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Glossary of DIY Home Improvement Terms - R

This page of our online a to z glossary of DIY home improvement terms is for do-it-yourself terms beginning with the letter 'R'.

• Rafter - Support timbers forming the roof shape, meeting at the ridge and supporting the roof covering.
• Rag-and-putty joint - An old·fashioned, unhygienic joint between a toilet flush pipe and the lavatory bowl.
• Ragging A decorative paint technique whereby you dip clothes into washes or glazes and use the crumpled fabric to make prints on a surface. In much the same way, you can completely cover a base colour with a wash or glaze and then selectively reveal the base colour using crumpled fabric.
• Rag-rolling - A variant of ragging whereby you roll a cloth down over a surface. Either roll a cloth dipped in glaze over a background colour or use a clean cloth to distress a wet surface.
• Ratchet - A mechanism which transmits movement in one direction only.
• RCCB - A residual current circuit breaker monitors the current passing through live and neutral wires of a circuit and cuts off the supply if earth leakage occurs.
• Reaming - The opening, widening or smoothing out of holes.
• Rebate - A stepped rectangular recess along the edge of a workpiece, usually forming part of a joint. or To cut such recesses.
• Receding colors - Colors that, when applied to a surface, make it appear to recede from you. Receding colours - the 'cool' colours such as blue and grey can be used to make a small room seem larger.
• Reinforced concrete - Concrete to which metal bars, rods or mesh are added to improve strength.
• Relay - A magnetic switch.
• Render - A thin layer of cement-based mortar applied to exterior walls to provide a protective finish. Sometimes fine stone aggregate is embedded in the mortar. or To apply such mortar.
• Rendering - The first coat of plaster on a brick or stone wall.
• Retaining wall - A barrier wall which resists lateral pressure and prevents earth movements.
• Reveal - The vertical side of an opening in a wall.
• Ripping - Sawing wood in the direction of the grain.
• Riser - A vertical water supply pipe that supplies water under mains pressure, usually to a storage tank in the roof; the upright part of a step.
• Rivet - A headed metal tack for fastening materials together.
• Roller - Fabric sleeve on a frame for applying paint. Can be made from a number of different materials.
• Room divider - Any unit - such as a bookcase, set of shelves or screen - that can be used to divide a larger room into much smaller areas.
• Round nose chisel - A cold chisel with a curved cutting edge used for chipping in filleted corners.
• R.S.J. - Rolled steel joist. A heavy steel support beam set onto slate, holding up a floor or replacing a lower support wall. Usually with a cross section in the form of a capital letter I.
• Rub joint - Glued wood rubbed together and held by suction until it sets.