Post (structural)

This article is about the structural support. For other uses, see Post.

A post is a main vertical or leaning support in a structure similar to a column or pillar, the term post generally refers to a timber but may be metal or stone.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] A stud in wooden or metal building construction is similar but lighter duty than a post and a strut may be similar to a stud or act as a brace. In the U.K. a strut may be very similar to a post but not carry a beam.[8] In wood construction posts normally land on a sill, but in rare types of buildings the post may continue through to the foundation called an interrupted sill or into the ground called earthfast, post in ground, or posthole construction. A post is also a fundamental element in a fence. The terms "jack" and "cripple" are used with shortened studs and rafters but not posts, except in the specialized vocabulary of shoring.

  1. ^ Boucher p.351
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary "A stout piece of timber, or other solid material,..."
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster "A piece (as of timber or metal)..."
  4. ^ Sturgis "...whether of timber, metal, or stone;..." p. 195
  5. ^ Gwilt p.1243 ""An upright piece of timber set in the earth. Any piece of timber whose office is to support or sustain..."
  6. ^ Russell p. 212-213
  7. ^ "...every bressummer shall have such other storey posts, iron columns, stanchions, or piers of brick or stone, or corbels, as may be sufficient to carry the superstructure." The London building acts 1894 to 1905 p. 71.
  8. ^ Harris