When ordering timber for DIY and building projects customers use imperial measurements, feet and inches, and metric measurements, metres (m) and millimetres (mm).
Most timber is sold in 0.3m increments. This is a result of the timber industry traditionally using feet and inches and the subsequent metrification of the sale of timber. One foot is roughly 0.3m or 300mm. This is very approximate since one foot is actually 304.8mm, the use of 300mm is a nice round number which is easier to use when carrying out mental arithmetic.
Not all sizes or timber are available in every possible length. Actual lengths available will be restricted to the stock profile at the time of order. Generally, timber is supplied as ‘nearest length over’.
If the length of timber you require for your building or DIY project must be fully imperial then you will need to order the next length up to avoid being an inch or two short. It is a good practice to try and work in multiples of 300mm when planning your DIY or building project.
Here is a handy table to show you metric equivalents of various lengths of timber. The table also show the ‘nearest’ metric length to this size.
Timber length conversion table:
|
Imperial Length (feet) |
Exact metric length, to 2 d.p. (metres) |
Nearest metric length (metres) |
|
2’ |
0.61 m |
0.6 m |
|
3’ |
0.91 m |
0.9 m |
|
4’ |
1.22 m |
1.2 m |
|
5’ |
1.52 m |
1.5 m |
|
6’ |
1.83 m |
1.8 m |
|
7’ |
2.13 m |
2.1 m |
|
8’ |
2.44 m |
2.4 m |
|
9’ |
2.74 m |
2.7 m |
|
10’ |
3.05 m |
3.0 m |
|
11’ |
3.35 m |
3.3 m |
|
12’ |
3.66 m |
3.6 m |
|
13’ |
3.96 m |
3.9 m |
|
14’ |
4.27 m |
4.2 m |
|
15’ |
4.57 m |
4.5 m |
|
16’ |
4.88 m |
4.8 m |
|
17’ |
5.18 m |
5.1 m |
|
18’ |
5.49 m |
5.4 m |
|
19’ |
5.79 m |
5.7 m |
|
20’ |
6.10 m |
6.0 m |