Not a fan of home depot anymore...

[greyhorsewoman]

screws are good, too, actually less work because the drill does everything for you

And make salvaging the wood easier if one decides to dismantle and use in another project (except that we often also use wood glue, which voids that option).​

 

[Dixiedoodle]

This is the reason my DH uses screws when possible... We don't have a HD but our Lowe's lumber dept is the pits!!! We 'fuss and cuss' every time we need lumber. We spend hours digging for decent lumber.

 

[Penturner]

Dull the tip of the nail, Use box Nails at the very most or use what should be used on wood that small. Finish nails, wire brads or staples . Coated nails can split a 2X4. 1X2's are cut from wood that was not good enough to be anything else. Drilling a hole if you have to have the larger nails works but since you don't have a drill 1X3s would also solved your problem. if it where me I would just go with finish nails and proceed slowly. the truth is 1x2s are not even listed on nailing schedules.(lists that tell you what type and number of nails to use for various wood sizes). What this means is it is not meant to be nailed at all. This means you should not expect them to put up with more than brads to fasten them. A 1X3 should be nailed with 2 8d nails though. that would be 2 nails at each stud or every 16 inches placed no closer than 1 inch from the edge of the board.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. No real difference in quality of lumber from Home Depot or Lowe's. And I pre-drill in smaller lumber whether I nail or screw. The reduction in frustration and ruined lumber is worth the extra time.

I used to get 2" x 2" for certain uses but found they were always warped real bad plus one 2x4 is cheaper than a 2x2 here. Now I get the 2x4's and split them. The quality is so much better, you get two pieces of wood for the price of one, and they are a little lighter than a rough-cut 2x2 (1-2" x 1-3/4"). You do need a decent table saw to split a 2x4 though. Since your dad is a contractor, I'd imagine he has a good one. Maybe you could take the 2x4's to your dad's and split them.

Just the way I do it. Many different ways to achieve the result. Good luck!!!

 

[DLS]

Quote:
That works!! Lowes is WORSE!!!stay away -- stick with the depot

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Enh, as long as a person's comfortable using a circular saw, you can do a pretty fair job that way, with a rip fence on the circular saw. I woudln't try doing 1x2s that way, but to just halve a 2x4 into two 2x2s is not bad at all IME. Worth a try anyhow. Worth buying a circular saw too -- even the cheap models are quite serviceable for coop building purposes, so you're talking like $30 on sale (here at least).

Pat

 

[LynneP]

And when you put the order in at the service desk, ask about the grade of wood before you buy. Don't complete the transaction unless they have what you need. here' we often go to local mills to choose our lumber.



Economy is the lowest grade available. This is usually junk wood, dunnage taken off of railcars, and pencil stock. You can get a lot of twist, wane, and huge loose knots with economy grade lumber.

Utility is the next grade up in quality from economy. The discerning consumer can usually find a few useful pieces of lumber at this grade. One of the functions in large commercial lumberyards is buying utility grade lumber in bulk and upgrading it to ‘stud’

Stud grade, as implied by the name, is the most common grade used to build the framework of houses. Thus, the electronic device used to find lumber under drywall in a house is called a stud finder. Since the primary purpose of stud grade lumber is to hold up a house, very little twist is allowed, although you can have large amounts of wane and large knots.

A similar grade to stud is standard and better. The difference between the two is not so much in the size of the knots or the amount of splits or wane allowed, but in the fact that standard and better grade is used for lumber that is 12 feet and longer while the stud grade is used for 10 feet and 8 feet pieces in grading.

The next grade up in quality from stud and standard and better is 2 and better. This grade usually allows for smaller-sized knots and a minimum of wane and splits.

An even finer quality of wood is 1 and better. This is the crème de crème of lumber and should consist of small, sound and tight knots, only inches of splits, and practically zero wane.

Above 1 and better is select grade lumber. This is an even higher quality than 1 and can be used for high-end decorative purposes. Examples of this would be western red cedar, spruce shiplap, and tongue & groove wall paneling. Having mentioned that as an example, great effects can be had using lower quality cedar as paneling, incorporating its defects to achieve a western, weathered look.

Other facts about grading can be revealed by the grading stamp. The grading stamp will reveal what species the wood originated from. A grading stamp of DF refers to Douglas fir, while HF refers to hemlock fir. SPF is a generic grading stamp that can be used for spruce, pine or fir, but is usually used for spruce exclusively. A PP grading stamp can be used for ponderosa pine. Some consumers have a hard time telling pine and spruce apart when the generic stamp is used for both. One clear way to tell pine and spruce apart is that pine has a blue tinge to its white coloring. Another thing a grading stamp may reference is STK. This means that all knots on the lumber should be sound and tight, neither lending themselves to breakage or coming loose and turning into a hole.

Most home centers deal in higher end lumber since the consumer does not want to be bothered with the trouble of sorting too much. The lumber has been selected very highly before coming in the door. Most lumber suppliers to home centers have signed very specific contracts about the lumber they supply, and these suppliers take the contracts very seriously since so much business comes from the home centers. As always, the age- old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ applies, though a discerning eye and a little background knowledge can be helpful as well.

Source: http://www.essortment.com/home/lumbergrades_sibr.htm

 

[jimk]

I have the privilege of getting to work with a lot of antique and salvaged lumber anywhere from 5 to 150 years old and I can confidently tell you they just don't grow trees like they used too!. Even 2x4s from the 80s are noticeably straighter, with tighter, clearer grain than anything you could find at a big box lumber yard these days. The same is true for hardwoods as well as softwoods. I think nearly all of the lumber available today is from second, or even third growth forests. That means the trees grew relatively quickly in lots of sunshine instead of slowly in established forests where they would compete for sunlight with older, more established species. That fast growth yields a wide, weak grain that will split or warp if you so much as look at it and think crooked thoughts. Not a big deal in home construction where the pneumatic tools seem to drive the nail faster than the wood can split, but if you are going to use a hammer to build anything you are going to have to predrill or dull the nail. But take solace, the old oak studs in my house are so tough I have to pre-drill too. Not because the wood will split, but because the nails will bend. And as for the quality of modern nails and wire goods...well, don't get me started!

 

[greyhorsewoman]

Very well said

 

[al6517]

Quote:
That' it and not use to big a nail, this tip should do you fine. Common carpenter trick !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AL