Columns

Columns are round from the base to the capital and are 

typically hollow....built from staves just like a barrel. 

Our custom wood columns are normally built to reproduce 

an existing column shaft,either smooth round or fluted. 

For new construction, fiberglass columns are an economical 

alternative and can be delivered to the job site in less 

than three weeks. 

A proper column has a gentle curved taper known as entasis 

which must be built into the column blank so as to maintain

an even wall thickness throughout the length of the column 

shaft. This requires milling tapered staves which are then 

splined through their entire length in order to orient the 

staves for glue up. We use a urea-formaldehyde glue when 

assembling column staves as this is waterproof (to the 

point of steaming). After glue up, the column blank is 

mounted into the lathe, turned to exact dimensions, and 

if specified, fluted to the proper flute/margin widths. 

Our favorite material for exterior columns is Spanish 

Cedar, which has a natural resistance to decay, however 

we can provide virtually any species of wood to fit any 

particular need. 

The column base consists of the squre plinth and either 

a Tuscan, Doric, or Attic style base.Often the column 

base is the first part to fail and if replaced in a timely

manner will prevent any fungus from transferring into the 

column shaft. We can reproduce column bases from good 

scaled drawings with dimensions, but prefer to have an 

original, even if it is only a section. 

The capital may be one of a large number of styles, the 

most basic 4 being Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. 

We are rarely involved in repairing or reproducing the 

capitals since those are usually in good structural 

condition. If necessary we outsource that service to one 

of several companies depending on the particular 

application.