GLOSSARY

Anchor bolt Also called "I-bolt," or "L-bolt," depending on its shape; used to con-
nect sill plates to footings. The term "bolt" technically means a headed fas-
tener; thus, "anchor bolt" is not entirely accurate to describe typical sill an-
chors.
Anchor rod Used in this book to describe hardware that connects a tie-down to the
footing. "Anchor rod" is a more technically accurate term to describe a

threaded fastener that connects a building's superstructure to the footing

(seeentry above). ,
APA Formerly The American Plywood Association; changed its name to

"AP A - The Engineered Wood Association."

Boundary An edge of a diaphragm; typically along eave blocking and the trusses or
rafters in line with the gable-end walls for a roof diaphragm (not the fascia
or barge rafters), the end and rim (band) joists for a floor diaphragm and
the end-posts and top and bottom members of a shear wall.

Chord The top or bottom member of a truss; also used to describe the member

along a diaphragm boundary.

Collector A structural memb~r that connects a diaphragm to a shear wall in order to

gather lateral forces spread throughout the diaphragm and deliver them to
the shear wall.
Cripple wall A short wood-framed wall built on top of the foundation to support the

first-floor level above.

Diaphragm A large area of sheathing such as a floor, roof or shear wall (diaphragms

may be vertical as well as horizontal); in order to function as a diaphragm,

all edges of the sheathed area must have boundary members, and the

sheathing panels must connect to these members and to framing members

to transfer forces across the panel joints.

Double plate Two horizontal framing members at the top of a wall, typically spliced or

lapped to give continuity or tie wall sections together. .

Drag strut Essentially the same as a collector; may have slightly varying meanings,
such as a collector that only functions in compression.

Drag tie Essentially'the same as a drag strut or collector, with the added possibility
that it may refer to a member that only transmits force from one part of the

structure to another part some distance away, without collecting any addi-

. tional force along the way.

Edge When referring to a shear panel, a panel has four edges-two of theseedges
. are "ends" and two are" sides."
ER Evaluation Report-a report put out by the Evaluation Service.

ES Evaluation Service-an organization that certifies materials meet the

requirements of the various building codes. ES reports detail installation re-

quirements and limitations for many manufactured products.

WOOD-FRAMED
SHEARWALLCONSTRUCTION 107
---

~
 GLOSSARY

Header A horizontal member that spans across an opening in a wall (typically over

a door or window).

Hold-down See "Tie-down" -a device used to keep the end of a shear wall from lifting

up. .

IBC International Building Code; published by the International Code Council,

Inc.~_and available for adoption by government jurisdictions internationally.
International Conference of Building Officials; publisher of the Uniform

ICBO

Building Code.

ICC International Code Council; publisher of the International Codes;including

the International Building Code and the International Residential Code.

ISANTA The International Staple, Nail and Tool Association.

International Residential Code; published by the ICC.

IRC

King stud A stud that extends up to the top plate of a wall and connects to the end of a

header.

Lateral Describingforcesthat act in a horizontal direction;usually causedby wind

or earthquakes.
Mudsill As used in this guide, same as sill.

NER-272 National Evaluation Report issued by the National Evaluation ~rvice (a

certification organization that worked with the major building code
organizations) certifying the performance of power-driven nails and staples.
OSH Oriented Strand Board (sometimes called "wafer-board" or
"flake-board"-particleboard is completely different from asB); a type of

wood structural panel composed of wide, thin wafers of wood that are

bonded together with adhesive under high pressure and heat.

Pony wall A wall or section of wall that does not extend the full height from the floor

to the ceiling.
SBCCI Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc.

Shear Forces that act in opposite directions and tend to cause struCtural members
to slip past each other.
Sheathing Used in this guide to mean struCtural plywood or OSB panels applied to

framing members.

Sill A horizontal framing member at the base of a wall, typically attached

directly to a concrete or masonry footing.

Sole plate A horizontal framing member at the base of a wall, typically when attached

to a wood-framed floor platform below (see also "Sill").

Stemwall A concrete or masonry wall built on top a footing and extending above

the ground to support wood framing.

Stud A vertical wall framing member.

Tie-down A device used to keep the end of a shear wall from lifting up; also called

"hold-down."

WOOD-FRAMED
 GLOSSARY

Trimmer stud A stud adjacent to an opening in a wall. Trimmer studs support the header

over an opening in a wall and do not extend all the way up to the top plate.

Top plate The horizontal framing member at the top of a wall (see also "Double

plate").

UBC Uniform Building Code; published by ICBO. The 1997 edition of the UBC

was the last update published before the mc took its place.

Wood

structural panel Generic term meaning either plywood or asH.

Can't find a term in this Glossary7 Contact us at www.shearwalls.com. We will post defini-

tions for reasonable queries in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the web site and

will include them in glossaries to future editions of this book.

--=-
..,"""" r""A..Cn ~UCAD WAil I'nNQTRII~TlnN 109
California Polytechnic University Design of Timber Structures
Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Charles Chadwell

Additional Glossary

Additional wordstoto
Additional words know
know for for the quiz…
the quiz…

• A35• A35
• LPT4
• LPT4
• Joist
• Joist
• SubFloor
• SubFloor
• Gable End
• Gable End
• Fascia
• Fascia
• Truss
• Truss
• 16d Sinker
• 16d• Sinker
Rim Joist
• Rim• Joist
Rake Wall
• Wall
• Rake Balloon Wall
• Ring Shank
• Balloon Wall
• Lookout
• Ring Shank
• Lookout
• LRFD
• LFRS
• ASD
• NDS
• PTDF
• Clear Wood
• Rough Sawn
• Full Sawn