What is the size of 2×4 lumber? If your answer is 2inch x 4inch then it is a completely wrong answer. 2×4 wood is actually 1.5inch x 3.5inch (1inch = 2.54 cm). Similar to other sawn logs, all sizes are smaller than their name suggests. And here’s why.
Mark Stephens, vice president of Woodworkers Source (Arizona-based), says the 2×4 size is nominally colloquial because 2×4 is easier to pronounce than the actual size. But the origins of 2×4 wood are more complicated than that.
To make a beam or plank, one has to cut the tree, saw the tree into pieces, known as the billets , and “the billet is the largest part you can get from a log”.
2×4 wood is actually 1.5inch x 3.5inch (1inch = 2.54 cm).
The wood chips are still damp after being sawed from the tree. These damp wood billets, otherwise known as “green lumber” are very susceptible to bending and warping. So the manufacturer will cut the wood. A standard wood plank is a wood plank that has been dried, sawn into panels, and dried again. Sometimes these boards are sent to a kiln. Softwoods such as pine, which is commonly used to make beams and planks, are usually dried at temperatures below 115 degrees Celsius.
Wood cannot be kept dry forever. Wood absorbs moisture and adjusts the humidity inside to match the humidity outside of the environment. However, according to Stephens, “drying eliminates many problems”. By speeding up the drying process, manufacturers cut down on the time it takes to turn a tree into a plank. Furthermore, by speeding up the natural warping process of the wood , the wood industry can treat any warping before it reaches the consumer. In addition, heat helps to remove termites and other debris in the wood.
Through the drying process, these planks will naturally shrink as moisture is withdrawn from the beams. However, actual grain shrinkage occurs when these “raw materials” are sent to a planer to smooth the surface of the board. Without the rough edges, the 2×4 lumber would actually be 1.5×3.5 inches, losing about 1/4 inch on all sides through the smoothing and drying process. According to Stephens, today, the wooden blocks are smaller, more beautiful and more resilient to the environment at the time of sale.
Today, wooden blocks are smaller, more beautiful and more resilient to the environment at the time of sale.
Obviously “size 2×4” is an understatement, but the difference is negligible.
In the 1920s, Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover introduced the first sizing regulations in the United States. Previously, lumber size was regulated state by state, meaning that consumers might not be able to purchase equal sized planks if one batch came from Maine, and another came from Minnesota. . Hoover’s standards were issued nearly a century ago and have been improved every decade. Plus, big companies like Home Depot and Lowe’s are undoubtedly the biggest beneficiaries of maintaining these standards in their stores.