Posted on 09/25/2014 1:47:34 PM PDT by Abathar
Lowe’s has new rules regarding how it can label building products in California. A Superior Court judge laid out terms by which the retailer must advertise its 2x4s and other dimensional materials in a $1.6 million settlement order and final judgement filed on August 27. The order, brought on as part of a civil consumer protection action, lists three main rules for the retailer to follow going forward:
“Common descriptions” must be followed by actual dimensions and labeled as such. For instance, a 2×4 must be followed with a disclaimer that the wood is actually 1.5-inches by 3.5-inches and include a phrase equal or similar to “actual dimensions.” “Popular or common product description,” like the word 2×4, must be “clearly described as ‘popular name,’ ‘popular description,’ or ‘commonly called.'” Dimension descriptions are required to use the “inch-pound unit,” meaning they must include abbreviations such as “in., ft., or yd.,” and can’t use symbols like ‘ or ” to denote measurements.
(Excerpt) Read more at threepercenternation.com ...
Something tells me this judge is innately familiar with the difference between the 3-1/2” that he swore was 4”, so he took it personal like.
And they would be so much better now that I know my tape measure is not really warped.
I was once on a job that the specs called for 3/4” plywood. It was not my trade, but the carpenter used “3/4” “ plywood that is, in reality, about 1/16” thinner than that. The douchebag building inspector made them remove the offending plywood and replace it with special-order-shipped-from-the-Pacific-Northwest-honest-to-God 3/4” plywood at great expense to the contractor. Calling the inspector an idiot would be charitable.
Before kiln drying the mills cut to nominal 2”x4” sizes. That was from green unseasoned lumber. The differences in moisture content determined the final drier seasoned size. Didn’t matter much when finished walls were wood lath and plaster, plenty of room to make up the fractional difference. Gypsum drywall and kiln dried framing came along about the same time. First nominal std was 1 5/8” x 3 5/8” and that was true when I started wood framing. Wasn’t that long ago that it dropped to the current size. I grow old.
I did some renovation work on an 19th century townhouse in Manhattan, was a bitch putting in drywall with all the fractional shimming. In the end, plastering would have cost the client about the same.
And those studs and beams were tough as iron. Taking down wood lath horse hair reinforced plaster is nasty work. Metal lath also.
At any rate, this decision is more dumbing down of America. Took a long list of over educated ignorant soft folk to carry this stupid case through the court system. If you are unaware of nominal lumber sizing you should be playing with saws, hammers or nails, bound to hurt yourself bad.
those 2 x 56’s must be a bitch to work with. ;^)
If you're that stupid, then you ought to be making things out of Play-Doh, not wood.
Will all the the people that bought pipe have to pay more?
1 inch pipe is ~1.3 OD, 2'= ~2.4 OD, 4"= 4.5...UNTIL YOU EXCEED 12"; 14"= 14 16"= 16...
WHEN DO THEY START THE CLAWBACK?
Exactly right.
The boards come out of the sawmill 2” X 4”, and after drying in the kiln,
they are run through the planer mill, where 1/4” is planed off each edge
leaving 1 1/2” X 3 1/2”.
Same for all dimensional lumber...
2X4; 2X6; 2X10; 2X12; 4X4; etc.
Your analogy to the “1/4 pound pre-cooked weight” of a burger is a good one.
Perhaps Lowe’s should say 2” X 4” are the “pre-planed dimensions”
Yup. Old heart pine is that way and has to be installed with a drill and screws, not a hammer and nails. (Expensive wood too)
Lived in a 100+ year old house a while back. Built of local rough sawn hardwood. When we replaced the siding, had to drill and screw every piece, couldn’t drive a nail into it.
Pressure treated lumber usually runs a 1/8 inch larger. 1 5/8 x 3 5/8 for example. If you win, remember me ;0)
As sawmill technology improved, they took the industry standard — a 2x4 is anything between 1.5” and 2.5” thick + 3.5” and 4.5” wide — and set all the tolerances at the extreme low end. This results in us getting perfectly uniform boards so the architects know exactly what they will do, and the sawmills get more useful boards out of the same tree.
Wrongo! That is not how they came to the designation of 2x4. The 2x4 is unfinished wood, 2 inches by 4 inches. It is smoothed in the milling process by shaving of about 1/4 inch from each face, creating finished lumber. Thus, a 2x4 is 1.5x3.5, and a 2x6 is 1.5x5.5 and a 4x8 is 3.5x7.5. And I didn't look it up on Wikipedia.
When Sawing as a head sawyer in a very large mill...we sawed it 7 quarter...not 8 quarter. 7 quarter is exactly that..7 quarters or 1 and 3/4 inches. It was dried to about 25% and then sent through a planner skimming off just enough to make it smooth.
The width was cut by a gang saw...3 and 3/4 inches. Or, the cants were cut 16 quarter and the thickness was cut 7 quarter by the gang saw.
Ha....good luck buying Re-Bar from the Chinese...
They have factories as follows.....
Truck rolls up at the entrance with 20 rolls of 7mm Re-Bar...
Comes back a few days later and loads up with 22 rolls of 7mm Re-Bar.
It is for green lumber.
American Lumber Standards sizes for S-Dry(surfaced dry) is 1 1/2 x 3 1/2”
Wait until they see my law suit against the producers of “The Never Ending Story.”
I am also suing the makers of Rose Milk and peanut butter. That stuff is neither milk nor butter and it really messed up my cookie recipe.
I am also suing the manufacturers of “all in one skin care products;” it doesn’t work on ebola or third degree burns.
I am also shocked to learn that fruit bats are not made out of fruit, there are no Germans in my German Chocolate cake, that isn’t lava in my lava lamp, and don’t even ask about my Boston Cream Pie.
Anyone who has ever been around a piece of lumber knows the true milled dimensions of a 2x4.
All 1” lumber is actually surfaced to 3/4”
In width 3” is actually 2 1/2”
4” is actually 3 1/2”
5” is actually 4 1/2”
6” is actually 5 1/2”
8” is actually 7 1/4”
10” is actually 9 1/4”
12” is actually 11 1/4”
The lumber broker
that isn’t lava in my lava lamp,....Wait....What?
our court system has deteriorated to the point that it is becomng useless....how long has a 2X4 been l.5 X3.5 thirty years???longer???....the court system should either throw out these ridiculous suits, or settle them for $1.00
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