Path = Home : Glossary of DIY Home Improvement Terms - T

Glossary of DIY Home Improvement Terms - T

This page of our online a to z glossary of DIY home improvement terms is for do-it-yourself terms beginning with the letter 'T'.

• Tamp - To pack down firmly with repeated blows.
• Tamping - The positioning and agitating of freshly poured concrete in the form.
• Template - Accurate shape or pattern cut from card or similar thin material, used as a guide for cutting or drilling.
• Tenon - A tongue-like projection cut in a piece of wood to fit into a mortise.
• Tenon saw - Straight-edged saw with reinforced back for rigidity, used for cutting joints.
• Terminal - A connection to which the bared ends of electrical cable or flex are attached.
• Tertiary colour - A colour made by mixing a secondary colour with an equal amount of colour next to it on the colour wheel.
• Terminal - A mechanical device at which electrical connections are made.
• Terra cotta - Baked clay of a high quality.
• Terrazzo - A ground and polished flooring material of coloured stone or marble embedded in cement.
• T fitting - A T -shaped water pipe or drain used to form branch lines off the main.
• Thermoplastic - Material which softens and remains pliable under heat.
• Thinners - A solvent, such as turpentine, used to dilute paint or varnish.
• Thixotropic paints - Term used to describe paints that have a jelly-like consistency until stirred or applied, at which point they become liquefied.
• Thread - Spiral grooves cut into a bolt or screw, allowing it to grab the wood or plug securely.
• Tie rods - Steel rods used to hold concrete forms together while filling.
• Timber connectors - Toothed washers which increase the friction in a bolted lap joint.
• Toggle switch - A switch operated by a movable lever or rocker button.
• Tone - Degree of light and shade in a colour.
• Tongue - The projecting part of a board which fits into a groove.
• Tongue-and-groove panelling - A type of panelling that is easy to assemble. Each board has on one side a tongue and on the other a groove into which a tongue can fit.
• Top coat - The outer layer of a paint system.
• Torque - A rotational force.
• Tortoise-shelling - Paint technique that seeks to imitate or at least give the overall effect of natural tortoise-shell.
• Translucent - Allows light to penetrate but is not transparent.
• Transom - A horizontal dividing member of a window frame. The window above a door.
• Transparent oil glaze - Also known as "scumble" glaze, this is thinned with white spirit before being brushed over the surface. It can be tinted with stain or an oillbased paint.
• Trap - A bent section of drain pipe below a bath, sink etc. that holds water and thus form a seal preventing sewer gases from entering the house.
• Tread - The horizontal part of a step.
• Truss - A beam and steel rod triangular structure which supports loads over a long span.
• Try square - Parallel-sided metal blade set at a right angle in a stock for accurate marking and checking of 90 degree angles.
• Turn - To shape wood or metal on a lathe.
• Two-pipe system - Central heating system where the hot water is fed through one pipe and the cooled water from each radiator is returned by another.
• Two way switch - Two switches which control an electric advice from different locations.