How do I get long timber home in a car?

Most people's first instinct is to poke the timber out of a rear window, which is the worst option available. There are three better ones and one of them — asking for a cut — costs nothing and takes thirty seconds at the counter.

Safety

What you'll need

• Ratchet straps or good quality webbing straps
• Roof bars, if using the roof
• A high-visibility marker for any overhang
• An old blanket or offcuts to protect paintwork

Step by step

1. Ask for it to be cut first.Before anything else, ask the merchant to cut the lengths down so they fit. Most will, usually free, on a chop saw. Plan the cut so it falls in a piece of waste or between two of your finished pieces, and add a trim allowance because the cut will not be precise.
2. Measure your car before you go.With the rear seats folded and the front passenger seat forward, measure the longest straight run from the tailgate to the dashboard. Most estates and large hatchbacks manage well over two metres; many take 2.4 metres diagonally with the tailgate closed. Knowing the number turns the whole problem into arithmetic.
3. Load through the boot with the seats down.Lay the timber flat along the floor, pushed as far forward as it will go, on an old blanket to protect the trim. Never lay it on the seat backs where it can slide forward into the driver.
4. Strap it forwards, not just down.The force in a hard stop is forwards. A strap round the load and through the seat anchors or round a seat frame stops it moving towards you. A strap that only holds it down does nothing about the direction that matters.
5. If using the roof, use proper bars and strap in three directions.Roof bars rated for the load, timber laid flat and centred, a strap round the bundle and each bar, and a strap running fore and aft to stop it sliding backwards. Two bars minimum; three is much better for long lengths.
6. Check the current overhang and marking rules.There are legal limits on how far a load may project to the front, rear and sides, and marking or notification requirements above certain projections. The figures are set in road traffic law and they change — look up the current rules on GOV.UK rather than relying on what someone told you.
7. Mark any rear overhang clearly.A bright cloth or a proper load marker board on the end that projects, positioned so it is visible to following traffic. This is about being seen by the car behind as much as about compliance.
8. Drive differently.Slower, longer gaps, gentler braking, and be aware the car is longer than usual at junctions and in car parks. Check the straps after the first mile — bundles settle and straps loosen.
9. Use delivery when the load is genuinely long.Beyond about three metres, in a domestic car, the honest answer is that it should be delivered. Local delivery from a merchant is often free above a modest order and always cheaper than a damaged car or a fine.

Tips

• Long lengths flex and can drum badly on a roof at speed. Bundle them tightly with the straps so they act as one piece rather than several.
• Offcuts of timber under the straps at the bar contact points stop the straps scoring the bundle and stop the bundle scoring the bars.
• Sunroof-first loading — through the open sunroof and along the roof lining — is a common improvisation and is a bad one: nothing restrains the load forwards and the leading end is at head height inside the car.
• A cheap set of four ratchet straps pays for itself the first time and lives permanently in the boot.

Common mistakes

• Poking timber out of a rear side window — It sits at head height for cyclists and pedestrians, it is unrestrained in the forward direction, and it swings on every corner. It is the most dangerous of all the options and the easiest to avoid.
• Relying on the load's weight to keep it in place — In a 30mph stop, a length of timber carries several times its own weight of forward force. Weight restrains nothing; straps do.
• Assuming a roof rack rating is the whole answer — The bars have a rating, the roof has a rating and they are not the same number. Check both in the car's handbook, and remember the rating is a static figure — dynamic loads on a bumpy road are higher.

Questions people ask