Vocabulary For Construction Materials
Vocabulary For Construction Materials
Vocabulary For Construction Materials
adobe
NOUN
earth mixed with straw, used for making bricks to build houses
aggregate
NOUN
sand or small stones used for making concrete (=material used for building)
asbestos
NOUN
a substance that does not burn easily that was used in building materials in the past. It
is now known to cause cancer and is no longer used.
bitumen
NOUN
a black sticky substance made from petroleum, used for making roads and covering
roofs
board
NOUN
a long thin flat piece of wood, used especially for making floors and
other parts of buildings
boarding
NOUN
boards joined together to make something such as a floor or a fence
breeze block
NOUN
BRITISH a large light brick made from cement and cinders that is used in building
brick
NOUN
a block used for building walls and other structures
brick
NOUN
bricks used as a building material
brownstone
NOUN
a type of reddish-brown stone, often used for building
caulk
NOUN
a substance that you use for caulking something
cement
NOUN
a grey powder used in building that becomes very hard when you mix it
with sand and water
cinder block
NOUN
AMERICAN a breeze block
cladding
NOUN
a hard substance such as wood, stone, or metal that is put on the outside of
a structure, especially a building, to protect it or make it look more attractive
clapboard
NOUN
MAINLY AMERICAN wooden boards used for covering the outside of a building
clapboard
NOUN
MAINLY AMERICAN one of these wooden boards
concrete
NOUN
a hard substance used in building made by mixing cement, sand, small stones, and
water
damp course
NOUN
BRITISH a layer of plastic material that is built into the bottom of the walls of
a building to stop damp from rising up into the walls from the ground
daub
NOUN
a mixture of wet clay and straw (=dried plant stems), used for making walls, especially
in the past
decking
NOUN
wood used for making this floor
drywall
NOUN
AMERICAN plaster that is put between layers of strong paper, and
is used for making or lining the inside walls of buildings
duct tape
NOUN
strong and very sticky cloth that is often used for covering cracks or holes in pipes
fiberboard
fibreboard
NOUN
a hard light substance made from wood fibres pressed together, used in building
fibro
NOUN
AUSTRALIANINFORMAL fibrocement: a building material that is made from asbestos and
cement and can cause lung disease
filler
NOUN
a substance used for repairing holes in walls and in wood
floorboard
NOUN
a long wooden board that is part of a wooden floor
galvanize
NOUN
CARIBBEAN pieces of galvanized tin (=a soft white metal) that are used for making roofs
or fences
girder
NOUN
a very large metal bar used for making the frame of a building, bridge, or
other large structure
granite
NOUN
a type of very hard stone, used especially for building
hardboard
NOUN
thin light board made by pressing very small pieces of wood together
hard core
NOUN
BRITISH pieces of broken stone and brick used to make the surface that something
is built on
insulating tape
NOUN
BRITISH sticky material that you wrap around electrical wires in order to insulate them
insulation
NOUN
material used for preventing heat, cold, noise, or electricity from passing through
something
insulator
NOUN
a substance that reduces the amount of heat, cold, noise, or electricity that
can pass through something
iron
NOUN
a hard, heavy metal that is a common element. Its symbol is Fe and it
is used for making steel and is also used in
many types of machine and building structures.
laminate
NOUN
a substance that consists of several thin layers of wood, plastic, glass etc
lath
NOUN
a long thin piece of wood used in building
leads
NOUN
BRITISH flat pieces of lead used for covering roofs
lime
NOUN
a white substance used for making cement and for helping plants to grow
limestone
NOUN
a type of white or grey stone containing calcium, used for building and making cement
lumber
NOUN
AMERICAN timber
marble
NOUN
a hard smooth stone used for building and making statues. Marble is usually white with
dark lines that are not regular in shape
masonry
NOUN
the bricks or stones that make a building, wall, or other structure
MDF
NOUN
medium-density fibreboard: a building material made
of small pieces of wood pressed together to
form boards, used for making furniture, doors etc
mortar
NOUN
a substance used in building for joining bricks or stones, made by mixing together
sand, water, and lime
mud
NOUN
earth used as a building material
parquet
NOUN
a floor made of blocks of wood that form a pattern
paving
NOUN
bricks, blocks of stone, or concrete used for covering an area of ground
pebbledash
NOUN
BRITISHa substance that consists of cement mixed with a lot of small pebbles and is
spread over the outside walls of a house
piping
NOUN
a long tube that can be cut into smaller tubes to make pipes
pitch
NOUN
a thick black sticky substance used on roofs and ships to stop water getting through
plank
NOUN
a long narrow piece of wood used for making structures such as floors
planking
NOUN
planks used for making a floor
plaster
NOUN
a substance that is spread onto walls and ceilings to form a hard smooth surface
plasterboard
NOUN
BRITISH plaster that is put between layers of strong paper, and
is used for covering walls
plywood
NOUN
a type of board used for building houses, furniture etc, made from
thin layers of wood that are fixed together using glue
pointing
NOUN
the cement or mortar between the stones or bricks in a wall
precast
ADJECTIVE
already made into the correct shape to use for building a structure
putty
NOUN
a soft grey substance used for fixing glass into windows
quarry tile
NOUN
a thick tile for floors that has a slightly rough surface
reinforced concrete
NOUN
concrete with metal bars inside it to make it stronger
rendering
NOUN
plaster or cement used for covering a wall
roofing
NOUN
material used for making or repairing the roofs of buildings
sandstone
NOUN
a type of pale yellow stone used for building, made from sand that has
become hard over many years
scaffolding
NOUN
poles and boards used for making a scaffold on the outside of a building
shingle
NOUN
one of many small flat pieces of wood that form the outer surface of a wall or roof
slab
NOUN
a large flat piece of a hard material such as stone or wood
slate
NOUN
a single flat piece of slate that is used with others for covering a roof
stone
NOUN
the hard substance that rocks are made of, often used for building
stucco
NOUN
a substance used for covering walls, usually on the outside of a building, to give them a
rough surface
tile
NOUN
a flat piece of baked clay or stone that is used for covering a roof
tile
NOUN
a flat square piece of baked clay or another substance used for covering a wall or
a floor
timber
NOUN
wood used for building houses or making furniture
timber
NOUN
a piece of wood used for building
wattle
NOUN
a substance used for making walls, consisting of large sticks with small branches betw
een them
weatherboard
NOUN
one of a set of wooden boards used for protecting the outside of
BRITISH
some buildings, arranged so that the base of one board covers the top of the next
woodblock
NOUN
a square piece of wood that forms part of a floor