TIL our wood is weird

submitted by jet199 from (imgur.com)

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[–]StillLessons 10 insightful - 4 fun10 insightful - 3 fun11 insightful - 4 fun -  (2 children)

I've talked to many people in construction-related fields over the past ten years, and they all tell the same story: Construction from pre-1970 is a fundamentally different animal from later construction. Our house is from the 1890s. Everyone says, "Uuuhhh, must be a lot of maintenance!" Yes and no. While nothing can be around that long and not have issues, I've been told again and again that we are the lucky ones. A friend who does contracting for me tells me often of the number of post-1980 vintage houses he goes to and the framing of the house is already falling apart, badly. 10s of thousands of dollars of work on some houses less than 10 years old. This post is one aspect of this. McMansions get their name for a reason...

[–]Tums_is_Smut_bkwrds 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Part of it is the framers themselves though. Today you go to a trades school and shazam you're a framer. Time was you did the majority of your learning on the job as an apprentice. Nail guns make you faster but they don't make you better.

[–]StillLessons 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Your screen name gives me a chuckle. Thanks.

[–]JasonCarswell 5 insightful - 5 fun5 insightful - 4 fun6 insightful - 5 fun -  (1 child)

There's more to it than that.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

That's what she said.

[–]Noam_Chomsky 4 insightful - 4 fun4 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

In 2070, they'll say something similar about humans: stabbed vs. unstabbed.

[–]jet199[S] 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (4 children)

https://twitter.com/Trad_West_Art/status/1435205932074643457?t=2agyCttGnnp7N3edwX-rVg&s=19

[–]neomarxist_bullshit 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (3 children)

for fuel sure, but is it really good for construction?

[–]jet199[S] 9 insightful - 3 fun9 insightful - 2 fun10 insightful - 3 fun -  (2 children)

No.

Slow growth means more strength so modern pine is weaker.

[–]VirgilGriff 5 insightful - 4 fun5 insightful - 3 fun6 insightful - 4 fun -  (1 child)

NOOO you can't just use a few more 2x4s but still end up with massive time and therefore cost savings! That goes against nature!

[–]Zapped 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Right. Engineered beams (LVL's) take care of this problem as well.

[–]Rob3122 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Cool find

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Thanks for this. It's very interesting, and should worry people. Perhaps the GMO pine is a test tree, because it's not - seemingly - commercially available. More on GMO trees here. One can also make this comparison with inner and outer radial planes, as one can see here.

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]Zapped 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

    It is true. Older homes have much denser wood and anyone who has to drill or cut on it knows how much harder it is. Also, both of those pieces of wood in the photo have been recently cut. The bottom piece has aged, as evident from its darker color. I have seen sap oozing out of woodwork that is 50 years old. Both of those pieces in the photo are fairly new, since the older studs are true 2x4's and not the 1.5" x 3.5" like today. The difference in ring size in newer lumber can be due to what part of the tree that piece came from. Those machines size up the tree at the mill and know what size pieces you can get from it before the saw does it's thing.

    [–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    Excellent points

    [–]thefirststone 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

    They sure were advanced back then. I'm glad this unsubstantiated claim is here to inform and confirm my preconceptions.

    [–]Dunwidit 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

    And the real answer to the problem was hemp

    [–]jet199[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

    🌍👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀

    Always was

    [–]Dunwidit 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

    👍