4 ms·
2x4s are 2" by 4" before they're finished. If you search S4S (sanded 4 sides) 2x4s, they will actually be 2" by 4". If you get the wood with rounded corners, th
by selectodude 4y ago
2x4s are 2" by 4" before they're finished. If you search S4S (sanded 4 sides) 2x4s, they will actually be 2" by 4". If you get the wood with rounded corners, they take a quarter inch off each side to "finish" it. It's been that way for 100 years.
- mritun 4y agoSneaky, eh?
- kennywinker 4y agoI don't think that's right. > The limited availability of lumber and the rapid pace of housing construction made other methods like concrete-block housing viable. This pressured further compromise because thinner 2x4s were a way to compete in price with wood alternatives. Size standards, maximum moisture content, and nomenclature were agreed upon only as recently as 1964. The nominal 2x4 thus became the actual 1½ x 3½, imperceptibly, a fraction of an inch at a time. http://www.harvarddesignmagazine.org/issues/45/nominal-versus-actual-a-history-of-the-2x4 http://www.harvarddesignmagazine.org/issues/45/nominal-versu... So it seems the reduction was was driven by cost saving, not a product of the finishing process, and it's actually only been standardized that way for 58 years.