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Posted on 08/08/2025 6:46:35 AM PDT by MAGA2017
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What part of Texas?
Very good work ethic instilled, for you and your brother :)
Yes they were, but not in the 1960s. I helped renovate an ancient house in Atlanta that was built around 1880. The 2X4s were made of solid oak and were not planed smooth. We could pull nails out of those, had to saw the off or break them. We couldn't pound nails in either unless we pre-drilled. The electrical wiring was bare copper, phases run separately using porcelain "knob and tubing".
Today's 2X4s are originally sawed to exactly 2X4, then generously planed smooth.
Many houses in our area are similarly constructed. It’s the primary reason for the existence of the lumber mill.
I like how you can hear the sound of the (old movie) projector, in the background.
That sound used to put me right to sleep, for school videos 🤣
Bubble level? We don't need no stinking bubble level.
The Empire State Building was built in 1 year, 45 days. My Great-Grandfather helped to build it.
If you renovate older houses you will run into “actual” 2 x 4’s occasionally. I renovated a small (20’x 20’) house that was studded completely with actual 2x4 studs, It was built around 1920. The studs were rough cut and and surprisingly appeared to be oak. They were very dark brown and real pain to drill through to run new wiring.
You remind me that my dad built a lot of houses out of used lumber, I bet some repair and remodel guys had complaints over the years.
I had an older house and was installing a new door frame. It seems you could have the frame plumb (hinge side straight up and down) or square (90 degree corners) but not at the same time.
I finally got frustrated and came back with my Porta Power,
a hydraulic jack with extensions and attachments with an
8000 lb capacity, usually used on damaged cars or equipment to bend or force parts back after damage. I was able to convince the wall studs to go back where they belonged to install the door frame correctly.
I have seen the real 2x4s in many houses and buildings that I have helped wreck since the 60s and even my beach shack in San Diego had them, and have reused them doing projects for my dad, and I saw them in the old barns in the upper Midwest.
Currently I have a friend who gives me junk lumber he pulls from an old abandoned restaurant/motel and the boards from the older portions are the original measurements.
yep, that’s when you notice how bad it is, when you do a repair or replacement or addition etc.
Not even then. “2x4” is just a nominal measurement. A construction grade 2x4 is cut rough from the tree, then planed down for a smooth finish which reduces its size down to the standard 2x4 dimension of roughly 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.
Lumber is sold by the board/foot. This means you are paying for the shavings discarded when the board is planed down to size. Large mills sell these shavings, increasing their profits.
I recall working on shop I acquired built in 1949. The 2x4’s I bought in the 80’s matched the dimensions of the 2x4 framing on this shop building.
MY Dad bought a farm that was built at the turn of 1900 in 1947.
The house was solid OAK -—AS was the barn...and other outbuildings.
THEN HE GOT DIVORCED FROM mother & HE got the barn & the outbuildings, etc. ABOUT 1963.
HE remodeled the ‘hog house/granary’ into a 2000 sq ft house.
THE OAK BEAMS & EVERYTHING ELSE WAS SOLID-—AND WELL PRESERVED. HE LITERALLY HAD TO DRILL PILOT HOLES FOR EVERY SINGLE NAIL HE USED.
I inherited the building & grounds in 1980. Sold it to my youngest brother in 1998. HE still has it. Now worth well over $500,000. 1.75 acres of ground.
SMART SOLUTION !!!!!
Burned up some bits as well, I bet. Ancient oak is really tough.
We pulled into one slab ready to start framing and we're popping lines where the walls go, etc. look around a bunch of pipes sticking out of the slab in the middle of the living room !!! Turns out it was the manifold for the water heater connects to the plumbing system so we told the Stupidintendent says go ahead and start framing up. "I'll get this handled". We come in a few days later and there's plumbers in there with jackhammers to create a rough replica of the Panama Canal across the center of the living room to where the water heater closet was supposed to be then cut the manifold off, soldered 90's to the pipes make it go down the Panama Canal to the manifold in Water Heater closet. Then bring a bunch of sand mix not actual concrete and cover up the pipes that they soldered together !!!
Then another slab had a 50' long side wall and we popped lines to reveal a 7-8" at widest point of bulging section about 20' long. Stupidintendent (same one as above) says frame it up I'll deal with it. The next day after the outer walls had been framed here comes the Pedro slab crew with a jackhammer and chips it off to match our framework. This leaves the cables hanging out in the air. (these are Post Tension slabs) and Pedro crew return with a Cutting Torch and burn the exposed cables off. Next comes the Pedro Slab guys and mud over the cut cable ends...
Sometimes I wonder if the slab has cracked somewhere yet like in the dining room or a bathroom ?
And of course the never ending supply of Customized Pedro Beams. Consistently made by taking a 2x12x20 and scabbing scraps of 2x of this and that between 6" and 36" to make a "Super Pedro Glue Laminate Beam." ©️™️®️
There were probably more nails in them than wood...
And then there’s lathe and plaster, copper or lead piping, and aluminum wiring. Not to mention lead paint and asbestos tile. All kinds of “fun stuff” when you’re renovating an old house.
That explains so much!
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