We are watching Canadians Sarah and Bryan Baeumler rebuild their Bahamian resort on TV. Bryan and his contractor (also Canadian) routinely use the English system for measurements and lumber dimensions. They use "2 by 4's" and 3/4 inch plywood, and measure feet and inches. I was surprised to see this. Just curious, do most Canadians typically use English measurements for building materials? Or are they doing this just for the American TV audience?
Canadian dimensions question
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I studied the conversion from meters to yards before I played a Canadian golf course a couple years ago but found that the course was measured in yards just like the USA. I mentioned it to the Canadians in my foursome that I assumed the golf course would be on the metric system but they just looked at me funny. Metric system is so much easier for construction measurements.
I used to play around with ham radio and looking at some of the construction articles I've noticed that across the pond it seemed their lumber was about our size, rounded up. Like instead of using 2x4's they had 50x100 studs, that sort of thing.
https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/444/what-are-framing-dimensions-like-in-the-metric-world
We have a couple of tape measures in our house are marked with both inches and cm. I don't use metric that much at home though.
In electronics quite a bit of stuff is still in imperial, although the really small stuff is finally metric. At least while on a computer you can hit a button and change units of measure quickly & easily. If it wasn't for my lawnmower I'm not sure what use I'd have for SAE tools anymore...
https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/444/what-are-framing-dimensions-like-in-the-metric-world
We have a couple of tape measures in our house are marked with both inches and cm. I don't use metric that much at home though.
In electronics quite a bit of stuff is still in imperial, although the really small stuff is finally metric. At least while on a computer you can hit a button and change units of measure quickly & easily. If it wasn't for my lawnmower I'm not sure what use I'd have for SAE tools anymore...
It really is a mish mash of metric and imperial measurements. We buy fuel in litres, and measure driving distances in kilometres, but buy produce by the pound. We refer to our own height in feet, and weight in pounds. And yes, imperial measurements are used for lumber.
I live very, very close to Detroit, MI. As such, when I was a little kid I watched (US) Sesame Street and learned more Spanish words than the French I should have been. I went to Tigers games, watched Detroit TV and listened to Detroit radio. I am not alone around these parts in having to make a conscious effort to "speak" Celsius, kilometres, centimetres, etc. Canada went metric officially in '77 if I'm not mistaken so there are those of use who grew up during that transition and fall somewhere short of fluency in both.
My own experience notwithstanding, "two-by-fours" are what we use to build things. And if you help me build something I will buy you a pint of beer. I've only ever bought litres of fuel but have no idea what I weigh in kilograms. I've heard the metric equivalent of an acre but couldn't tell you what it is. I ran the 100m in track in high school, which was 13 miles from my home.
My own experience notwithstanding, "two-by-fours" are what we use to build things. And if you help me build something I will buy you a pint of beer. I've only ever bought litres of fuel but have no idea what I weigh in kilograms. I've heard the metric equivalent of an acre but couldn't tell you what it is. I ran the 100m in track in high school, which was 13 miles from my home.
A 2x4 is standard around many parts of the world. And of course they're not exactly 2 inches by 4 inches. Canadians use km, km/h, and km/l for driving though.
Even though the UK uses metric for almost everything in daily life, they use miles and miles per hour for driving. Even miles per gallon.
https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/newsflash-uk-uses-miles-hour-269875
Even though the UK uses metric for almost everything in daily life, they use miles and miles per hour for driving. Even miles per gallon.
https://www.autotrader.com/car-news/newsflash-uk-uses-miles-hour-269875
Originally Posted by Leo99
I studied the conversion from meters to yards before I played a Canadian golf course...
You must be a pretty good golfer. To the "average" golfer, the difference isn't generally enough to have to choose between one club vs another, is it ?
I studied the conversion from meters to yards before I played a Canadian golf course...
You must be a pretty good golfer. To the "average" golfer, the difference isn't generally enough to have to choose between one club vs another, is it ?
Lumber can stay at 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, and plywood 48"x96" x1/2" forever as far as I'm concerned.
Our largest (by far) trading partner, USA, uses Imperial.
When we so called converted to metric, it was to become "global" according to the experts.
I am beginning to really dislike experts in general.
Our largest (by far) trading partner, USA, uses Imperial.
When we so called converted to metric, it was to become "global" according to the experts.
I am beginning to really dislike experts in general.
Yep, still a mixture. However, having said that, the oil industry up here is seriously metric. Depths are in meters, hole size is mm etc. These are multi million dollar protects done entirely in metric.
Temps are in C. Anyone who needs to convert to Fahrenheit to talk about it is usually almost senile. We've been reporting temperature in Celsius for at least 41 years. The exception is that most of us will convert to degrees F for our Bitog discussions.
Same thing for gasoline, we haven't sold gasoline by the gallon in over 40 years. Highways have been marked in km for just as long. I'm used to talking about gasoline consumption in liters per 100 km. Most who talk about mpg are old men.
However, yes, wood sizes didn't change and golf courses are still in yards. Grocery stores got special permission to sell by the pound because it sounds so much cheaper than by the kilo. Blue Jean sizes are in inches.
I heard US cars have metric fasteners. What's with that?
Temps are in C. Anyone who needs to convert to Fahrenheit to talk about it is usually almost senile. We've been reporting temperature in Celsius for at least 41 years. The exception is that most of us will convert to degrees F for our Bitog discussions.
Same thing for gasoline, we haven't sold gasoline by the gallon in over 40 years. Highways have been marked in km for just as long. I'm used to talking about gasoline consumption in liters per 100 km. Most who talk about mpg are old men.
However, yes, wood sizes didn't change and golf courses are still in yards. Grocery stores got special permission to sell by the pound because it sounds so much cheaper than by the kilo. Blue Jean sizes are in inches.
I heard US cars have metric fasteners. What's with that?
Originally Posted by y_p_w
A 2x4 is standard around many parts of the world. And of course they're not exactly 2 inches by 4 inches. Canadians use km, km/h, and km/l for driving though.
Almost: fuel efficiency is usually stated as L/100km; or "litres per 100 kilometres", where the lesser number would represent better efficiency. My minivan, for example, is stated to get 11L/100km.
eg. (unless you get geo-located back to an Americian web page) https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatu...-s-most-fuel-efficient-vehicles-of-2020/
A 2x4 is standard around many parts of the world. And of course they're not exactly 2 inches by 4 inches. Canadians use km, km/h, and km/l for driving though.
Almost: fuel efficiency is usually stated as L/100km; or "litres per 100 kilometres", where the lesser number would represent better efficiency. My minivan, for example, is stated to get 11L/100km.
eg. (unless you get geo-located back to an Americian web page) https://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatu...-s-most-fuel-efficient-vehicles-of-2020/
Originally Posted by Danno
Lumber can stay at 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, and plywood 48"x96" x1/2" forever as far as I'm concerned.
Our largest (by far) trading partner, USA, uses Imperial.
When we so called converted to metric, it was to become "global" according to the experts.
I am beginning to really dislike experts in general.
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_imperial_and_US_customary_measurement_systems
Lumber can stay at 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, and plywood 48"x96" x1/2" forever as far as I'm concerned.
Our largest (by far) trading partner, USA, uses Imperial.
When we so called converted to metric, it was to become "global" according to the experts.
I am beginning to really dislike experts in general.
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_the_imperial_and_US_customary_measurement_systems
I see they are from Oakville, Ontario, so, pretty close to Niagara Falls and Buffalo NY.
Originally Posted by Snagglefoot
Yep, still a mixture. However, having said that, the oil industry up here is seriously metric. Depths are in meters, hole size is mm etc. These are multi million dollar protects done entirely in metric.
Temps are in C. Anyone who needs to convert to Fahrenheit to talk about it is usually almost senile. We've been reporting temperature in Celsius for at least 41 years. The exception is that most of us will convert to degrees F for our Bitog discussions.
Same thing for gasoline, we haven't sold gasoline by the gallon in over 40 years. Highways have been marked in km for just as long. I'm used to talking about gasoline consumption in liters per 100 km. Most who talk about mpg are old men.
However, yes, wood sizes didn't change and golf courses are still in yards. Grocery stores got special permission to sell by the pound because it sounds so much cheaper than by the kilo. Blue Jean sizes are in inches.
I heard US cars have metric fasteners. What's with that?
Yeah - when we were visiting BC and bought some produce we were surprised that it was sold by the pound. Still - most packaged foods were labeled with grams or kg. In other parts of the world I've seen prices for half kilos. And try some places where they still use taels (like in many Chinatowns when selling herbal remedies).
Yep, still a mixture. However, having said that, the oil industry up here is seriously metric. Depths are in meters, hole size is mm etc. These are multi million dollar protects done entirely in metric.
Temps are in C. Anyone who needs to convert to Fahrenheit to talk about it is usually almost senile. We've been reporting temperature in Celsius for at least 41 years. The exception is that most of us will convert to degrees F for our Bitog discussions.
Same thing for gasoline, we haven't sold gasoline by the gallon in over 40 years. Highways have been marked in km for just as long. I'm used to talking about gasoline consumption in liters per 100 km. Most who talk about mpg are old men.
However, yes, wood sizes didn't change and golf courses are still in yards. Grocery stores got special permission to sell by the pound because it sounds so much cheaper than by the kilo. Blue Jean sizes are in inches.
I heard US cars have metric fasteners. What's with that?
Yeah - when we were visiting BC and bought some produce we were surprised that it was sold by the pound. Still - most packaged foods were labeled with grams or kg. In other parts of the world I've seen prices for half kilos. And try some places where they still use taels (like in many Chinatowns when selling herbal remedies).
Originally Posted by y_p_w
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
Thats right. Its officially the "English" system.
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
Thats right. Its officially the "English" system.
We had what is called a soft conversion. 2"X4"s stayed the same size as did 4'X8' sheets of plywood. It wouldn't have been practical or easy to start using some different sizes or set of dimensions.
But our fuel is sold in liters, highway distances are measured in kilometers, speeds in Km/Hr. Fuel consumption is measured in liters/100 Km (though most of us convert to miles/Imperial gallon so see what that means). Motor oil is sold in liters, though the labels are generally stated in English measures as well
Food is sold in grams, kilograms, liters. Though initially at least containers mostly stayed the same size and were just marked in metric units. As things evolve though, the next containers likely will be in round metric units.
Temperatures are measured in Celsius degrees.
But time is still measured in minutes, hours, days, etc. And money still comes in dollars and cents (hey that was already in metric units).
It seems to me that the day of conversion was an April 1, or at least on some April 1, CBC radio announced the time in (made up) metric units. That wasn't all that funny.
But our fuel is sold in liters, highway distances are measured in kilometers, speeds in Km/Hr. Fuel consumption is measured in liters/100 Km (though most of us convert to miles/Imperial gallon so see what that means). Motor oil is sold in liters, though the labels are generally stated in English measures as well
Food is sold in grams, kilograms, liters. Though initially at least containers mostly stayed the same size and were just marked in metric units. As things evolve though, the next containers likely will be in round metric units.
Temperatures are measured in Celsius degrees.
But time is still measured in minutes, hours, days, etc. And money still comes in dollars and cents (hey that was already in metric units).
It seems to me that the day of conversion was an April 1, or at least on some April 1, CBC radio announced the time in (made up) metric units. That wasn't all that funny.
The world is in turmoil but if you can still get a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood into a Chevy Suburban, there is still hope.
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If you think that is bad how about when you buy grocery and it's listed by the pound in big letters/numbers and way below in small letters/number by the Kg yet when you check out the price shown is only in Kg. Makes it hard to verify the correct price.
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Originally Posted by gfh77665
Originally Posted by y_p_w
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
Thats right. Its officially the "English" system.
The English used Imperial units. The US system is very similar but with some different size units. An Imperial gallon is quite a bit bigger than a US gallon. Feet, inches, yards and miles are the same though.
The metric system is used almost everywhere in the world today. Canadians are actually lucky. We're comfortable using either system. When I'm doing a project, sometimes I work in metric units, sometimes in Imperial units.
And as far as I know we've only had one airplane mishap (the Gimli Glider) over conversion between units.
Originally Posted by y_p_w
US doesn't use Imperial. Gotta do it our own way.
Thats right. Its officially the "English" system.
The English used Imperial units. The US system is very similar but with some different size units. An Imperial gallon is quite a bit bigger than a US gallon. Feet, inches, yards and miles are the same though.
The metric system is used almost everywhere in the world today. Canadians are actually lucky. We're comfortable using either system. When I'm doing a project, sometimes I work in metric units, sometimes in Imperial units.
And as far as I know we've only had one airplane mishap (the Gimli Glider) over conversion between units.
While we are metric, we are like a [censored] child. Automotive and small engines are a mix, some metric and some imperial. When talking lumber, it's all imperial.
Distance is both. Signs are km while the grid road system was all surveyed out in miles and remains that way.
Distance is both. Signs are km while the grid road system was all surveyed out in miles and remains that way.
You wouldn't get a builder here to go back to Imperial, it's crazy to work that way...they use mm.
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