The Bluffers' Guide to self-building and renovating #5

Test your knowledge of building terms and hold your own on a site or in the builder's merchant - you'll never be blinded by jargon again! Some phrases are common, others are more obscure, but they all appear in our Bluffer's Guide. From the list, choose the option you believe is nearest in meaning to the key word, then check the answers below.

Question 1:

What are Cames?

A) Thin bars of a lattice work screen
B) A flat arch
C) H shaped metal strips which hold pieces of glass together
D) The lead covering of a spire

Question 2:

What is an Idigbo?

A) A style of masonry well bond
B) The stone block that receives the thrust from an arch
C) A cast iron floor plate with glass insets
D) A yellowish tropical hardwood

Question 3:

What is a Voissoir ?

A) A wedge shaped unit of an arch
B) A false type of granite
C) Another word for the shaft of a column
D) A type of paving asphalt

Question 4:

What is Basket weave?

A) A decorative moulding pattern
B) A brick chequerboard pattern
C) A method of laying parquet flooring blocks
D) A paint effect technique which produces a rough texture

Question 5:

What is a Marmorina?

A) A nautically inspired frieze
B) A waterproof concrete
C) An internal wall plaster with a finish that resembles marble
D) A projecting exterior sunshade

Question 6:

What is a Scarf?

A) A steeply sloped bank
B) (of stone) to flake away in thin pieces
C) A shaped roof truss
D) A joint which overlaps and interlocks

Question 7:

What is Bead and butt?

A) A method of constructing doors
B) A row of aligned floor boards
C) A ceiling with exposed beams
D) A technique for packing spaces between studs

Question 8:

What is an Arris?

A) A retaining wall
B) An iron bar reinforcing a building
C) A sharply defined outside corner
D) A triangular shaped tile

Question 9:

What is a Soldier?

A) A vertical brick
B) To join two metals together
C) The base of a sub wall
D) A domestic waste pipe

Question 10:

What is a Patina?

A) An interior paved courtyard
B) A desirable surface quality acquired by metals or wood
C) The sole plate of a timber frame building
D) A slab of stone used as a paver

Answers:
Q1: C, Q2: D, Q3: A, Q4: B, Q5: C, Q6: D, Q7: A, Q8: C, Q9: A, Q10: B.