What size do I order my timber in please?

Anything you like, you can order your carcassing as 2” x 2” timber, or maybe ask for 44mm x 44mm? They are in fact one and the same, see more on 47m carcassing here. Our staff are quite used to mixed sizes and - without thinking – we might suggest you get 2” timber along with a sheet of 18mm ply. For anybody new to the industry it can be tricky, primarily because metrication has been introduced in phases - paper and board in 1971, building regulations in 1972 and cheese wholesaling in 1978.

An explanation of sizes

Imperial Metric Nominal Metric Typical
2 x 2 (2x2) 47x50 (47mm x 50mm) 46x46 (46mm x 46mm)
3 x 2 (3x2) 47x75 (47mm x 75mm)  45x70 (45mm x 70mm) 
4 x 2 (4x2) 47x100 (47mm x 100mm)  47x98 (47mm x 98mm) 
5 x 2 (5x2) 47x125 (47mm x 125mm)  48x122 (48mm x 122mm) 
6 x 2 (6x2) 47x150 (47mm x 150mm)  46x148 (46mm x 148mm) 
7 x 2 (7x2) 47x175 (47mm x 175mm)  47x172 (47mm x 172mm) 
8 x 2 (8x2) 47x200 (47mm x 200mm)  47x198 (47mm x 198mm) 
9 x 2 (9x2) 47x225 (47mm x 225mm)  46x222 (46mm x 222mm) 
10 x 2 (10x2) 47x250 (47mm x 250mm) 47x249 (47mm x 50mm)

 

Pick your timbers by your preference

You can order from Southern Timber in inches, feet, centimetres or metres. We can normally cope with anything but recommend our customers to use millimetres and metres – centimetres tend to add an extra layer of complication.

Before you relax remember there are a few other little obstacles. Firstly, the regularising of timber means that your 47 x 150 might well actually be sized 46mm x 148mm. This is perfectly normal, the mills have an allowance of 3mm for the saw cuts when machining timber. Weather conditions will also have an influence on timber dimensions, damp and moist conditions could bump that 148mm back up to 150mm again.

One item to watch if you are refurbishing a property – ½” timbers were popular, especially in agricultural areas. You might find that the timbers you have to replace measure in at 63mm, in old money that is 2.5”. In these circumstances you need to check with Building Controller -if it is for the floor they will probably want to bump it up to 75mm.  If it is for the roof joists they will invariably need some measurements.     

There will be more

We are here to help established and new customers alike.  If you are a little unsure over timber sizes we can help. Chatting to customers has shown a lack of clarity with planed materials, batten sizes, CLS and 75mm timber.  They will be tackled in future weeks.