Why are those long planks of wood called “2 by 4s”?
What units are we measuring here? 2 what by 4 what? Regardless of what units were using the proportions seem all off. 2 by 4 seems to imply that its a rectangle where the longer side is twice the side of the shorter side, but that doesn’t describe this wood size at all. The long side is quite a big longer than twice the side of the shorter size. So I’m confused. Then there are other sizes of wood, like 2 by 6s, and I see similar issues there too.
Someone please explain what’s going on here.
Had a 100+ year old house built for a steel mining company. Full cinder block siding on 2 stories and a basement. Joists in the basement were full size 2x10s nestled snugly between steel reinforced concrete joists (I forget the length on center). Had to replace some sub floor on the second floor under the toilet. More steel reinforced concrete joists. The nukes ever start flying I’m hightailing it back there and busting in… provided they didn’t reinforce the door.
Inspector came to look at the house for some reason and was impressed to see a house built in the 50’s with a giant length of walnut(?) something like 8”x 12” by 20’
I have an old house on my property that has a similar piece of wood holding everything up.
They don’t/can’t build like that anymore.