Not trying to be argumentative...I just only last week heard the term "bulkhead" being used as something to conceal ductwork (on a DYI program) and I almost fired off a message to the network stating that the guy did not know what he was talking about because what he was calling a "bulkhead" was actually soffit...(by defination anyway)...hence my interest when in the same week I read the term in this thread...
I would like to hear the reasoning for this...I can find no reference to the term (bulkhead) searching definitions of the word that would match the usage described...
Using your favorite search engine try a query
define : bulkhead
coming from a background as a shipwright/fabricator (I also have extensive experience in residential finish carpentry/millwork) I have always know them basically as "drops" but never a "bulkhead" what I know of as a bulkhead is exactly what is described by the search results in the query I mentioned above...
with all due respect...I also refer to them (drops) as "soffits" if you run the query
define : soffit you will find several references (among the common exterior examples) to structures that are used between the top of kitchen (and other) cabinets and the ceiling...
...just curious...do those of you that refer to the structures built around duct work etc as "bulkheads"... also refer to structures above cabinets as bulkheads?
considering the fact that the structures built above cabinets is exactly the same as those that conceal duct work etc. (just no cabinet under them) I rest my case..
BTW...one of the first jobs I ever had was installing bulkheads in sailing hulls for 'Morgan Yachts' which later (1974) became 'Endeavor Yacht'...