Commonly Available PSE / PAR and sawn Timber Sizes

Wood sizes can be another minefield (after choosing unsorted U/S, IV etc), PSE or PAR is planed down from the stock sizes so the actual sizes are not what you think. The second table shows the finished sizes.

AND - Take a tip from me, check if you can get these actual sizes locally before designing and working out a complicated cutting list. If you ask a Timber Merchants the question:

“Can I have 25.2 m (4.2m x 6 ) of 22 x 225 U/S redwood please?”

And the answer “NO we’ve got none of that.” it's very dispiriting. Especially when you’ve spent hours designing and working out a really efficient cutting list.

Table of typical metric soft wood timber sizes (nominal/sawn sizes, not actual)

Finished PSE, PAR timber sizes below

Thickness (mm)	75	100	115	125	150	175	200	225	250	275
16	x	x		x	x
19	x	x		x	x
22	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
25	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x	x
32		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
38	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
50	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
63		x		x	x	x	x	x
75		x		x	x	x	x	x	x
100		x			x		x	x	x

Don’t forget PSE / PAR is planed down from these sizes and will be 3 to 5mm smaller AND not all these sizes are available all the time, everywhere.

What are the Actual Finished sizes of PSE or PAR Timber?

After much trawling and measuring I've determined the finished timber sizes will be approximately:

Actual Finished PSE PAR Timber sizes
nominal	16	19	22	25	32	38	50	63	75	100
Finished+	12	15	19	21	27	33	44	57	69	95
Finished -		14.5	18	20

The chart shows some of the differences I've come across.

The sizes are based imperial inch dimensions 2”x4” becoming 50 x 100mm.

It's also worth noting the moisture content of timber affects the dimensions

If you can't find the exact sizes you need then it might be time to invest in a planer/thicknesser. You can also use a Planer Thicknesser to straighten up faults in timber

The likes of B and Q, Homebase, Wikes will have a small selection of sizes but a good builders merchant will have a better selection and Timber Merchants is preferable.

Standard Timber Lengths

Softwood comes in standard lengths of 1.80m 2.10m 2.40m 2.70m 3.0m 3.30m 3.60m 3.90m 4.20m 4.50m 4.80m 5.10m 5.40m 5.70m 6.0m and 6.30m. The Timber Merchant, in general won't stock the smaller sizes and will prefer to sell the longer lengths.

The lengths are an approximation of the old Imperial sizes in feet, hence the 300mm increments.

The timber sizes detailed here are UK standard sizes. I believe U.S. sizes are similar but in old fashioned inches.

Next- How to choose a Timber Merchant / Supplier

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