Glossary

The terms you'll meet in our jobs and guides, explained simply.

A

Acrylic paint: A water-based paint with an acrylic resin, the most common choice for outside walls. It stands up to sun and rain and has some flexibility to follow small movements in the wall.
Anti-corrosion coating: A protective coat brushed onto steel reinforcement, once the rust has been cleaned off, so the bars don't keep rusting before they are covered with new material.

B

Bitumen membrane: Waterproofing that comes in rolls of reinforced bitumen. It is torched onto the roof in sheets that overlap at the seams.
Built-up shower base: A low, built shower floor sloping to the drain and finished with tiles. An option when the floor isn't deep enough for a level shower.

C

Concealed cistern: A toilet cistern hidden inside the wall on a metal frame, which usually also holds a wall-hung toilet. Only the flush plate shows.
Concrete curing: Looking after fresh concrete in its first days: keeping people off it and stopping it from drying out too fast, so it hardens properly and doesn't crack.
Condensation: Moisture in the air turning to water on cold surfaces such as windows, outside corners and ceilings. It is the most common cause of mould indoors.
Cool roof coating: A white or very light top coat that reflects much of the sun's radiation, so the roof and the floor below heat up less.
Crack: A split or gap in render, concrete, a wall, a coating or wood. Fine cracks are usually only on the surface; ones that grow, keep reopening or run diagonally need attention.

D

Debris (rubble): The waste that comes out of demolition and building work: broken tiles, render, bricks and concrete. It is collected in bags and has to be disposed of legally.
Demolition: Knocking down or stripping out whatever has to go before a renovation: walls, tiles, render, bathroom fittings, old floors or old insulation.

E

Efflorescence (salt deposits): A white, powdery or crystalline crust on the surface of a wall. It is salts carried by water through the masonry, left behind when the water evaporates.
Elastomeric waterproof coating: A thick, rubbery waterproof paint for flat roofs, parapets and roofs. It stretches without cracking as the building expands and bridges hairline cracks.
Emulsion paint: The everyday water-based paint for indoor walls and ceilings. It thins with water, dries quickly, has little smell and comes in matt, satin or glossier finishes.
External wall insulation (ETICS): An external insulation system: insulation boards are glued and fixed to the outside walls, then covered with reinforced render and a finishing coat.

F

Falls (drainage slope): The gentle slope built into flat roofs, balconies and bathroom floors so water runs to the drain or gutter instead of pooling.
Filler: A fine paste or powder that fills holes, fine cracks and dents so a wall, ceiling or piece of wood is smooth before it is painted.
Flat roof (roof terrace): The flat concrete roof on top of a building. It is the most common kind of roof in Greece and the part that takes the most sun and rain.
Floor drain: The outlet in a floor where water drains away on roofs, balconies and in bathrooms, with a grate on top and usually a trap below.

G

Grout joint: The gap between tiles, slabs or stones, and the material that fills it. Grouting means filling these joints, which locks the surface together and keeps out water and dirt.
Gutter and downpipe: The channel and pipe that collect rainwater from a roof and carry it down to the ground or the drains.

H

Hollow (blistered) plaster: Plaster that has come away from the wall or ceiling behind it. It sounds dull when you tap it lightly, and often blisters or cracks before it falls.
Hollow (debonded) tiles: Tiles or slabs that have come away from their base. They sound hollow when tapped lightly, and often rock or crack.

I

Infill wall: A brick wall that fills the gap between columns, beams and slabs. It divides rooms, but it isn't built to hold the building up.
Inspection pit: A small chamber in the ground with a cover, where drain or rainwater pipes meet and can be checked and cleared.

K

Kerb: The row of stone or concrete along the edge of a sidewalk, which separates it from the road and holds the paving in place.

L

Lattice: A panel of thin wooden battens crossed in a grid. It is used for screens, for privacy and on pergolas and planters.
Lintel: The beam over a door, window or opening in a wall, which carries the bricks above it and passes their weight to the sides.
Liquid waterproofing membrane: A waterproofing product applied as a liquid by roller, brush or spray. Once dry it forms one continuous, flexible membrane with no seams.
Load-bearing wall: A wall that carries part of the building's weight, such as floors, beams or the storeys above. It must not be removed or opened up without an engineer's design and the required permit.

M

Metal roof sheeting: Metal sheets, flat or profiled, used for roofs and sheds. Light and quick to fit, but they get very hot and rust at the screws and cut edges.
Mould: Fungi that grow on damp surfaces, leaving black or greenish spots and a musty smell. It is a symptom of damp, not a problem with the paint.

P

Parapet: The low wall around the edge of a flat roof or balcony. The joint between it and the floor is one of the most common places for leaks.
Peeling paint: When paint loses its grip and lifts off in flakes or sheets. It is almost always a sign of a problem underneath, usually damp or poor preparation.
Pergola: An open shade structure in a garden, on a terrace or a roof, made of posts and beams with slats, reeds, fabric or plants on top. It is often made of wood.
Pilotis (open ground floor): The open ground floor under a block of flats, standing on columns with no walls, usually used for parking or as the entrance.
Plasterboard: A sheet of gypsum faced with paper, screwed to a metal frame to make suspended ceilings and light partition walls. It hides cables and pipes and takes recessed lights.
Pressure washing: Cleaning a surface with a strong jet of water from a machine. Before waterproofing, insulation or painting, it removes dust, dirt, lichen and loose material so the new layer bonds well.
Primer: The thin first coat that goes on before the main material. It binds dust, seals the pores and helps paint or waterproofing stick firmly.

R

Rebar corrosion: Rust on the steel bars inside concrete. Rusting steel swells, cracks the concrete around it and makes it fall away in pieces, leaving the bars exposed.
Reinforcement mesh: A mesh or fabric, usually glass fibre or polyester, set into render, a coating or liquid waterproofing to hold it together and stop cracks from opening.
Render (plaster): A layer of mortar (sand, cement or lime, and water) spread over brick or concrete to give a wall a straight, sound surface ready for paint or tiles.
Repair mortar: A special cement-based mortar for rebuilding concrete that has cracked or fallen away, for example around rusty steel. It bonds well to old concrete and seals the reinforcement in.
Rising damp: Moisture from the ground that climbs up inside walls through the pores of the materials. It shows as stains, blown render and salts at the foot of walls.

S

Sanding: Smoothing a surface with sandpaper or a power sander to remove bumps, loose old paint or gloss, so the new paint or varnish grips well and comes out smooth.
Screed: A layer of sand-and-cement mix or lightweight concrete poured over the slab to create falls and a solid surface for the next material.
Shower niche: A recess built into the shower wall and lined with tiles, for shampoo and soap. It replaces shelves and baskets that stick out.
Silicone: A flexible sealant from a cartridge that closes the joints around baths, showers, basins, kitchen worktops and window frames, so water and air cannot get through.
Skip: A large metal container for the rubble from building work, collected by a truck once full. On the street it usually needs a permit from the municipality.
Slip-resistant surface: A floor, tile or paint with a textured finish that doesn't get slippery easily when wet. It's needed on balconies, courtyards, steps and around showers.
Soot: The black, greasy dust that smoke leaves on walls and ceilings after a fire, or from a fireplace or stove. Paint straight over it without cleaning and priming and it comes back through.
Spray polyurethane foam: A foam sprayed on as a liquid that expands on the spot and sets into one seamless layer. It insulates against heat and cold and closes cracks and joints.
Stone paving: A floor of natural stone slabs, irregular or cut, in courtyards, walkways, terraces and on steps. The stones are bedded in mortar and the joints between them are filled.
Structural design: An engineer's study that checks whether a building can take a change, such as an opening in a load-bearing wall, and sets out how it is done and how it is strengthened.

T

Tar: A black bitumen-based material spread hot or as a liquid emulsion. It seals the pores of concrete and keeps water out.
Thermal bridge: A spot in a building where heat and cold pass more easily than through the rest of the wall or slab, such as columns, beams and the edges of a slab.
Thermal insulation: A layer of material that lets heat through only slowly, so a home keeps its warmth in winter and stays cool in summer.
Tile adhesive: A ready-mixed cement-based mortar, sold as a powder and mixed with water, used to stick tiles to walls and floors. It is spread with a notched trowel.
Tile levelling clips: Small plastic parts (clips with wedges or caps) placed at the edges of tiles while the adhesive is wet, to hold them flush with each other with no lips.
Tiled roof: A pitched roof covered with clay tiles, on a timber frame or a concrete slab. The real waterproofing sits underneath, in the layer below the tiles.

V

Varnish: A clear or semi-transparent finish for wood that lets the grain show through and protects it from sun, rain and wear.

W

Walk-in shower: A shower with no tray and no step, level with the rest of the bathroom floor. The water drains through a floor drain or a linear channel drain.
Wall chase: A groove cut into a wall so pipes or cables can run inside it. Afterwards it is closed with mortar or render and, once finished, cannot be seen.
Wall-hung toilet: A toilet bowl fixed to the wall on a metal frame, together with a concealed cistern, without touching the floor.
Waterproofing: The work and materials that stop water getting through on flat roofs, balconies, bathrooms, basements, planters and tanks.
Weathered (grey) wood: The grey, rough layer wood develops when it is left unprotected in sun and rain. It is surface wear and usually comes off with sanding.
Wood preservative: A liquid that soaks into wood and protects it from fungi, rot, woodworm and moisture. It goes on bare wood, usually before varnish or paint.
Wood rot: Decay of wood caused by fungi when it stays damp for a long time. Rotten wood goes soft, gives when pressed or crumbles, and can't be saved with paint.