Decoding Guide

Our house plans may include some abbreviations or nomenclature that is unfamiliar to you.  This may be due to your level of experience in reading plans or in different terms across the country or world.  To help you out we have compiled this list in no particular order...:

A-C:

• • A.S.F.: Asphalt Saturated Felt.  One of many underlayments for roofing.

  • AVG: Average.  Not referring to the quality of our plans, rather the average dimension of an irregular shaped room.

  • AWN: An awning style window.  This is a hinged window similar to a casement but with the hinge on top.  See also casement and hopper.

  • BD: Board.  Seen on the elevation plans to specify trim board, fascia board, etc.

  • B.I.: Built-in as in permanent furniture.  You can't take it with you when you move.

  • BIPASS:  Two interior doors that slide past one another to allow access to a larger amount of space.  Mostly used on closets.

  • BM: Beam.  Beams hold up joists and other beams.  Beams are specifically calculated for size.  Please do not reduce the sizes of beams for convenience or cost unless you need a different species and a licensed and/or knowledgeable professional performs the recalculation.

  • BR: Bedroom.  Great place for a bed.

  • B.U.: Built up.  Columns get built up from a nominal size needed for support to a grander size for aesthetics.

  • BUNK: A sleeping room that is too small to be called a bedroom per code.  Code requires the finished area to be 70sf minimum with no less than 7' in any direction.  Egress size windows are specified for bunk rooms.

  • ©: Copyright.  All of our plans are protected by copyright infringement laws.

  • CAB: Cabinet.

  • CDX: A grade of plywood

  • CLG: Ceiling.  Overhead.

  • COL: Column or post.

  • CONC: Cementitious Concrete.

  • CS or CSMT: A casement style window.  This is a side hinged window that opens out.  We encourage you to specify which side you want the hinge on to your supplier.  Hinge side is determined as looking at the window from the inside.

  • CSACC: Crawl space access.  A way to get under the house.

D-I:

• • DF: Doug-Fir species of wood.  If not available in your area have your supplier specify other types.

  • Door sizes: Width as specified in feet and inches.  Height is always 6/8 unless noted otherwise.

  • DR: Dining Room.  A place to eat.  More often used for homework or bill paying.  Also designates a door.

  • DW: Dishwasher.  A place to store clean dishes.

  • EGR: A window sized to be legal egress from a bedroom.  If you would like to change the size of the window, please ask us for proper sizing to maintain the legal egress or talk with your window supplier.

  • FAU: Forced air unit.  See FURN.

  • FB: Firebox.  Manufactured fireplace that is inserted into a framed area.  See also FP.

  • FDN: Foundation plan. Also may be FNDTN or FDTN.

  • FIX: A fixed window.  Inoperable.  Does not need fixing.  Meant to be inoperable.

  • FLR: Floor.  Underfoot.

  • FP: Fireplace.  Practically interchangeable with FB.

  • FRDR: French Door.  Refers to a door with full height glass.  See also SASH.

  • FTG: Footing on a foundation plan.

  • FURN: Standard forced-air furnace.  Not often included in the plans in favor of radiant floor heating or mini-split heat pumps.

  • GLB: Glu-lam Beam.

  • HDR: Header.  A beam over an opening.

  • HOPPER: Quite rare, but a window that is hinged on the bottom and opens out.  Not very brilliant as it allows rain right into the house.  See casement window.

  • Inglenook: A cool sounding name for a small semi-private area next to a fireplace.

J-R:

• • J: Joisted foundation page.  Also see S and P.

  • JST: Joist whether it be floor or ceiling.

  • KIT: Kitchen.  A place to cook.

  • MBR: Master Bedroom.  Generally the largest bedroom in the house.  Most often includes a private bathroom.

  • MIN: Minimum.  No less than.

  • O.C.: On center spacing designation of framing elements.

  • OPT: An optional feature.  Include it if you like it, leave it out if you don't.  Generally not detrimental to the house.

  • OSB: An alternative to plywood.  Not to be exposed to the elements.

  • P: Post and beam or post and pier foundation.  Also see J and P.

  • P&B: see Post and Beam.

  • PAN: Pantry.  Might also be called PTRY.

  • PD: Pocket door.  These are interior doors that slide into the wall instead of swinging into the room.  Great space saver but sheetrock installers can tend to use screws that are too long and ruin the door.

  • PDR: Powder room.  A small room containing a toilet and sink.  Also called half bath.

  • Post and Beam.  A foundation type including isolated footings at set intervals within an enclosed concrete perimeter footing.  Not very common or brilliant.  This is not the same as a post footing that drives pilings into the ground which the home sits on.

  • PT: Pressure treated lumber.  PT lumber is used any place that lumber will be in contact with concrete or the ground.  Do not use non-PT lumber when PT is specified.

  • PWD: Plywood.

  • REFR: Refrigerator.  Cold food storage.

  • Room dimensions: Always width (across the page) by depth (up the page).

S-Z:

• • S: Slab foundation page.  Also see J and P.

  • SASH: Term for a window in a door.  Generally means half height glass in the upper part of the door.  See also FRDR.

  • SF: Square footage of the building.  For garages this is the total square footage.  For houses this is the heated square footage from the extent of the footprint and includes interior wall cavities, closets, and utility rooms so long as those spaces are heated area.  When a garage is attached, the common wall is included in the square footage, but not the garage or its exterior walls.  In a 2-story house, stairwells are only counted once, and areas open to the lower floor are not counted.

  • SH: A single-hung window.  These windows have a fixed upper sash and an operable lower sash that raises up.  Another derivation is a DH (double-hung) window in which both sashes move up and down.  We encourage you to specify whether you want SH or DH to your supplier.  DH may be more expensive.

  • SIDELTS: Sidelights are tall narrow windows next to exterior doors.  They generally help the entry to appear wider and allow more light into the foyer.  Some people find them to compromise their security and/or privacy.

  • SMKDET or SD: Smoke detector.  Required in every bedroom plus one per each floor.

  • TEMP: Tempered window.  Required in certain locations.

  • THK: Thick.  Generally used on the foundation plan to specify concrete thickness.

  • TJI: Trus-Joist I-beam.  A manufactured I-joist.  Any manufacturer's joist will do.  We are not proprietary.

  • TYP: Typical.  All other instances will be similar.

  • U.N.O.: Unless Noted Otherwise.  Similar to TYP.  Also a card game.

  • UTIL: Utility room.  Contains washer and dryer, sometimes furnace and/or water heater if included in the plans.

  • W/: With.

  • W/H: Water Heater. Most of our units do not specify these as we recommend tankless water heaters that can be installed practically anywhere in the house for convenience.

  • WIC or WICLO:  Walk-in closet.

  • Window Dimensions.  Always width by height of the rough opening or a window.  Glass size will be slightly smaller.

  • XO: A slider type window.  The X denotes the operable sash and the O denotes the fixed sash.  We typically use XO for all slider windows but we encourage you to specify whether you want XO or OX to your supplier.  X and O are determined as looking at the window from the inside.  Other derivations you may see are OXO, XOO, OOX, OXXO, and the rare XOX.