Good grief! Aren't there enough conspiracy theories around without
adding lumber to the list?
> In the good old days when homes used to be built right, all of the two
> by fours that went into the construction were real two by fours. The
> "new" shaved-down standard was developed by the building contractors and
> the lumber companies and by others involved in the building industry for
> the purpose of bilking people.
The size of all lumber -- and timber -- has always been the "rough
cut" size; the house I grew up in had 2x4's in the walls that were 2"x4"
... rough cut. If you've ever worked with rough cut lumber, you'd know
that it is not just hard on the hands and the clothing -- you often
can't see faults or flaws in the lumber because the rough cut "splinter
fuzz" hides them.
Since industry standard is rough cut dimensions, all planed lumber
and timber is "smaller" than the designated size ... you can't take the
surface off of anything without making that thing smaller. Since
builders want planed lumber -- easier on hands, easier to handle in all
ways, easier to see knot holes and splits and other flaws -- the lumber
we buy is going to be smaller than 2"x4" ... but it is NOT a scam, or a
rip-off or a conspiracy. It's a way to avoid splinters and splits.
-- Arachne V1.70;rev.3, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
