A pier is a vertical masonry or concrete support, often a column or a deep, reinforced footing, that carries a concentrated structural load down to stable soil or bedrock rather than spreading it along a continuous footing.
Piers carry point loads, think a porch post, a deck beam, or a single column, down to soil that can actually bear that weight, which sets them apart from a footing that runs the full length of a wall. A masonry pier can also be a freestanding brick or stone column supporting a porch roof, gate, or mailbox, built the same way a wall would be but standing on its own.
On sloped lots common in the foothills, reaching stable, undisturbed soil for a continuous footing isn't always practical, so piers set deeper at specific points, sometimes tied together with a grade beam, are often the more reliable way to support a porch, deck, or outbuilding on graded or fill ground. Setting each pier to the right depth also keeps it below the frost line, so the freeze-thaw cycle doesn't heave one corner of a porch while the rest stays put.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
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