Glossary

Bay  -  The space between cross frames

Box frame  -  A system of framing where posts and wall plates support roof trusses

Brace - Diagonal piece of timber to add strength and stop the building from racking

Bressumer - Sill supporting the upper wall above a jetty

Bridging beam - Large floor beam supporting ends of joists

Cambered beam - Centre of the beam is higher than the sides

Chamfer - Small surface made by taking off a flat piece of timber at 45º

Collar Purlin - Alternative name for a crown plate

Crown Plate - Central beam which supports collared rafters

Crown Post - Post which supports the crown plate, which is usually shaped (for decoration)

Cruck blades - Curved pairs of large timbers, which reach from the floor to the ridge. Usually a matching pair are made by splitting a curved tree in half

Dragon Beam - Floor beam set diagonally to support a jettied floor

Draw Pegging - Method by which the peg hole in the tenon does not quite line up with the peg hole in the mortice, so when a tapered peg is driven into the joint, it closes up tightly

Girding Beam - Horizontal beam known as girth or rail, at level of upper floor

Green Oak - Freshly felled oak still with a high moisture content.

Jettied Building - A building in which each floor overhangs the floor below. Seen in many timber framed town houses and also Wealdon style buildings

Joists - Horizontal beams in the floor that support the floorboards

Jowl Post -Flared head of main post, which enables the joining of wall plate and tie beam

King Post - Central post in a truss used to support the tie beam

Mortice and Tenon - Common joint for connecting two pieces of timber together

Passing brace - Brace pegged across vertical or horizontal timbers

Peg - Wooden pin used to connect the joints in a frame

Principle Rafter - Main diagonal beam in the truss

Purlin - Horizontal roof timbers which support the rafters

Queen Posts - A pair of timbers in a truss, used to support the principle rafter by the purlins. These can be curved or straight.

Racking - The unwanted sideways movement of a frame, causing the joints to deviate from their true angles.

Rafters - Timbers from wall plate to apex

Ridge - Horizontal timber supporting top ends of rafters

Scarf Joint - Used to connect two lengths of timber together to form one continuous length

Scribing - A method of marking out joints on out of square timber

Sill - Horizontal bottom timber of window frame

Spandrel - Space between jointed post, brace and beam

Tie Beam - Horizontal beam that ties the wallplates together and also forms the main part of a truss

Trusses - 'A' frames in the roof which take the load from the purlins

Wind brace - Brace from principal rafter to purlin which strengthens roof structure and stops the trusses from racking