2x4s different

[jubylives]

Then there are some shady construction practices going on. I'm pretty sure any self respecting building inspector would not allow 2x3s to be used for exterior walls as exterior walls are load bearing. 2x3s are not typically used in load bearing situations. I myself have never seen 2x3s used in that situation but 2x3s are common practice for some interior partition walls. I'm not saying you are lying. I'm just saying most areas do not allow that. Also the sponginess of the floor is probably because they did not properlybrace the floor system which normally are I joists. If they are not properly braced they can be spongy feeling.

jeremy

 

[muddstopper]

Saying floor joists are normally I joists is a gross overstatement. A floor joist can be almost any size material, as long as span and spaceing requirements are met that meet or exceed load bearing requirements. There are lots of houses still being built that use 2x8, 2x10, and 2x12 lumber to complete a floor joist system. Further, Engineered trusses, similar to roof trusses, are also being used, as well as the Laminated beams ( also used for roof trusses), and the previous mentioned Ibeam or Ijoist. Each joist design has its specific place in the building industry. My favorite design is the engineered trusses. This design is usually used where HVAC, plumbing, and electrical componets can be hid inside a finished overhead area, (such as a finished basement) since those componets can easily be ran thru the truss spaces. Ibeam trusses necessitates placeing Hvac,. plumbing, wireing, etc, under the Ibeam to lessen the chance of dimishing the loadbearing strength of the Ibeam that would occur by boreing or cutting holes thru the Ibeam for the pass thru neccessaties.

The 2x4stud is 93inches long, designed to incorporate the addition of a bottom sill plate as well as a top plate to result in a final ceiling height of 8 ft.
A 2x4x8 is 96 inches long and used where a actual 8ft piece of lumber is needed. If you go to Lowes or Homedepot, or any other lumber supply and ask for a 2x4 stud, you will get a 2x4x93 inch piece of lumber, unless you ask the lip and tounge pierced asst. thats just there for a paycheck that might be helping you, then you could endup with almost anything. Tape measures dont lie. Take one with you when purchaseing lumber.

 

[Rock N' Faverolles]

Quote:
This makes it a bit clearer...

We have a older house, 10 foot ceilings, I was under the impression that the studs were all the vert 2x4 boards in the walls, not kins or crips.

So I'd think our studs are the 10' minus the top plate and sill.

What do we call these longer than 93 inchers if not studs, I'm sure many a non cookie-cutter home uses boards longer than 8 for walls?

Repo

I used to work at a lumber yard, and there were the basic 2 x 4's as well as the precuts. The Precuts for 8 foot walls were 92 5/8, precuts for 9 foot walls were 104 5/8, and the precuts for 10 foot walls were 116 5/8. If you purchased the wrong length, then take them back and get the 8 foot ones you need. They should be able to exchange them for you as long as they haven't had any nails driven in them yet. Sometimes the longer boards are cheaper and sometimes not. For us it always depended on the quality of the lumber as well as the specific costs of the bundles we purchased from wholesales. Each time we ordered for the store, the price fluctuated both higher and lower. Hope this helps.

David

 

[jubylives]

Quote:
You are correct. In my 7+ years of building roof and floor trusses and component wall panels leads me to prefer the use of floor trusses. Unfortunatly the common has been I joists as such:

I myself do not like them but they do fill a need. Now I joists are different from 2x floor joists.

jeremy

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
A lot of the new stuff being built near us is built with 2x3 and crappy plywood for floors, too.

I also saw the siding on these half million dollar zero lot line homes go up with osb walls under the siding.... Watched their work over the edge of our property line and after talking to the people, feel sorry that they thought the back half of our acreage was theirs and would never be clear cut... it will be if we sell, thats for sure.

 

[mistyfeather]

Quote:
when i lived in the mountains here in northern colorado at my parents house , a couple baught a lot and built a small 2 story house , every day we drove by watching as they were framing it in, i could not figure out why it looked way different from any other house framing ive ever seen. i went and looked one day...... the WHOLE house was framed w/ 2x3's! i would never want to live in that thing, we get some extreme winds up there. suprizingly tho it is still standing!

just dumb luck maybe?