Reference Library

H

Hanger
A metal strap used to support piping or the ends of joists.
Hardwood
Wood produced from broad-leaved trees or trees that lose their leaves. Examples include oak, maple, walnut, and birch.
Header
(a) A beam placed perpendicular to joists and to which joists are nailed in framing for chimney, stairway, or other opening. (b) A wood lintel.
Hearth
The inner or outer floor of a fireplace, usually made of brick, tile or stone.
Heat Exchanger
A device for removing heat from water or air and transferring the heat to another medium. Baseboard convectors are water to air heat exchangers.
Heat Pump
A device, which uses compression and decompression of gas to heat and/or cool a house.
Hickory
A hard and heavy brown to reddish brown hard wood. Used as face veneer for decorative interior plywood paneling and as solid lumber in special flooring applications. Pecan, a variety of the hickory family, has similar properties and construction applications.
Hip Rafter
The diagonal rafter that extends from the plate to the ridge to form the hip.
Hip Roof
A roof that rises by inclined planes from all four sides of a building.
Hose Bib
A water faucet made for the threaded attachment of a hose.
Hot Wire
The electrical wires (typically black or red) used to carry current as distinguished from the neutral wires (usually white)
House Drain
A horizontal sewer piping within a building, which receives waste from the soil stacks.
House Sewer
The watertight soil pipe extending from the exterior of the foundation wall to the public sewer.
Humidifier
A device, generally attached to a furnace, to supply or maintain humidity in a home.
Humidistat
A controlling device to regulate or maintain the desired degree of humidity in a house