38 x 88mm Sawn Pressure Treated Rail

38 x 88mm Sawn Pressure Treated Rails (FSC Mix)

38mm x 88mm rails are commonly used for featherdge fencing and "Post and rail" fences. Sawn 125mm and 150mm featheredge is also used for fencing and doesn't need kiln drying. Therefore it makes sense for the rails to be made from a similar low-cost raw material.  This 38mm x 88mm (3.5" by 1.5" in Imperial) rail is ideal for featheredge fencing. Using a 40mm nail gives a good fixing for the lightweight featheredge boards and doesn't project through the outside of the fencing rail.

These rails are machined from un-seasoned stock and therefore do not normally have to be graded for fencing or cladding applications. To help keep costs down the fence rails are normally sawn and finished with square edges. The choice of rail lengths of 3.0m, 3.6m, 4.2m and 4.8 metres which means that the post spacing can be varied to suit the installation site.  Ideally rail Joints should be staggered so that the rails do not all meet on the same post - staggered joints make for a stronger fence. Posts do not have to be concreted in, it will depend upon ground conditions. Holes should be 450m deep, or more if the ground is soft.  If the fence changes direction you will probably need another post unless the corner is at a 90 degree angle. Ground pegs/marker pegs are useful at this stage.  

If you are installing a featheredge, or panel fence , then posts will have to be concreted in. Under these circumstances then we prefer a fast-selling postcrete such as Remix.  Once the post mix has cured the fencing rails can be screwed to the posts. We prefer the rails to be screwed because it doesn't make sense to start hitting large 100mm nails into rails/posts that have been set less than 48 hours. Post and rail fences typically have two rails, but three can be used depending on the purpose for the fence. If larger animals (cattle or horses) are to be contained then three rails would be preferable. If smaller livestock are involved then netting or wire mesh can be fixed to the horizontal timber rails. Finally the featheredge boards can be fixed with 40mm annular ring nails.

Fence rails and timber pales

These 38mm x 88mm rails are versatile and can also be used when fixing pales on a garden fence. We stock PSE Pales in heights from 600mm, through 900mm, 1200mm and right up to 1800mm. lf you plan to leave larger spaces than the width of a pale (c. 70mm) then think about selecting heavier graded rails - just in case children with little feet start climbing on the fence rails.  These sawn timber rails aren't generally as attractive as the pales, so, if appearance is important you can invest in the ex 50m x 100mm CLS timbers, their finished size is nearer 90mm x 40mm

The sawn rails can also be used when constructing  a vertical slatted fence. A popular combination would be 100mmm square posts, 3.6 metre rails and sawn 22mm x 100mm timber slats. These can be cross-cut to length (by the tradesman or end-user) and spaced according to conditions. If the fence is going to be in a windy, exposed location you might leave 50mm gaps for the wind to pass through. If you wanted more privacy the gap could go down to 10mm.

Invest in a gravel board

Finally, if the fence is in close proximity to the ground level then you would be advised to put a sawn timber gravel board at the bottom of the fence. This gravel board will help to protect any vertical boards from absorbing too much water from the ground. To keep proportions balanced we would suggest using a 100mm or 150mm gravel board, to match the vertical boards.