Shed Jargon Buster

Shed Jargon is a problem if you find yourself asking things like:

• What is weatherboard?
• What does tongue and groove mean?
• What is sarking… gables… pitch…?

Oh, the list is endless and my customers are mad for it. They love a bit of technical info, especially from me.

The words can get a bit random though.

For example, the bit of wood that faces a Summerhouse roof is called a ‘Donk’?! A Donk isn’t even a word. It’s just an in-house word (made up by Grant) that we use – because it’s not a fascia, a fascia is a straight facing. A Donk is two angular bits of wood mitred together.

See what I mean? It’s crazy already.

So let’s cut through some of the nonsense and get down to the basics of shed jargon.

Shed Jargon: Weatherboard

It’s just a profile man. The shape of the wood that is used to clad the walls of your building.

Our weatherboard profile is nice and deep. This is to allow water to run off it fast and clear of the tongue and groove (tongue and what now?).

Tongue and Groove

This is simply the joining of two pieces of a similar material together, such as weatherboard, floorboards or sarking. This type of joining allows two flat pieces to be joined together to make a single flat surface.

Sarking

This is the name used for the boarding on the roof.

From the inside you have the roof framing first (sometimes referred to as purlins) then the sarking boards (ours are tongue and groove) then the roof covering. It’s usually a straight board with no profile.

Gable

The Gable is the pointy bit on an Apex Shed. More specifically I’ll say, Gable end – which means I’m talking about the whole panel, not just the peak (the pointy bit) and it’s usually where the door goes! But only if you want it to.

Pitch

‘Pitch’ is what I use to describe whether or not a customer would like an Apex Shed or a Pent Shed.

Summerhouses are a little more complex as there are shaped roofs to consider, such as Hexagonal and Bay fronted (different blog surely? Keep it simple eh!).

Cutting through the ‘Shed Jargon’ is half the battle when trying to decide what kind will suit your needs the best. I’ve only covered 5 terms here and there will be more to come! I’ll link it up as soon as it’s done.

If there’s a particular term or word you’d like explaining RIGHT NOW – then ask me 😉