The Guide Library

Timber, written down properly.

Practical guides to choosing, buying and working timber, in plain English — written for the job in front of you, with more on the way.

27 guides published more being written

Start here · Guide 01

How to Buy Timber: A Beginner’s Guide

I spend my week in and out of timber yards and joiners' shops, so I see the gap between what the trade knows and what anyone buying their first boards gets told. This is the guide I would hand to somebody starting out.

21 min read 11 sections Timber Buying Guides

Read the guide

Six timber boards in different finishes laid across trestles in a timber yard.

AI generated

A complete banded pack of square-edged softwood rests on timber bearers inside an orderly timber yard.

Timber Buying Guides

When Buying a Full Pack of Timber Makes Sense

A full pack can reduce the unit rate and keep a repeat order together, but it also transfers quantity, selection, storage and handling decisions to the buyer. This guide shows how to compare the pack with the timber you will actually use before committing to the larger order.

AI generated

Pale hardwood boards are crosscut into several specified lengths on a guarded saw in an orderly timber workshop.

Timber Buying Guides

Can a Timber Merchant Cut Timber to Size?

A timber merchant may be able to crosscut boards, rip them to width, plane them to a finished section or machine complete components. Those are different services with different tolerances, costs and limits. This guide shows how to describe the finished pieces clearly and ask for the right work.

AI · OpenAI

Five assorted timber samples displayed on a rustic wooden table in a timber yard, with a laptop showing timber profiles, a smartphone, notebook, tape measure…

Timber Buying Guides

How to Buy Timber Online Without Seeing It First

You can't run a hand over a board through a screen, so the order has to do the checking for you. What to pin down in writing, what to ask before you pay, and what to do the day it arrives.

AI · OpenAI

Choosing the Right Timber

Best Timber for Decking

Treated redwood, larch, Douglas fir, thermally modified wood, Accoya or a tropical hardwood? How each one behaves on a British deck, and how to choose between them.

Cladding Guides

How to Choose Timber for Exterior Cladding

Treated softwood, larch, cedar, Douglas fir, chestnut, oak or modified wood? How each cladding timber lasts and weathers, and what to check on fixings, ventilation and fire rules before you order.

Things to make

Planning Timber for a Pergola

Which timber to use for a garden pergola, typical post, beam and rafter sizes in mm, how to keep the feet dry, which fixings to use, the planning limits in England and a sample cutting list.

A small wooden shed with a green door and window

Things to make

Planning Timber for a Shed

Which timber goes where in a timber shed, from treated bearers to cladding, plus the planning rules in England and a sample cutting list for a 2.4 x 1.8m shed.

a wooden table sitting on top of a red rug

Things to make

Planning Timber for a Dining Table

Which hardwood to choose for a dining table, what sizes to plan for the top, legs and aprons, which grade to ask for, and how to let a solid top move.

Living room with custom oak alcove shelves and cabinets flanking a brick fireplace with a wood stove

Things to make

Planning Timber for Alcove Units

Which boards to use for alcove cupboards and shelves, how thick shelves need to be for the span, how to measure crooked alcoves, and a sample cutting list.

AI generated

brown wooden stick on brown wooden table

Things to make

Planning Timber for a Workbench

How to plan the timber for a flat, heavy, rigid workbench: softwood, hardwood or sheet tops, a sample cutting list in mm, and how to laminate a top from construction timber.

A person is digging soil in a raised garden bed

Things to make

Planning Timber for Raised Beds

Treated boards, softwood or oak sleepers, larch or reclaimed railway sleepers? Which timber to use for a raised bed, what's safe for growing food, and a sample cutting list.

An old timber workbench with a metal vice and hand tools in a dim workshop

Things to make

Free Workbench Plans Worth Building

Nine free workbench plans from independent makers and woodworking publishers, each checked, with what it suits, the tools it really needs, and the timber to ask a UK yard for.

In progress

New guides go up every Monday and Thursday. Guide 01 is the place to start.

Stuck on something?

Ask Shane

I don’t sell timber, but I’ll help you work out what you actually need and where to find it.

Ask Shane