However, shopping for 2x4s can be a little confusing. The different lengths aren't really a problem with most projects I build, since I usually have to cut the boards in several pieces anyway. But on a recent shopping trip, I got curious about the odd sizes, and wondered if there might be some advantages in me choosing one length over the other.
Before I could answer that question, I had to find out why 2x4s come in different lengths to begin with, and what they're really used for. Sometimes called a "pre-cut stud," it's a little shorter than a full 8' board, which makes it perfect for building an 8' wall hmm? An important thing to know is that with most any dimensional lumber, there is a difference between what the board is called, and what it truly measures.
In the past, when a timber was called a 2x4 [or "two-by-four"], it actually measured 2 inches by 4 inches. Now, most timber is milled and planed to give it a little more of a finished look, and a little more of a consistent size and profile. Because of this extra milling, a 2x4 no longer measures a full 2 inches by four inches.
Foresters and economists faced pressure for maximum utilization. Engineers promoted light-stick framed construction with plywood sheets and later oriented-strand boards because it used smaller sticks efficiently. 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 Today, everyone in the construction industry knows that nominal size is not actual size—despite the fact that the 2x4 designation persists in the marketplace. For one,we must dispel any notion that the current size is a perfect utility equation of structural performance in terms of strength-to-size ratio.
It is utility optimized for construction speed—speed in shooting together single-family light-stick stud homes which represent more than 90 percent of the residential housing market. To recognize this constraint is one way to discover ecologically motivated systems with better impacts on society.
Perhaps we should return to a species-based synthesis of growth, harvest, usage, and aesthetics. This type of approach unifies forestry and architectural practices toward a new coherence of words and actions. Oliver J. Curtis is an independent researcher who explores coherence among ecology, technology, and design. He is a consultant to the Pinchot Institute for Conservation regarding forest supply chain sustainability. Part of uncleared land on farm, Boundary County, Idaho, Planks of wood for sale at a home-improvement store, Construction Lumber Wood.
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