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