I was given the following for a Solid Surface Window Sill.
Thickness 1/2"
Edge: Provide 1-1/2" tensile drop edge.
Any one here know what a tensile drop edge is?
I am wondering if someone was confused
I never heard of this either, but a search located a Formica document that discusses them:
They are apparently meant to offset the tensile forces in a long solid-surface countertop.
Thanks Jeff, My google search offered nothing .
Nothing more than the 1-1/2 inch deep finished exposed edges forming smooth, uniform [bullnose] [square] [beveled] [ogee] [inlay] [____] profile.
And as Jeffery W. wrote above. Good term. I will spring on the interior designers.
Stool is a piece of trim and may be wood, solid surface, quartz, or stone. Sill is a window frame component. A stool may be omitted while a sill may not be omitted.
A continual source of discussion with architects, many of whom don’t know the difference. I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t think I’d specify solid surface material or plam for a sill.
Must be a regional thing. Nobody uses the term stool in our region.
we use the term in our region. but not in any architectural context 
Thanks Peter, as soon as I saw the post, it was the first thing I thought of - Dean: It’s not regional, but it is one of my pet-peeves. A sill is on the exterior of the window. A stool is on the inside. It is misused more than any other construction term I can think of.
I don’t think it’s regional. We use stool and sill correctly, but it’s a battle. I use the above illustration, or one that’s more architectural (drawn with straight lines), to show which is which.
MasterSpec uses the term “stool” in reference to stone window stools, but I have never seen the term used anywhere else in Masterspec, not even in the woodwork specs or window specs. I never see the term used on drawings. I think it’s just one of those words the industry hasn’t come to a consensus on yet; so a lot of architects are not familiar with it. It can’t be too much of a problem, since I never hear about stools and sills being installed on the wrong side of the window.
One bit of advise, though. Be careful about requesting stool samples. You might not get what you were aiming for.
Richard,
That is an astute observation on samples. The next time an architect requests a stool sample, I will do my best to pooh-pooh the idea.
There are “terms of art” deeply embedded in each building craft (and other crafts as well). These are not well known outside the craft. As the craft evolves into an industry with less involvement of the master craftsman, some of these terms are lost. A master woodworker in a shop making custom wood windows will be very familiar with these terms while the person on the assembly line in a wood window manufacturing plant will probably not.
It is interesting to “wander” through the glossary of any "manual: (TCNA or AWS are good examples) and see how many terms are unfamiliar.
Architects used to be more connected to the crafts and, as a result, be more familiar with even the more obscure terms of art.
Do a google search for tile window sills and tile window stools. Look at the images, they are the same. My point is that the terms are used interchangeably.
The AWI Handbook lists window sills being made from " Solid-Surface, Natural/Manufactured Stone, Epoxy Resin, Solid Phenolic.
If you guys want to call the stools, go ahead.
If I call them sills, the contractors, installers and suppliers will know exactly what I am talking about. If I called them stools, they would wonder what rock I crawled out from under.
Don’t forget “stool” can also refer to the 3-legged sort. Your sample might be a surprise, but “are you sitting down” could be an appropriate question.
My grandfather had a crude one legged stool that he used to milk cows by hand in a bye gone era.
This discussion piqued my curiosity, since I have also often argued for calling the interior component a “stool.” Despite some mixed definitions from online dictionaries, no less an authority than Tom Silva in a This Old House article about trimming windows defines the interior wood ledge as a stool.
Anyone care to dispute that, or shall we rest our case?
Dewayne’s point is taken though. In practice, the terms are largely interchangeable.
We should always use defined terms correctly, but it isn’t always easy. For a similar discussion about another product, see Tegularity.
Sheldon - Now that I know “reveal” will work, I will never use “tegular” again.
I am glad your blog raises questions about the definition of ceiling tile vs panel.
I have been plagued for years by ASTM’s tile/panel definitions. Yet “board” does not work for all products either. For example, I am doing work for a company that makes thermoformed ceiling products that are made from thermoplastic just 0.013 inch thick. I end up using “ceiling unit” or “ceiling element”, but they are not satisfactory either because the grid is also composed of units and elements.
And while we are on the topic, there is no agreed upon definition of “acoustic ceiling”. The term probably originated with matted fiber products. But the above mentioned thermoplastic units have great noise reduction characteristics when used in a suspended ceiling. Does that make them an acoustic ceiling tile or panel or board?
I welcome feedback.