iron. These iron pieces are called shutter dogs. They are mounted to the house or window sill and pivot to allow the shutters to close.

Shutter dogs are often decorative. That is, they are mounted on inoperable shutters. They are there merely to mimic the look of the functioning ones. But shutter dogs are often decorative in an artistic sense as well. They come in many shapes and sizes. It seems the most popular design is the “S” shaped shutter dog.

The post Shutter Dogs : Our Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Rainwater Conductor : Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:50:47 +0000

Rainwater Conductor – This is a little man in the clouds with a railroad hat and a baton. With a flick of the wrist and a wave of the hand, he tells the rain where and when to fall. This, of course, is fantasy. If there was such a being, the US government would have employed him by now to help out California, and drown our enemies.

A rainwater conductor is something much simpler. Think of the rain gutter that runs along the edge of the roof. As the rain falls, it collects in the gutter, which is slightly pitched to a gathering point. At that low point, the rain water is directed downward where it can be expelled, dispersed, or collected at the bottom of the house. This pipe that runs vertically from the gutter to the ground is the rainwater conductor. It also goes by other names that you may have heard before, like downspout, leader, or downpipe.

The main purpose of the gutter system is to protect a building’s foundation by channeling the rainwater away from its base. It also reduces erosion, protects painted and finished surfaces of the house, and prevents leaks in the basement or crawlspace. Sometimes the rainwater conductor leads into a barrel or cistern to collect the water. This water can then be used for other purposes like plant irrigation.

The post Rainwater Conductor : Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Apron: Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 16:10:53 +0000

Apron– If you think of an apron as something that sits on top of a separate article and hangs down to cover it, you’re pretty much right. An apron in the kitchen is worn to protect the clothes you wear underneath. In architecture, the apron doesn’t really protect what lies beneath, but it does sit on top of the under-layer as the fabric apron would.

The trim piece below the window sill is called the apron.

The window apron serves as a transition between the window sill and the wall it’s embedded in. When you look at the window from the interior side, the flat, broad piece of trim immediately beneath the sill is called the apron. It provides a decorative element. Without the apron, the window would look abrupt and unnatural. It doesn’t protect the wall, but it does hide the seam where the window was inserted.

The post Apron: Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Course: Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 19:50:11 +0000

Course – A course is a course, of course – it can even be coarse. “Course” is one of those words that has many different definitions across many different subject matters. Since we are a website concerned with house design and construction, we’ll use the meaning from the masonry realm. Brickwork is a form of masonry made by laying bricks and mortar to build a structure, such as a brick wall. A course refers to a horizontal row of bricks. Each course of bricks is laid on top of the next, and the structure grows.

Here we see a rowlock on top of a soldier course.

Each course is a layer of brick (or similarly sized building material) is continuously horizontal and one unit high. Other material that could form a course includes cut stone and concrete masonry units. Different types of courses include Stretcher, Header, Rowlock, Soldier, Sailor and Shiner.

The post Course: Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Turret: Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 16:19:17 +0000

Turret – In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building. You may be familiar with turrets protruding from the side of a medieval castle. But they are still found today in many styles of design.
Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification. As their military use faded, turrets were used for decorative purposes, as in the Scottish baronial style. Although, in a pinch, they could regain their protective function should the neighbors try to invade, or if the zombie apocalypse finally happens.

Here is a turret between the kitchen and the back patio.

A turret can have a circular shape with a pointed roof, or other kind of apex. It might contain a staircase if it projects higher than the building; however, a turret is not necessarily higher than the rest of the building; in this case, it is typically part of a room, that can be simply walked into. The turret pictured here is actually the breakfast room adjacent to the kitchen.

The difference between a turret and a tower is that a tower runs from the ground up. Whereas the turret is considered to be a protruding piece off the edge of the building.

The post Turret: Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Soldier Course: Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 13:45:26 +0000

Soldier course – No, this is not Military 101 or a freshman class at West Point. A “course” here refers to a single row of bricks within a brickwork structure, such as a wall. Each course is classified based upon how it’s laid, and how the exposed face is oriented relative to the face of the finished wall.

Here we see a rowlock on top of a soldier course.

A soldier course is a row of bricks laid vertically with the long narrow side of the brick exposed. You’ll often see the soldier course around a door or window as way to accentuate the trim and define the transition between wall and opening. Or it can act as the transition between two materials, as seen in the picture.

This particular soldier course has a rowlock course on top of it. Think of a soldier course as a rank and file of bricks standing at attention, as the soldiers do.

The post Soldier Course: Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.

Rowlock: Word of the Week

Bill Hirsch — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 21:03:40 +0000

Rowlock – In the boating world, a rowlock is the U-shaped device that holds an oar in place and acts as a fulcrum during rowing. But this website is based in the construction world. Around here, a rowlock refers to a classification of laid brick.

It defines how the exposed face of the brick is oriented relative to the face of the finished wall.
As the picture indicates, a rowlock is a run of bricks laid on the long narrow side with the short end of the brick exposed. Alternate brick orientations include stretcher, header, soldier, sailor, and shiner.

The post Rowlock: Word of the Week appeared first on Designing Your Perfect House.