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About This Quiz
"Grandpa was carpenter/He built houses, stores and banks/He chain-smoked Camel cigarettes/And hammered nails in planks." Stephen King likes this ditty about the life of a carpenter so much he quoted it in his book "On Writing," where it was the the lead-in to a passage comparing the craftmanship of a writer to that of a carpenter. King makes some good points about the similarities, but maybe you're more interested in actual carpentry than in writing. Maybe you've worked in the field in the past, or want to in the future. (Or possibly right now, but if that's the case, isn't this kind of an odd way to spend your spare time?)
Some facts about carpentry: It's one of humanity's oldest professions. It's also one of the most male-dominated, to this day. In the United States, it's estimated that about 98 percent of carpenters are male. Which is unfortunate, because its many carpenters will tell you that making homes, cabinets, furniture and more from wood is a fundamentally satisfying job. Famous carpenters (OK, there aren't many) include Jesus Christ, who was specifically a shipwright, making boats for fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and Harrison Ford, who worked as one while trying to make it in Hollywood.
Are you ready to test your knowledge of this venerable line of work? Give it a try now -- no hammer or nails needed!  (FYI: The lyrics quoted above are part of a song by John Prine, "Grandpa Was a Carpenter," if you want to give it a listen.)Â
"Crosscutting" is a term for cutting wood against the _____.
bow
grain
Grain direction has to do with wood cells, and the way the wood grew when it was still a living tree. Experienced woodworkers know when it is best to work with or against the grain.
wale
teeth
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Screwdrivers usually come in Phillips or ____ versions.
GE
flat
A flat-head screwdriver has a straight-line tip, for inserting in a straight-line slot on the screw head. A Phillips screwdriver has four notches, for inserting into a cross pattern on the screw head.
advanced
torque
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A wall that supports a building's roof is called _____.
essential
load-bearing
A load-bearing wall might support the roof, or the upper stories of a building. It is important to know which walls are load-bearing when considering knocking some down to create an open floor plan.
supportive
primary
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What is a "joist"?
a horizontal framing element
Joists run parallel to each other and support floors and ceilings. "Joist" also gets our vote for one of the funniest-sounding words in carpentry.
an extra-strong nail
a framing hammer
an extension ladder
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"Pitch" refers to a roof's ______.
building material
glue or nails
steepness
Don't be confused: While "pitch" can refer to a gluey substance that holds things together, that's not what this term is referring to. Here, it means the slant or steepness of the roof.
cost
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Creating the "skeleton" of a house is called _____.
founding
framing
Framing is a key part of the building process. It's also a term that has been borrowed by many other fields -- filmmaking, for example, in which screenwriters use "framing devices" to set up a story.
hardening
rising
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What are wood screws made of?
wood, of course
metal
Wood screws get their name from often being used to hold wooden elements together. They are NOT made of wood.
plastic
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What is a "plumb bob"?
a way of detecting water underground
a tool that determines if something is entirely vertical
A plumb bob is simply a weight on a string, which uses gravity to indicate a straight vertical line. It's a cousin to the aforementioned spirit level.
an extra-fat drill bit
an inept carpenter
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What is the decorative woodwork between the top of a wall and the ceiling called?
crown molding
Crown molding was a big deal during the home-improvement and house-flipping crazes of the 2000s. You couldn't go to a dinner party without hearing someone talking about the difficult decision they were making about crown molding in the house they were redoing.
Doric work
Ionian scrolling
there is no name for this
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A mortise-and-tenon is a kind of _____.
flooring material
joint
This is a simple way of joining wood. A slightly oversimplified explanation is that this joint fits a square peg (sometimes called a "tongue") into a square hole.
saw
roof
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Generally speaking, studs in a residential building will be ....
6 inches apart
8 inches apart
a little more than one foot apart
The standard in residential construction is that studs are 16 inches apart. This means that, when hanging something on the wall, you only need to find one stud to determine the location of others.
exactly three feet apart
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Framing elements in a roof are called _______.
hoists
leaves
rafters
Outside construction, you most often hear this term used in describing crowd noise. A popular political candidate might be the recipient of cheers that "went up to the rafters."
shingles
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Creating an angle or slope on a piece of wood is called ______.
beveling
It isn't just wood that can be beveled. You'll often see glass tables with beveled edges (which prevents injuries when someone runs into them).
graining
loping
finishing
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What would you use a spirit level for?
raising timbers and joists
sanding floors smooth
determining if a plane is evenly horizontal
A spirit level uses a bubble in a fluid-filled tube to indicate when a surface is level. The bubble should be centered in the tube.
contacting the ghost of Frank Lloyd Wright for help
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Which of these does a staircase NOT have?
balusters
a landing
a newel post
a gable
Balusters are the vertical supports of the banister, a newel post is the heavy post at the top or bottom, and the landing is the flat place where the stairs end. But a gable is a shape of a roof, or a smaller strcuture in a roof, often making head space for an attic bedroom.
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What are vertical elements/planks in a frame called?
branches
supports
railers
studs
Even if you've only rented all your life, you're probably familiar with studs. Everyone who's ever wanted to hang a flat-screen TV or bicycle-mounting hooks has had to use a stud finder to do so.
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An opening or window over a door is called a _____.
dove tail
mail slot
wind wing
transom
A transom is often a decorative glass window over a door. In years past, more of them opened, which is why old-fashioned detective stories have a PI listening through, or peeking over, a transom.
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How many hinges does an exterior door usually have?
two
three
This differentiates them from interior doors. Interior doors are lighter in weight, and usually only need two hinges.
four
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Which of these is a subcategory of carpentry?
duct cleaning
joining
Joining is a kind of carpentry that involves connecting smaller pieces. It tends to be more decorative than overall carpentry.
steamfitting
wiring
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A home under construction in which many sections arrive on site pre-assembled is called a _____ .
semi-detached home
mobile home
modular home
Don't confuse a modular home with a mobile home, though they can look alike. A modular home is built to different standards, and some of them can be quite stylish, in a minimalist way.
cabin
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A carpenter who has completed an apprenticeship is called a/an ______.
day-trade
middleman
journeyman
After "journeyman" comes "master." Geeks of a certain age might known these terms best from Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" novels, where they were used in the Harpers' Guild.
veteran
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What is flashing?
the overlap area in shingled roofs or siding
fire in the walls of a balloon-frame building
metal plates or seals that keep water from entering a house
Flashing might run around chimneys, or between rain gutters and the rest of the roof. It's a fairly sexy name for such a basic, workhorse element of construction.
a railing around a staircase landing
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Which of these would a carpenter be unlikely to use?
a chisel
a drill
a miter saw
a multi-meter
A multi-meter is very useful in general -- it tests batteries to see how much energy is left in them. But it doesn't have anything directly to do with woodwork.
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True or false: Shingles are only used on roofs.
true
false
Shingles are sometimes used in siding, often unpainted, and only lightly stained. This kind of siding was popular in the 1970s.
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The point where two slopes of a roof meet is called the ______.
aphelion
brace
valley
Kind of a poetic term, isn't it? Likewise, the highest point of a sloping roof is called a "ridge."
vertex
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True or false: Mortar is commonly used in carpentry.
true
false
Mortar is used in bricklaying, which is a field "adjacent" to carpentry, but not carpentry itself. Fun fact: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill enjoyed bricklaying, which he considered a relaxing pastime.
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True or false: The making of wood furniture is not considered carpentry.
true
false
Carpentry is most associated with the making of buildings. But traditionally, carpenters also built carts, carriages and ships -- according to the gospels, Jesus was not just a carpenter, but specifically a builder of ships. Nowadays, with more construction involving metals and synthetic substances, carpenters are turning to specialty areas like fine furniture.
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What is "baseboard" called in the UK?
byboard
a footle
skirting board
"Skirting board" is so named because it skirts the edge of the room. Fun fact: It's one of the small things that was changed between editions of "Harry Potter" books in the UK and in the US.
wentworth board
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The opposite of a modular home is a ______ one.
custom
condominium
plank-framed
stick-built
"Stick-built" just means it was built with traditional methods, with every part framed on the site. Though we have to admit, "stick-built" sounds very primitive, like a forerunner to even a log cabin.
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What kind of construction is mostly seen in rural and vacation homes?
A-frame
A-frame houses have simple, long-timbered roofs. They resemble Swiss chalets and are popular for part-time or vacation homes.
crook
post-and-plank
balloon frame
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The low horizontal element of a wall to which vertical parts attach is called the ____ plate.
base
founding
sill
Some builders drop the "plate" and just refer to the "sill." Others might call it the "ground plate" (which sounds like it has to do with electrical wiring).
tranch
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A cripple stud is also known as a ____ stud.
crown
jack
You'd most commonly find these under doors and windows. (We're also #sorrynotsorry about "differently-abled"-- a little political-correctness humor never killed anyone).
half
differently-abled
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Where on a construction site would you find "stringers"?
the foundation
the roof
the flooring
the staircase
Stringers are strong wooden supports for the individual steps of staircases. Not to be confused with the use of "stringer" as a freelance reporter for a news-wire service.
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What issue are balloon-frame houses susceptible to?
drafts
fire
In balloon-frame construction, the studs are full height, running from roof to ceiling. This leaves empty space for flames to run straight up the insides of the walls.
termites
total collapse
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What is a pale?
a fence made of stakes
You don't hear this term much anymore. But it survives in the phrase "beyond the pale." Today, this means that someone's behavior has crossed a line of acceptability. But back in the day, it meant they'd gone past a territorial fence of sharpened spikes.
a light-colored flooring
the base of a chimney
the opening of a chimney
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You Got:
/35
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