Gap
Defect in the chain of title, such as a missing document, raising doubt as to true ownership.

Gap Loan
Temporary financing bridging the difference between the construction loan and the permanent loan. Also called a bridge loan.

Garden Apartments
Apartment complex that provides access to a lawn area to all tenants. Commonly used to describe any low-rise apartment complex.

Garden Bond
Brickwork pattern where there are three to five bricks laid lengthwise and then one brick laid with it short side and then repeated.

Gargoyle
An ornament, shaped in the form of a grotesquely carved animal, creature of person, which projects from a building as decoration in older types of architecture.

Garnet
A hard stone of silicate minerals, which occur as well-formed crystals in metamorphic rock. Red garnets are normally used in jewelry, with the ordinary varieties crushed and used as abrasives.

Garnet Paper
Paper coated with finely-crushed garnet chips to make it abrasive.

Garnishment
Legal proceeding whereby a person's property is attached and used to pay an obligation with the employer withholding part of the employee's salary and remitting it to the court.

Garret
The space or rooms below the roof of a house, especially under a sloping roof.

Gas
Substance in form of a vapor.

Gas Burner or Jet
A nozzle or burner at the end of a gas fixture.

Gas Cock
Plug valve, which is installed between the gas line of a building and each of the gas appliances connected to it, to be used as flow control or to shut off each appliance separately without disturbing the entire building.

Gas Cylinder
Round metal container, which is used to transport and to store gas under pressure.

Gas Fired Furnace
Heating system fueled by natural or propane gas.

Gasket
Material, used as a seal between two parts, which must be confirming to the parts being sealed, as well as meeting the temperature, pressure and fluid conditions present. Rubber and other elastomer materials, while not suitable for sealing steam or heat, can be used with water. Sealing heat or steam requires fiberglass-based or metal materials.

Gaslight
Lamp lit by burning gas.

Gas Metal Arc Cutting
Use of an external shielding gas, which produces an electric arc used to melt metal. The arc is produced between the consumable electrode and the metal that is to be cut. Electric current is supplied by a variable transformer, through heavy electrical leads. One lead is connected to the electrode and the other is connected to the metal being cut. The electrode is then held close to the metal so that an electric arc can move from the electrode to the metal, completing the circuit.

Gas Metal Arc Welding
Welding which is done by using an external shielding gas to weld the metals together with the heat generated by the electric arc that is produced between a consumable electrode and the metal being welded. Deep penetration of the weld, along with rapid deposits of weld metal are provided by this process.

Gas Metal Arc Welding, Pulsed Arc
When pulsed current is used in electric arc welding process, it provides both the speed of gas metal arc welding along with reduced welding heat from the pulsed arc, thus avoiding the burn-through that can occur when welding thin metal.

Gas Metal Arc Welding, Short Circuit Arc
Electric arc welding that uses short circuits, repeated often, to deposit the filler metal.

Gas Pliers
Pipe gripping pliers with a curved, toothed cutout in the jaws with two different ranges of jaw openings.

Gas Pocket
Void space that weakens a casting or weld metal.

Gas Tungsten Arc Cutting
Usage of an electric arc flowing from a non-melting tungsten electrode to the metal to be cut. The electrode holder that goes around the electrode has a gas passage that has an inert gas flowing through, which isolates the molten metal of the cut from any oxygen that would have detrimental effects on the hot metal. A hose connect to a tank supplies the gas.

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
Electric arc welding process, which uses an electrode, which cannot be destroyed, to maintain an arch which is surrounded by inert shielding gas. The weld wire is fed into the weld separately.

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, Pulsed Arc
A tungsten electrode, pulsed current and an external shielding gas are used in this electric arc welding process.

Gas Welding
Melting of the base material with a fuel and oxygen burning torch and feeding the weld metal into the weld.

Gasket
Soft, fibrous material used on the internal working part of faucets and valves to cushion the metal on metal from stress and to make them fasten tighter.

Gate
1. An opening that provides a passageway through a fence or wall.
2. Movable framework or solid structure that swings on hinges controlling entrance or exit through an opening in a fence or wall.

Gate Valve
Valve that uses a wedge or disc for opening and closing. The disc or gate clears the opening, which permits a straight line of flow, when the valve is opened. When the wheel is turned clockwise, the disc is moved into the closed position, which stops the flow. Gate valves are used when the valve remains either completely opened or closed for the greater part of the time, such as with a shut-off valve.

Gated Community
A fenced housing development, which usually has a security guard.

Gateway
An entrance in a wall or fence that is fitted with a gate.

Gauge
1. A standard scale of measurement dimensions, diameter, capacity, thickness, etc.
2. A device for measuring.
3. The distance between the rails of a railway.

Gauge Blocks
Reference blocks which are used for calibration of precision measuring devices, such as micrometers because they are hardened and finished to within a few millionths of an inch accuracy when used at 68 degrees F and are precise in their dimensions, 3/8 inch by 1 3/8 inches by the dimension the block is representing.

Gauged Brick
Brick that has been shaped so that it fits in a certain location.

Gauged Mortar
Plaster of Paris mixed mortar to speed the hardening process.

Gauging
Cutting masonry to a certain size.

Gauging Block
Wooden block, used to level concrete forms, is attached to a string line, which is suspended from the corners of the forms.

Gazebo
1. Open structure, supported by columns and covered with a column-supported roof.
2. A windowed balcony, turret or summerhouse used for observing the scenery.

Gazumping
Slang term for the practice of reneging on an oral commitment to buy or sell property because a better opportunity presented itself prior to a legal contract being consummated.

GDP
Gross Domestic Product - Measurement of the value of all goods and services produced by the economy within its boundaries and is the nation's broadest gauge of economic health. GDP is normally stated in annual terms, though data are compiled and released quarterly. The government gives a preliminary figure every quarter and revises it twice. GDP is often a measure of the state of the economy.