Real Estate Glossary

Real Estate Glossary
Our glossary is the largest dictionary of real estate and construction terms on the Internet with almost 10,000 definitions.



 
Fa - Fal - Fe - Fi - Fin - Fir - Fis - Fl - Flo - Flu - Fr - Fu


Irregularly shaped flat stone, approximately 1" to 4" thick, which are used for paving walkways and patios.

Flagstone pavement.

Wood flakes bonded with a binder material to be used as sheeting veneer under cabinets or as sheathing, under the finish, for walls and roofs.

The burning gas or vapors of a fire; a flickering light of various colors.

Metal cut with a torch.

Something not easily damaged by fire or which does not catch on fire. Non-combustible.

Tests, done in accordance with ASTM Standard E84, for establishment of fire-resistant values of building materials by measuring how fast and far flames will spread over certain surfaces.

Easily set on fire. Easily ignited.

1. Projecting rim or collar on a wheel or pipe which holds it in place, gives it strength or allows it to attach to another object. Often there are bolt holes circled around the outer edge of the rim, with bolts with nuts holding the two flanges together against a gasket that separates them.
2. The rim that goes around the metal enclosure that holds the electrical circuits, at the point where it passes into the electrical equipment enclosure.
3. Side sections on an I-beam.

1. The left or right side of something.
2. To place at or to protect the side of something.

Sound transmission paths that are left in a structure that is built to stop or reduce sound transmission. The gaps, called flanking paths, that are left in the walls, allow sound to pass around the wall, destroying the soundproofing. Without gaps, sound would be resisted or eliminated.

A wheel which has short flaps covered with abrasive, attached to a handle held in the jaws of a drill motor, which turns causing the flaps to spin, sanding irregular, hard to reach surfaces.

Rubber valve covering the flush valve in a toilet tank.

1. A sudden bright light blazing unevenly.
2. To curve or spread outward as in the bell of a trumpet or at the end of a cone.

Curved piece welded together with a flat piece.

Flared tube end, which is joined with a male cone-shaped tube and then sealed with a coupling.

Exposed header, which is painted noticeably darker than the others.

Two curved pieces welded together.

Tool used to create a cone-shaped enlargement at the end of a piece of tubing. This tool has a female die holding the end of the tubing and a clamp secured to the die. There is a cone-shaped mandrel on he threaded stem of the clamp, which screws down through the clamp. When the cone-shaped mandrel is forced into the end of the tubing, which is held by the chamfered female die, the tubing end flares out to match the chamfer in the die.

1. Sudden brief spurts of bright light.
2. To apply a colored film of glass on other glass.
3. Unevenly colored painted wall.

1. Temperature at which a material will ignite, which differs depending on the type of material. Acetone has a zero degree flash point, making it very flammable.
2. Lowest ignitable temperature for fuel or gas vapors.

1. The quick hardening or curing of mortar.
2. Concrete that has set too quickly due to too much heat.

Process where the entire closely connected parts are welded together simultaneously by resistance heating with electrical current and then having pressure applied to the welded joint.

1. Metal strips, used to prevent water seepage, and installed around chimney, vents, windows, doors, and skylights, along seams in the roof and beneath shingles. The purpose of flashing is to prevent the penetration of water as well as to provide a drainage passageway between joints, most commonly the joint between a roof and a wall.
2. Installation of waterproof sheets of plastic or corrosion-resistant metal, along with exterior finishing materials for the prevention of water leakage in such paces as the intersection of a wall and roof or the valley of a roof.

Metal flashing that is used as a drip cap over a door or window.

Also referred to as asphaltic plastic cement, this asphalt-based roofing cement remains pliable at colder temperatures.

Electrical discharge, which appears on the surface of an insulating material that is not able to contain a very high voltage.

1. An apartment, within a multi-family house, usually on one floor.
2. Smooth and level with little or no depression or elevation.
3. Paint without gloss or shine.

This arch, also called a jack arch, straight arch, minor arch, segmented arch, or multicentered arch, has a horizontal top surface, with a span of up to 6 feet, can support loads up to 1,000 pounds per square foot, with a rise to span ratio of 0.15 or less.

Set amount charged by a broker.

Wood or metal, flat bar-shaped abrasive tool with rectangular cross-sections.

Wood, which has been sawn across the growth, rings of a tree.

Lease agreement having level payments during the contractual period and does not have an escalation clause, which would allow for increased costs due to increases in inflation, taxes or other related costs.

Paint that has a high amount of pigment and dries without gloss.

Weld, also called a downhand weld, made on the upper, horizontal surface of the work, which has been laid flat or almost flat.

Roof with a level surface or less than a 10-degree slant.

Glass skylight that is flat rather than concave.

Concrete slabs, which are isolated from the foundation with rigid insulation and are reinforced in two directions or more.

Added paint pigment, which reduces gloss on a finished surface.

Deficiency or defect.

A slender spire, most commonly on the roof ridge of gothic style buildings.

Angle at which a hoisting rope diverges from being vertical.

Method of brick laying where the long and short sides of bricks are set alternately using one, than the other, and staggering the rows above and below, so that the short side is above the long side of the surrounding rows.

To bend or contract. The ability to move into a different position, temporarily.

A wrench, which is on a flexible rod that is used to turn sockets at an angle.

Able to bend. Not stiff or rigid.

Base for a slab, driveway or path, made of compacted gravel or aggregate, so that it is able to change shape when the soil moves, preventing the slab from cracking.

Saw blade that is hardened only on the tooth portion so that the teeth remain sharp but the blade itself is flexible.

A graduated payment mortgage (GMP) developed to overcome the negative amortization aspects of the GMP. The buyer's own down payment is deposited in a pledged, interest-bearing account, where it is used as both cash collateral and a source of supplemental payments during the initial years of the loan. During this time, predetermined amounts are withdrawn, by the lender, from the savings account and added to the borrower's reduced payment, making a full mortgage payment. Decreasing every month, it disappears at the end of a predetermined period. Using this type of program is likely to make a borrower able to qualify for a larger loan than with a conventional fully-amortized mortgage.

Also called Greenfield conduit, this flexible, protective tubing is made from spiral-wound metal.

Flexible, protective tubing, which is covered with waterproof plastic coating.

Loan allowing the borrower to pay only the interest for the first few years of the loan.

Mortgage with an interest rate that changes based on certain events, such as changes in the prime rate

One of the simpler styles of stair treads.

Stairs that reach from one landing to another.

Fine grained, hard silica-based stone, which has sharp edges when broken and which produces sparks when hit with steel.

Electrical switch, which is operated by pushing the control knob up or down.

1. A lengthwise strip from the outer part of a tree trunk.
2. A piece or bundle of wood veneer.

Double joists holding, between them, a metal plate at least ¼" thick, and fastened together with bolts.

The metal plate, which forms a girder by bolting together, two beams.

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Our glossary is the largest dictionary of real estate and construction terms on the Internet with almost 10,000 definitions.

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