Words beginning with A

- A -

ABOVE-GRADE: The portion of a building that is above ground level. A term applied to any part of a structure or site feature that is above the adjacent finished, or intact, ground level.

ACTUAL SIZE: The finished (dressed) size as opposed to the nominal size of a piece of wood.

ARBOR: A shelter of vines or branches or of latticework covered with climbing shrubs or vines. A walk through Garden structure that can support plants and generally complements the landscape.

ASPHALT: A dark brown to black cementitious material in which the predominating constituents are bitumens, which occur in nature or are obtained in petroleum processing. Asphalt is a constituent in varying proportions of most crude petroleum and used for paving, roofing, industrial and other special purposes.

ASTRAGAL: Vertical member (molding) attached to a stile on one of a pair of doors (either sliding or swinging) against which the other door strikes against or closes to.