I dont know why they have to lie about it. At $5/8ft board you’d think I paid for the full 1.5. Edit: I mixed up nominal with actual.

  • frezik@midwest.social
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    6 months ago

    It was done for largely sensible reasons.

    https://youtu.be/WaJFudED5FQ?si=7j005FmfJVr_JQL_

    In short, a 2x4 was originally 2x4 inches, full stop, but it was found that this size wasn’t necessary for the strength being applied to them in construction. We were wasting lumber for no reason. They went through a few cycles of sizing down as the actual needed strength was understood better. The naming convention stuck, though.