No "Cleats"

My nephew Pat works as a roofer, so he was interested in and asked about our roof system over dinner last night. I did my best to answer his questions, but as they say, it's just not my field. When he asked how steep the pitch was, I couldn't answer, but said that they had pounded "cleats" into the roof to step on. His face showed his puzzlement as he asked me what cleats were. Now I admit, I pulled that technical term out of you know what, thinking it made me sound like I knew a thing or two about roofs. When I described them as 2 x 4 boards installed to provide footing for the roofers, Ellen asked him if cleat was the right term. Pat said, "Nah. We just call them boards." Ellen deeply enjoyed her laugh at my effort to appear knowledgeable. I still think cleat is more descriptive, but if I'm the only one who understands what it means, I guess it's pointless to use it again. Boards they are. As you can see, the boards have been removed from the roof, signalling its completion.