When buying timber online, or through any other avenue for that matter, you will be presented with a number of options. The kind of wood is of course the most obvious choice you will need to make, but many timber suppliers will also allow you to choose between a selection of finishes or the size you would like the wood you're purchasing to be at when it is supplied to you...
Cut-to-size timber is incredibly useful, as it not only minimises waste and left over material, but also less work is required to make it suit your purpose. As a supplier of timber ourselves we strive to make things as convenient for our customers as possible, which is why all of our timber is not only available cut-to-size, but also planed all round.
Planed All Round (PAR) means that all of the wood's surfaces have been planed, which is to say that they have been brought to a uniform level, and each side is smooth and are ready to be worked or presented. Not all lumber dealers offer this, as planing all round is not always convenient, which is why there are also other, lesser services available, such as planed both sides, planed single edge and Rough Sawn:
Planed timber on the other hand is ideal for fencing, building frames, fabricating animal hutches, and just about anything else which can be made from wood, is likely to be seen and is intended for regular use. Most DIY practitioners will prefer to use planed all round timber, as it's not only pleasing to the eye, but can go anywhere, is safer to work with and can be started working on right away; without having to be planed manually.
