The words on your estimate, explained

Every trade has its own vocabulary, and ours ends up on a document you are asked to sign. These are the 41 terms that come up most often on a Green Ladder estimate, written the way we would explain them standing in the room, or out in the yard.

41 terms

Interior framing & envelope

Vapour barrier: A sealed membrane on the warm side of an insulated wall or ceiling, run continuous and sealed at every penetration, that stops warm interior air carrying moisture into the assembly.; Why it mattersContinuous is the whole word. Warm air holds moisture, and if it reaches a cold surface inside the wall it condenses there, behind the drywall, where nobody sees it until there is a problem. The gaps are where it fails, so how the penetrations are sealed matters more than the sheet itself.; Basement development →
Framing off the concrete: Building a basement stud wall standing clear of the foundation wall rather than tight against it, so the assembly can be insulated properly and air can move behind it.; Why it mattersA stud wall pressed against a cold foundation wall is where condensation collects. Standing it off is what lets the insulation and the vapour barrier do their job as a pair.; Basement development →
Egress window: A window sized to code so a person can get out of a bedroom through it, together with the opening cut into the foundation, the framing around it, and the window well outside.; Why it mattersAny room used as a bedroom needs one. Without it the room is not a legal bedroom no matter how well it is finished, and that becomes your problem at resale. It is four pieces of work, not one line: cutting, framing, the window, and the well.; Basement development →
Load-bearing wall: A wall carrying weight from the structure above it down to the foundation, as opposed to a partition that only divides the space.; Why it mattersIt is the difference between a wall you can take out in a morning and a wall that needs a beam, posts, and a load path carried all the way down to bearing. Which one you have decides the scope of an open-concept renovation, so it is worth settling before the design is finished.; Framing and structural →
Header: The horizontal member spanning an opening, over a door, window or removed wall, that carries the load above it out to the framing on either side.; Why it mattersWhen a wall comes out, the header and the posts under each end are the whole job. The visible result is an open room; the work is the load path underneath it.; Framing and structural →
Subfloor: The structural floor surface under the finished flooring, and on a basement slab the underlayment or subfloor system that sits between the concrete and the floor you walk on.; Why it mattersFlooring only performs as well as what is under it. A finished floor laid over an uneven subfloor telegraphs every dip, and the transitions at doorways are where it shows first. On a slab there is a second reason: concrete is cold from below year round and that transfers straight through.; Interior renovations →

Wet areas & tile

Slope to drain: The fall built into a shower floor before any tile goes on, so water runs to the drain rather than sitting on the surface.; Why it mattersIt is built in underneath, which means it is decided before the part you can see exists. A shower floor that holds water anywhere is a shower floor that will eventually let it through.; Bathroom renovations →
Tile backer board: The rigid, moisture-tolerant panel tile is set over in a wet area, in place of ordinary drywall.; Why it mattersA tiled shower, tub surround or niche is a wet wall, and what the tile is stuck to decides how long it stays a wall. A niche in particular is a hole cut into a wet wall, so how it is built is worth asking about.; Bathroom renovations →
Rough-in: The plumbing and electrical run inside the walls and floor before anything closes up, as distinct from the fixtures and switches fitted at the end.; Why it mattersLicensed trades do this work and it is inspected before the drywall goes on. It is the part you can never easily get back to, which is why the inspection step belongs in the schedule rather than being discovered as a delay.; Kitchen renovations →

Trades, permits & sequence

Trade sequence: The order the trades arrive in on an interior renovation: demolition, structural, plumbing and electrical rough-in, inspection, insulation and vapour barrier, drywall, paint, flooring, cabinets and fixtures, then finish carpentry.; Why it mattersThese trades interfere with each other, and each step depends on the one before it. Out of order, something lands early, sits in the way, gets damaged, or comes back out and goes in twice. A quote with no sequence in it usually means the sequence gets worked out on your floor.; Interior renovations →
Dust containment: Poly barriers, zip walls and negative air used to keep demolition and drywall dust inside the room being worked on.; Why it mattersFine dust travels through a whole house if nothing stops it, and most interior renovations happen in a house somebody is still living in. It is real work and real cost, and it is the thing people most often wish had been written into the quote.; Interior renovations →
Templated countertop: A countertop measured from the cabinets after they are installed and levelled, rather than cut from the drawing.; Why it mattersCabinets go in to a real floor in a real room, and the finished top has to match what is actually there. Templating after installation is why there is a gap in the middle of a kitchen schedule, and it is the right way round.; Kitchen renovations →
Grade: The level and slope of the ground around the structure.; Why it mattersGrade decides where water goes. A patio or walkway is set to move water away from the house, which is why the finished surface is rarely dead level.
Site access: How equipment and materials physically get to where the work is happening.; Why it mattersThis is one of the biggest hidden drivers of price. A backyard reachable by machine and a backyard where everything moves by wheelbarrow through a 3 foot gate are two very different builds at the same square footage.
Permit: Municipal approval required before certain structures are built. Whether you need one depends on the structure, its height, its size, and your municipality.; Why it mattersWe handle permit support where a build needs one. It affects the schedule, so it is worth knowing early rather than at framing.; Do you need a permit for a deck in Red Deer? →

Deck framing

Sonotube footing: A cardboard tube used as the form for a poured concrete footing. We auger a hole, set the tube, and fill it so every post stands on its own concrete column carried below frost depth.; Why it mattersThis is the part nobody sees and the part that decides whether the deck is still level in five years. Sonotubes are not the same thing as pad and post, where a block sits on the surface and moves with the ground.; Custom decks →
Frost depth: How far down the ground freezes in a Central Alberta winter. Footings are carried below that line so seasonal freezing happens above the concrete rather than under it.; Why it mattersA footing that stops short of frost depth gets pushed up every winter and dropped every spring.
Frost heave: What happens when water in the soil freezes, expands, and lifts whatever is sitting on it. The structure comes up in winter and settles unevenly in spring.; Why it mattersIt shows up as a deck that has pulled away from the house, stairs that have separated from the landing, or a gate that stopped latching.
Ledger: The board that fastens a deck to the house and carries part of the load into the house framing.; Why it mattersIt is the single most important connection on an attached deck and the one most exposed to water, which is why it gets flashing, joist tape, and structural screws rather than ordinary fasteners.
Freestanding deck: A deck that carries its own load on its own posts and footings instead of hanging off the house.; Why it mattersWe build both attached and freestanding. Which one suits your build depends on the wall, the height, and what is behind the siding.; Custom decks →
Rim joist and double rim: The joist that closes off the outside edge of the framing. We run a double rim, meaning two members rather than one.; Why it mattersRailing posts bolt into the rim. Doubling it gives that connection real material to bite into and stiffens the whole perimeter.
Joist: The repeating framing members that run under the decking and carry it to the beams.
On centre (OC): How framing spacing is measured, from the centre of one member to the centre of the next. Our decks are framed at 16 inches on centre.; Why it mattersWider spacing means more flex underfoot and, with composite, more visible sag between joists over time.
Blocking: Short pieces fitted between joists to stop them twisting and to stiffen the frame. We stagger ours rather than running them in a straight line.; Why it mattersStaggering means fasteners driven from opposite sides never run into each other, so every block is actually fastened properly instead of one screw hitting another.
Span: The unsupported distance a joist or beam has to cover between supports.; Why it mattersSpan is what sets joist depth. A longer span is why one deck is framed in 2x10 and another in 2x8, and it has nothing to do with what is sitting on top.

Fasteners & hardware

Joist tape: A self-adhesive waterproof membrane run along the top of every joist and the ledger before the decking goes down. We use G-Tape.; Why it mattersWater gets between the deck boards and sits on the joist tops, and every screw hole is a path straight into the wood. Tape keeps the water out of the joist and out of the holes. It is the cheapest thing on the estimate that adds years to the frame.
Cut-end sealer: A brush-on preservative applied to treated lumber wherever it has been cut on site.; Why it mattersPressure treatment only penetrates so far into the board. The moment a joist is cut to length, that fresh end is untreated wood facing the weather. Sealer puts the protection back.
GRK structural screws: Engineered structural fasteners used at major framing connections. RSS, LedgerLOK, and ThruLOK are the ones that come up most often on our estimates.; Why it mattersThese carry rated structural loads. They are not the same as a box of general purpose screws from the hardware aisle, and they are not interchangeable with them.
Joist hanger: A formed metal bracket that carries a joist where it meets a beam or ledger, sized to the joist it holds.; Why it mattersHangers are what transfer the load properly at that connection. Toe-nailing into the end grain is not the same thing and does not carry the same load.
Simpson Strong-Tie: The structural connector brand we specify for hangers, post bases, and post-to-beam hardware.
Coated deck screws: Corrosion-resistant screws rated for use with treated lumber.; Why it mattersTreated lumber is corrosive to plain steel. We use screws rather than nails on structural work because a screw can be drawn tight, inspected, and backed out if something needs to come apart.

Decking & finish

Pressure treated (PT) lumber: Lumber that has had preservative forced into it under pressure so it can be used outdoors and in ground contact.; Why it mattersIt is the budget-conscious entry point for a deck surface and it needs sealing every year in this climate. The framing under a composite deck is treated lumber too.; Price a PT deck →
Composite decking: Boards made from wood fibre and polymer rather than solid lumber. We build with any major composite brand. Eva-Last, Trex, TimberTech, Fiberon and Deckorators are the ones we spec most often.; Why it mattersNo annual sealing and a 25-year material warranty. It costs more upfront and it is built to outlast treated wood by decades.; Price a composite deck →Materials we use →
Picture frame edging: A border board run around the perimeter of the deck so every field board butts into it instead of ending in open air.; Why it mattersIt hides the cut ends, which is exactly where a board starts to fail, and it gives the deck a finished edge rather than a run of exposed end grain.
Fascia and skirting: Fascia is the finish board covering the outside face of the framing. Skirting encloses the space between the deck and the ground.; Why it mattersBoth are what make the deck look built rather than assembled, and skirting keeps animals out from underneath.

Fencing

Augered post hole: A round hole drilled with an auger, 4 to 5 feet below grade, that the fence post is set into.; Why it mattersA round hole packs evenly all the way around the post. Gate posts go deeper than line posts because a gate swings, and every swing works the post.; Fencing and privacy →

Patios & hardscape

Base: The compacted material underneath a paver patio or walkway that everything else sits on.; Why it mattersWe do not quote a fixed base depth, because the honest answer depends on what we find when we dig. Soil, drainage, and what was there before all change it.; Patios →
Edge restraint: A fixed border holding the outer course of pavers in place.; Why it mattersWithout it the outside edge gradually creeps outward, the joints open up, and the pattern loses its lines. It is designed in from the base up rather than added at the end.
Interlocking paver: A manufactured concrete unit laid in a repeating pattern over a compacted base, with jointing sand locking the units against each other.; Why it mattersBecause the units are independent, a paver surface can move with the ground instead of cracking the way a single slab does, and one damaged unit can be lifted and replaced.; Price a paver patio →

Pergolas

Louvred roof: An adjustable slat roof that rotates from open to closed. Closed, the louvres shed water into the frame and out through integrated gutters.; Price a louvred pergola →
Rafter: The repeating overhead members of a pergola roof. On our cedar and timber pergolas these run 12 inches on centre.; Why it mattersTighter spacing than deck framing, because on a pergola the rafters are the thing you are looking at, not just structure hidden under a surface.

Now go read your quote again.

If you have a written quote in front of you and you want to know whether it covers the things above, there is a checklist for each kind of build, inside and out.

See every quote checklist Call (587) 447-9009