Asphalt: Substance
left as a residue after evaporating or otherwise processing crude oil or petroleum.
Used as a waterproof material in roofing.
Base Ply: Primary ply of roofing
material in a roof system.
Base Sheet: Asphalt-impregnated
or coated felt used as the first ply in some built-up and modified bitumen roof systems.
Bitumen: Any
of various flammable mixtures of hydrocarbons and other substances occurring naturally or obtained by distillation from coal
or petroleum that are a component of asphalt and tar.
Boot: Piece of material pre-formed
to protect roof penetrations from dirt, moisture and other foreign and/or damaging substances.
Built-Up Roof: Continuous, semi-flexible roof membrane, consisting of multiple
plies of saturated felts, coated felts, fabrics or mats assembled in place with alternate layers of bitumen, and surfaced
with mineral aggregate, bituminous materials, a liquid-applied coating or a granule-surfaced cap sheet.
Decking:
Surface installed over upper supporting frame of house to which roofing materials
are applied.
Cannallies: Concrete opening
in the side of a building to assist in water drainage.
Cant Strip: Triangular-shaped
strip of material used to ease the transition from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane. Cant strips can be made of wood,
wood fiber, Perlite, or other materials.
Cricket: Elevated roof
structure constructed to divert water around a chimney or curb, away from a wall, expansion joint, or other projection/penetration.
Dimensional Shingle: Shingle that
is textured or laminated to produce a three-dimensional effect. Also known as laminated or architectural shingles.
Eaves: Lower projecting
edge of a roof that extends beyond the supporting wall.
Elastek® Elastomeric Coating: Coating
that has a reflective factor and is mainly used as a protection from UV rays.
Fascia: Vertical
or steeply sloped trim located at the perimeter of a building.
Felt: Organic fiber mat
impregnated with asphalt and used as an underlayment.
FHA (Federal Housing Authority) Strap: Wooden strip that runs between fascia and metal edge.
Flashing: Components
used to weatherproof or seal the roof system edges at perimeters, penetrations, walls, expansion joints, valleys, drains,
and other places where the roof covering is interrupted or terminated.
Hip: External angle formed
by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
Mansard: Decorative
steep sloped roof on the perimeter of a building. Also, a decorative enclosure
for rooftop equipment (e.g., cooler unit or A/C unit).
Modified Bitumen: Bitumen
that has been modified by one or more polymers.
OSB (oriented strand board): Non-veneered
wood chips glued and pressed together in sheets. Often used in place of plywood
as decking.
Parapet Wall: That part of
a perimeter wall that extends above the surface of the roof.
Pipe Jack: Prefabricated
flashing piece used to flash around circular pipe penetrations.
Ply: Layer
of felt or other reinforcement material in a roof system.
Polyiso® (polyisocyanurate):
Type of plastic, closed-cell foam that contains a low-conductivity gas in its
cells. It is very thermally efficient (R-7 to R-8 per inch); it can directly contribute to strategies for conserving energy
and mitigating the effects of global warming, while also reducing dependence on foreign energy sources.
Ponding: Accumulation of water at
low-lying areas of a roof.
Protrusions (Penetrations): Any construction (e.g., pipes,
conduits, HVAC supports) passing through the roof.
Ridge: Uppermost horizontal external
angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
Scuppers: Any opening
in the side of a building (e.g., within a parapet wall) for draining off rain water.
Sheathing: Exterior
grade boards used as a roof deck material.
Soffit: Enclosed
underside of any exterior overhanging section of a roof eave.
T/G (Tongue in Groove): One
of the oldest types of wood used as roof decking. The sides are cut with a convex
and concave groove so adjacent planks may join in alignment with each other to form a uniform roof deck.
T-111™: Siding panels with a special surface treatment such as saw texture
and with grooves spaced regularly across the face.
Three-Course Application: One layer of crack & joint compound; one layer of webb; one layer of crack & joint compound (on
low-slope roofs only).
Turbine: Device that is driven by a stream
of air that pushes the blades of a wheel and causes it to rotate. On a roof,
it is used to vent the air out of an attic or crawlspace.
Underlayment: Asphalt-saturated
felt or other sheet material installed between the roof deck and the primary roof covering.
It is used to separate the roof covering from the roof deck, to shed water, and to provide secondary weather protection
for the roof area of the building.
Valley: Internal
angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
Vent Ridge (Ridge Vent): A
product located at the ridge that allows the escape of warm and/or moist air from the attic area or rafter cavity. Most ridge vents are either pre-manufactured metal or flexible shingle.
Webb: Plastic taping used
to seal cracks and grooves in roof surface; applied with crack and joint sealer.
Some definitions were derived from nrca.net, roofhelp.com, polyiso.org, and floridaroof.com.
