A storey pole (or story pole, storey rod, story stick, jury stick, scantling, scantillon) is a length of narrow board usually cut to the height of one

storey A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US). T ...

. It is used as a layout tool for any kind of repeated work in carpentry including stair-building, framing,

timber framing Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

, and setting tiles. The pole is marked for the heights from (usually) the floor platform of a building for dimensions such as window sill heights, window top heights (or headers), exterior door heights (or headers), interior door heights, wall gas jet heights (for

gas lamps Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

) and the level of the next storey joists. It makes for quick, repeatable measurements without the need of otherwise calibrated measuring devices or workers skilled in using them. Craftsmen use them to mark clapboard and brick courses so that, for example, a course ends neatly below a window sill or at a door's

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

. They are used in remodelling so that, for example, the new coursing of exterior siding on a wing will match the existing. There is evidence of 'boning-rods' being used in building Egypt's

Great Pyramid The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...

as counterparts of modern storey poles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storey Pole Tools Woodworking measuring instruments Construction equipment