Wickes timber stock lengths: what they carry and a garden bench cut list

Wickes carries three main categories of structural timber: CLS studwork, treated sawn sections, and C16 kiln-dried treated structural timber. The tables below list what they actually stock, with prices verified from wickes.co.uk at the time of writing. Prices change, so treat these as a planning guide and confirm before buying. At the end, a worked cut list shows how to build a simple garden bench frame from just two lengths of 45 × 70 mm C16 for around £15.

CLS studwork timber

CLS (Canadian Lumber Standard) is kiln-dried, planed and corner-rounded studwork timber. The dimensions printed on the label and listed below are the actual finished sizes, not nominal. CLS is designed for internal stud walls, partition frames and similar dry interior applications.

Section (mm)	Length	Price	Per metre
38 × 63 mm	2400 mm	£3.85	£1.60/m
38 × 63 mm	3000 mm	£5.35	£1.78/m
38 × 89 mm	2400 mm	£6.90	£2.88/m
38 × 89 mm	3000 mm	£9.00	£3.00/m

Source: wickes.co.uk product pages, accessed 2025. Prices include VAT. Check the site for current pricing before ordering.

The 38 × 89 mm section is what tradespeople call "4 × 2 CLS" (four-by-two in inch terms: 38 mm is close to 1.5 in, 89 mm is close to 3.5 in). The 38 × 63 mm is the "2 × 3" or "3 × 2" stud, most often used for non-load-bearing partition walls.

Buying the 3000 mm length over the 2400 mm only makes sense if your project needs pieces longer than 2400 mm, or if you can cut two pieces from a 3000 mm length with less waste than buying two separate 2400 mm pieces. For 38 × 89 mm, the 3000 mm rate (£3.00/m) is slightly higher than the 2400 mm rate (£2.88/m), so buy by the metre where the cut plan allows it.

C16 kiln-dried treated structural timber

This is Wickes' structural range: C16 strength-graded, kiln-dried and treated against rot and insect attack. Wickes labels this timber by its regularised (finished, planed) dimensions. The 45 mm face is the nominal 47 mm sawn section after regularisation; the width dimensions follow the same pattern. This is the timber to use for structural members, garden furniture, decking subframes and anything that will get wet or carry load.

Section (mm, regularised)	Length	Price	Per metre
45 × 70 mm	2400 mm	£6.00	£2.50/m
45 × 70 mm	3000 mm	£7.50	£2.50/m
45 × 70 mm	3600 mm	£9.40	£2.61/m
45 × 95 mm	2400 mm	£7.00	£2.92/m
45 × 95 mm	3000 mm	£8.50	£2.83/m
45 × 95 mm	3600 mm	£10.00	£2.78/m
45 × 120 mm	2400 mm	£9.70	£4.04/m
45 × 145 mm	2400 mm	£12.00	N/A
45 × 95 mm	4800 mm	£24.00	£5.00/m

Source: wickes.co.uk Treated Sawn Kiln Dried C16 Timber category, accessed 2025. Prices include VAT. Check the site for current pricing before ordering.

A note on the labelling. Wickes describes the 45 × 70 mm section using its regularised (finished) dimensions. Travis Perkins and other merchants often sell the same timber as "47 × 75 mm", using the nominal sawn dimensions before regularisation. Both refer to the same piece of timber: it starts at 47 × 75 mm rough-sawn and regularises to approximately 45 × 70 mm. When writing a cut list, use the actual measured dimensions of the piece in your hands, not the label. If you buy 45 × 70 mm from Wickes and the same timber from another merchant labelled 47 × 75 mm, they will measure the same: 45 mm × 70 mm.

Treated sawn sections (light outdoor use)

For lighter outdoor work, fencing, trellises, and decking accessories, Wickes also stocks thin treated sawn boards. These are not regularised to a consistent finished size in the same way as the C16 range. A selection of what they carry:

Section (mm, nominal)	Lengths available
19 × 38 mm	1800 mm, 2400 mm
22 × 47 mm	1800 mm, 2400 mm
22 × 75 mm	2400 mm
22 × 100 mm	1800 mm, 2400 mm, 3000 mm
22 × 150 mm	2400 mm, 3000 mm
47 × 47 mm	1800 mm, 2400 mm, 3000 mm

Source: wickes.co.uk Treated Sawn Timber category, accessed 2025. Stock changes; confirm availability before visiting.

The 22 × 100 mm and 22 × 150 mm boards are the standard fence rail and decking board sections. For garden bench seat boards, 22 × 100 mm in 1500 mm lengths (cut from the available 3000 mm length) works well.

Worked example: garden bench frame in 45 × 70 mm C16

This is a simple flat bench: no back rest, four legs, two long rails, two end cross-braces. Outside dimensions: 1500 mm long, 500 mm deep, 450 mm tall. All structural parts are in Wickes 45 × 70 mm C16 treated KD timber. The seat boards are separate (22 × 100 mm treated sawn, five boards at 1500 mm each).

How the cross-brace dimension is calculated: The bench is 500 mm deep (outside edge of one leg to outside edge of the other). Each leg is 45 mm deep (that is the regularised face dimension going front-to-back). The cross-brace fits between the two legs: 500 minus 2 × 45 =410 mm.

Parts list for the bench frame

Part	Qty	Cut length (mm)
Legs	4	450
Long rails (front and back)	2	1500
End cross-braces	2	410

Total timber needed: 4 × 450 + 2 × 1500 + 2 × 410 = 1800 + 3000 + 820 = 5620 mm.

Cutting plan: 2 lengths of 3000 mm

Two 3000 mm lengths of Wickes 45 × 70 mm C16 (at £7.50 each = £15.00 total) cover all eight parts with minimal waste. A 3 mm saw kerf is assumed between cuts.

Length	Cuts	Used (mm)	Waste (mm)
Length 1 (3000 mm)	Rail A (1500) + Leg A (450) + Leg B (450) + Leg C (450)	2859	141
Length 2 (3000 mm)	Rail B (1500) + Leg D (450) + Cross-brace A (410) + Cross-brace B (410)	2779	221

Total waste: 362 mm across both lengths (6%). The two offcut pieces (141 mm and 221 mm) are useful for bench test cuts, shelf pegs or blocking pieces.

Why 3000 mm rather than 2400 mm? The 1500 mm rail does not fit on a 2400 mm length alongside any other part (1500 + 3 kerf + 450 = 1953 mm, which fits but leaves 447 mm, not quite enough for a second 450 mm leg after the kerf). Three 2400 mm lengths would be needed for the same project at a cost of £18.00, versus £15.00 for two 3000 mm lengths. The longer length wins here.

Adding the seat boards

Five seat boards at 1500 mm in 22 × 100 mm treated sawn timber (at roughly 25 mm gaps between boards) sit across the two long rails. Each seat board is cut from a 3000 mm length: cut at 1500 mm, which leaves exactly 1497 mm, not quite enough for a second full-length board after the saw kerf (3003 mm needed, only 3000 mm available). Buy five 3000 mm lengths and accept the 1497 mm offcut from each, or ask the store to cut them: Wickes offers an in-store timber cutting service, and a single cut to halve each length saves handling a 3-metre board on the workbench.

Wickes in-store cutting service

Wickes branches offer basic straight cuts at a small per-cut charge. The service is intended for rough sizing, not fine joinery: tolerances are typically plus or minus a few millimetres, and you should expect to do any final trimming yourself. For the bench frame parts above, all cuts are simple cross-cuts, which the in-store service handles well.

If you need rip cuts (along the length of a board), you will usually need to do those at home. Wickes' cutting service is cross-cut only at most branches.

Plan your own cut list

Once you know what Wickes stocks and at what lengths, the question becomes: how do your required parts nest onto those standard lengths with the least waste and the lowest cost? That is exactly what SawReady calculates. Enter your parts, set the stock to Wickes' available lengths, and it shows the most efficient combination to buy.