- A -
- AXED:
The surface finish produced by means of masonry axe tool.
- AXIS:
An imaginary line in plan or elevation dividing symmetrical parts.
- ATRIUM:
The open roofed entrance court of a building.
- ARRIS:
The angle, corner, or edge produced by the meeting of two surfaces; the edge of external angle. A natural or applied line on the stone from which all the leveling and plumbing is measured.
- ASHLAR:
A flat faced surface generally square or rectangle having sawed or dressed beds and joints. Or, rectangular blocks having sawed planed, or rock-faced surface, contrasted with cut blocks which are accurately sized and surface tooled. May be laid in courses.
- ARTIFICIAL STONE:
A substitute for dimension stone made by casting selected aggregates and cement in molds.
- ARTIFICIAL MARBLE:
A man-made product that may look like natural quarried marble, sometimes composed of thermosetting resins as a matrix and fillers.
- AROMATIC SOLVENTS:
Hydrocarbon solvents comprised of organic compounds which contain an unsaturated ring of carbon atoms, including benzene, naphthalene and their derivatives.
- ARKOSE, ARKOSIC SANDSTONE, FELDSPATHIC SANDSTONE:
A quartz-based containing 10% or more of elastic grains or feldspar.
- AREA:
The surface included within specific boundaries.
- ARGILLITE:
A compact metamorphic rock composed mainly of clay or shale, and aluminum silicate minerals. Similar to slate in appearance and splitting properties, but usually much harder.
- ARCHITECTURE:
The art and science of designing and constructing buildings adapted to their purposes, one which is beauty.
- ARCHITRAVE:
Member of an entablature resting on the capitals of columns and supporting the frieze.
- ARCUATED CONSTRUCTION:
Stone masonry in compression, using arch and vault.
- ARCHITECT:
One skilled in the design of buildings and having technical knowledge of their construction.
- ARCH:
A curved stone structure resting on supports at both extremities used to sustain weight on bridge or roof on an open space. Or, a curved compression structural member, spanning openings or recesses; also built flat.
- APEX:
Top or peak of a pyramidal or conical form.
- APEX STONE:
Top stone of gable, spire, or pediment.
- APRON:
A trim piece under a projecting stone top, stool, etc?
- ARAGONITE:
A translucent white mineral found in calcium carbonate.
- ARCADE:
A range of arches with their supports; also, a passageway, one side of which is a range of arches supporting a roof.
- ANORTHOSITE:
An usually dark-colored igneous rock consisting mostly or entirely of calcic plagioclase.
- ANHYDROUS:
A hydrate which has given up all its previously held water molecules.
- ANGLE IRON:
A structural steel angle; used for lintels to support masonry over openings, such as doors, windows or fireplaces.
- AMBIENT TEMPERATURE:
Temperature of the surrounding environment.
- AMBO:
One of the two pulpits or raised stands, usually stone, used in Christian churches.
- ANCHOR:
Metal device for securing dimensional stone to a structure or back-up walls.
- ANCHORAGE:
The means by which slabs are attached to a self-supporting structure.
- ANCHORS:
Types for stone work
- ALUMINUM STEARATE:
Complex salt or soap of aluminum and stearic acid. Used as a flattering and antisettling agent for pigments in paint and varnish, water repellents and cement additives.
- ALUMINA:
Aluminum oxide.
- ALTERATION:
Any project involving change of, or addition to, an existing building.
- ALTAR RAIL:
A railing across the chancel, or in front of the altar.
- ALTARSCREEN:
See reredos.
- ALTAR:
A table form; the center of most liturgical places of worship.
- ALABASTER:
A fine grained, translucent variety of gypsum, generally white in color. May be cut and carved easily with a knife or saw. The term is often incorrectly applied to fine-grained marble.
- AGGREGATE:
Materials that are added to mortar or grout at time of mixing to impart special properties to the mortar or grout; quantities of loose fragments of rock or mineral.
- AGGLOMERATE:
A man-made product fabricated to look like quarried stone. Usually composed of stone chips or fragments embedded in a matrix of mortar or thermosetting resins.
- ADOQUIN:
A volcanic quartz-based stone containing a variety of colored aggregates and pumice in a quartz matrix. Quarried in Mexico and available in several colors.
- AGATE:
A variegated variety or quartz allowing colored bands or other markings (clouded, moss-like, etc?).
- ADMIXTURES:
Chemical additives included in the mixing batch for concrete manufacture or applied to the surface during the curing or setting process of the concrete, which variously accelerate or retard the curing time, provide coloring, waterproofing, tearing, special aggregate finishes fillers, etc?
- ADHESIVE, ORGANIC:
See mastic.
- ADHERED:
Stone veneer secured and supported by adhesion of an approved bonding material over an approved backing.
- ACTIVE SOLIDS:
Ingredients of a coating composition which are deposited following co-reaction or reaction with the substrate. Active solids are usually measured as a weight percent of the total.
- ACRYLICS:
Resins resulting from the polymerization of derivatives of acrylic acids including esters of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, acrylonitrite, and their copolymers. They can be carried in a water or solvent solution and they are film-forming materials.
- ACRYLIC RESIN:
See polyester resin.
- ACRYLIC EMULSIONS:
Clear water-based repellents which form a film. The acrylic resins come from the polymerization of derivatives of acrylic acids, including esters of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, acrylonitrite, and their copolymers. Acrylics resins vary from hard brittle solids, to fibrous elastomeric structures to viscous liquids, depending on the monomer used and the method of polymerization.
- ACCELERATOR:
A material used to speed the setting of mortar, epoxy, and polyester resins.
- ABUTMENT:
The supporting wall or pier that receives the thrust of an arch; a solid stone springer at the lowest point of an arch, vault or beam.
- ABSORPTION:
Percentage of moisture absorption by weight. The process by which a liquid is taken into (soaked up by) another substance and held there. The weight of water a brick unit absorbs, when immersed in either cold or boiling water for a stated length of time, expressed as a percentage of weight of the dry unit.
- ABRASION RESISTANCE:
The property of a surface by which it resists being worn away as a result of friction.
- ABATE:
To cut away so as to leave parts in relief.
- ABRASIVE FINISH:
A flat non-reflective surface finish. Recommended for exterior use.
- ABRASIVE HARDNESS (Ha):
Refers to the wearing qualities of stone for floors, stair treads and similar uses subjected to abrasion by foot traffic.
- A-FRAME:
A wooden or metal rack constructed in the shape of an "A" on which large stone slabs are shipped and stored.