Sande Plywood from Home Depot

[rrebell]

I’ve worked most of my life in construction. Most of that in remodel. Many of the houses go back to, oh, about 1906 or so (SF Bay Area).

In old house framing, most load bearing walls have studs that measure 2" x 3 1/2". And also 2" x 2 1/2" for interior non-load bearing walls. Those studs are usually rough cut.

You can buy today rough cut 2x4’s. They ARE 2" x 4". Well, more or less. But I’ll tell you, so were the old studs I run into–more or less. Full 2x4’s are pretty useless in construction; I can’t recall the last time I saw any. The standard 2x4 is 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". And has been that for a long time, at least 60 years.

Current 2x4’s are indeed planed. But note that the 3 1/2" dimension stays the same as it has for over 100 years.

So. Old 2x4’s weren’t 2" x 4" either.

It IS interesting that the construction industry went from rough cut studs to planed. As someone who has occasion to touch studs, I’ll say I prefer planed. Splinters.

Ed

Funny I worked in the same general area and my house has real 2x4’s and was built in 1905. But I have been in the trades and studied history long enough to know that each saw mill back in the day has their own standards. Your wood may have been shipped in, proubly from up north a bit as mine was local.

[7j43k]

Funny I worked in the same general area and my house has real 2x4’s and was built in 1905.

So now we have the date for the great 2x4 “big lumber” conspiracy! I’ve never worked on a pre-quake house. Clearly, “big lumber” took advantage of the situation.

Sheldon. Oak 2x4’s?? How d’ya get a 16d through THAT! I’m thinking one ginormous nail gun. BAM! IN!

Ed

[ATLANTIC_CENTRAL]

rrebell

Funny I worked in the same general area and my house has real 2x4’s and was built in 1905.

So now we have the date for the great 2x4 “big lumber” conspiracy! I’ve never worked on a pre-quake house. Clearly, “big lumber” took advantage of the situation.

Sheldon. Oak 2x4’s?? How d’ya get a 16d through THAT! I’m thinking one ginormous nail gun. BAM! IN!

Ed

All hand nails, it was 1901. But they used larger nails than we use today for similar lumber sizes.

Actually, most of it is American Chestnut, but there is a fair amout of Oak and Hickory.

The trim and floors on the other hand are mostly Eastern Yellow Pine, except for some bright work, which is Chestnut.

The interior of the house was built in a simplified Colonial Revival style, so most of the trim was painted from day one.

We restored the house beginning in 1995, having it largely complete in 1998.

The other house pictured, my latest client project, is about 15 miles from me, and was built aprox. 1906. It’s construction is very similar to mine. We worked on that house from June 2015 until October of 2016, and still have a few small projects pending there.

Sheldon

[BroadwayLion]

Current 2x4’s are indeed planed. But note that the 3 1/2" dimension stays the same as it has for over 100 years. So. Old 2x4’s weren’t 2" x 4" either.

2 x 4 is the size as cut from the log by the saw mill. It looses more when it is worked into lumber.

ROAR

[Redore]

So, what’s wrong with exterior or marine grade plywood? As glue technology has improved interior grade plywood is becoming very rare. The main difference between interior and exterior is whether or not the glue used will stand up to water exposure.

[ATLANTIC_CENTRAL]

So, what’s wrong with exterior or marine grade plywood? As glue technology has improved interior grade plywood is becoming very rare. The main difference between interior and exterior is whether or not the glue used will stand up to water exposure.

Most grades of exterior sheathing plywood are not deminsionally stable in the flat plane. That is they naturally buckle or cup until nailed to framing members.

This is not good or helpful in building model railroad benchwork where precisson makes for proper grades and smooth trackwork.

Additionally, the surfaces of exterior plywood is typically, C/D, not very smooth, subject to knots and surface voids.

Sheldon

[nealknows]

Guys,

Thanks to everyone who replied. I reached out some builders down in the Palm Beach County area, and one of them found me 1/2" AC Interior plywood, EXACTLY what I was looking for. I called the place, and not only do they stock it year round, they agreed to make the necessary rips that I will need.

Once I bring them to the house, they will sit in the room to get acclimated. This will include the 1" x3" pieces of wood I’ll need for the frames. After all the wood gets acclimated, all of the wood will be painted to prevent any warpage. The bottom of the 1/2" plywood will be painted white to make it a little easier to see when running wires and adding switch machines.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. My next trip to Florida is the end of April, then again in June, and August. The goal is to have all the wood in the room on the April trip, paint the wood in June, and start assembling frames durin the June visit. If I can get all the frames assembled in June, I can attach them to the wall supports. August timeframe would be to add the plywood, since it’s all one level. The last piece of this layout is the removable section by the door. That will go in last.

I’ll work on posting pics after the initial visit. Thanks again guys!

Neal