Skip to main content

Story: Building materials

Four-by-two

Image
Four-by-two

Traditional timber dimensions were generally exact multiples of inches. With metrification and a desire to maximise timber production, dimensions are typically smaller than they were. In the 2000s a piece of framing which used to be a ‘four-by-two’ – four inches by two inches (roughly 100 by 50 millimetres) – has become a 90 by 45 millimetres.

Using this item

Private collection

by Carl Walrond

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Jeremy Salmond, Building materials – Timber, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25094/four-by-two (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Jeremy Salmond, published 4 March 2010.