Meaning & use
house shoring
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Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The use of temporary beams or props to hold up a weak or damaged house, or part of it, while building or repair work is done.
Grammar: Usually uncountable: house shoring is needed, not a house shoring.
Patterns
- house shoring for something
The cracked wall required house shoring before the builders could start.
House shoring kept the building stable while the basement was dug out.
The engineer ordered emergency house shoring after the flood.
Common combinations
- emergency house shoring
- Emergency house shoring prevented the roof from falling in.
- carry out house shoring
- The crew carried out house shoring before demolishing the next-door home.
- temporary house shoring
- Temporary house shoring costs less than a full rebuild.
- house shoring and underpinning
- House shoring and underpinning were both needed for the sinking house.
Synonyms and how they differ
- propping
- Propping is a simpler word for holding something up, and does not need to refer to a building project.
- bracing
- Bracing stresses stiffening a structure against movement, not holding its weight up.
- underpinning
- Underpinning strengthens the foundations permanently, whereas house shoring is only temporary support.
- stabilization
- Stabilization is a broader word for making a structure steady by any method.
Word family
Commonly confused: house shoring or underpinning?
house shoring vs underpinning
Underpinning makes foundations deeper or stronger for good, while shoring is temporary support during work.
Practice
While workers dug beside the old cottage, an engineer arranged ____ to stop the walls from moving.
Choose one answer.
House shoring is temporary structural support. The other options are real house phrases but have nothing to do with supporting walls.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “house shoring”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.