Lumber question for those in the building trades
We always got units of 2 x 4 studs cut to length with the ends painted to reduce shrinkage and evaporation. They never seemed to shrink by length because of that. The 8', 10' and longer units of 2 x 4s, etc were left unpainted on the ends. That was what we used for door openings, window openings and blocking. Losing a fraction of an inch there didn't affect their value.
One time we got a shipment of UTILITY grade lumber that wasn't consistently stamped as such. It was not noticed right away. I framed stem walls with it for a stem wall/stepped foundation and ran TJI joists on it, then plywood decking. The foreman walked by the row of houses and saw the Utility grade lumber bundle opened and partially used, then asked around to see who used it. The whole she-bang had to get ripped out and dumped. Utility grade can only be used in non structural applications like temporary bracing and blocking. That unit got shipped to us by accident.
Another time, our company had contracts to build houses for the same Housing contractor but in different parts of town. In the south side we framed and framed with virtually NO conflicts or problems. We sent guys over to get started on another job that was in another county. We used the same grade of lumber as before but it turned out this new town had stricter requirements not clearly defined in the contracts or building plans. 3 houses were framed with sheeted roofs when the inspector came to look at the nailing on the roof and caught the mistake. 3 two story houses had to be torn down. Watching a forklift like this one:
....push over and smash the framing was both intense and sad at the same time.
We always got units of 2 x 4 studs cut to length with the ends painted to reduce shrinkage and evaporation. They never seemed to shrink by length because of that. The 8', 10' and longer units of 2 x 4s, etc were left unpainted on the ends. That was what we used for door openings, window openings and blocking. Losing a fraction of an inch there didn't affect their value.
One time we got a shipment of UTILITY grade lumber that wasn't consistently stamped as such. It was not noticed right away. I framed stem walls with it for a stem wall/stepped foundation and ran TJI joists on it, then plywood decking. The foreman walked by the row of houses and saw the Utility grade lumber bundle opened and partially used, then asked around to see who used it. The whole she-bang had to get ripped out and dumped. Utility grade can only be used in non structural applications like temporary bracing and blocking. That unit got shipped to us by accident.
Another time, our company had contracts to build houses for the same Housing contractor but in different parts of town. In the south side we framed and framed with virtually NO conflicts or problems. We sent guys over to get started on another job that was in another county. We used the same grade of lumber as before but it turned out this new town had stricter requirements not clearly defined in the contracts or building plans. 3 houses were framed with sheeted roofs when the inspector came to look at the nailing on the roof and caught the mistake. 3 two story houses had to be torn down. Watching a forklift like this one:
....push over and smash the framing was both intense and sad at the same time.
