Poplar is nice for trim but it's really not very very good for dimensional lumber. It doesn't take nails well at all and screws only a little better. It tends to split right along the grain when nailed or screwed. Makes really nice fascia board if you get it in strips but I would still use cheaper and stronger yellow pine for most benchwork.
Benchwork Lumber?
- Thread starter macjet
- Start date
Mac, the lumber used in a house is straight as considered reasonable to work with. Anything less, it goes back for exchange. Using lumber to frame is suppose to be flexible enough and with enough moisture content to work with. You just don't want any wane, warp, or too many knots. Once the lumber is secured in a frame, then the frame itself will keep it straight once the covering is secured. That is why I said to make sure it is square, plumb, and secured well. If you want something perfect and have the money, by furniture or cabinet grade.
I'm not sure of the tone in this remark, Squid, but I assure you that I have plenty of "real-world" experience. I am 63 years old and have worked with lumber for my own projects that have included everything from cabinets, furniture, and sundecks to room additions, not to mention a couple of years house framing for my carpenter FIL. I even worked in a high tech sawmill for several years that made dimensional 2x lumber for the housing industry. Now, relative to the topic, I have a 24x40 garage size layout that has varying temperatures and humidity in both summer and winter. Surprise: it's pine and hasn't warped/distorted one little bit, but you see, I built it right!
You sir, have your facts wrong. KENW is correct and offers excellent advise. Spruce is probably the worst wood I have ever worked with, but fir is usually a pretty good option.
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Squidbait
Recovering ALCo-holic
The tone was such that the specs were derived by people who have lots of real-world experience building modular layouts. They have found a system that works very well, and have outlined their reasoning based on their experience.
As I've said, pine is fine for a standalone, stay-at-home layout. For modules that are going to come together from different environments, and have to travel a lot, plywood is more durable (especially on the endplates) than pine.
That's all. Untie your knickers.
Actually, my facts are just that, facts. Maybe yellow pine is common in the southern states, but 'round here, SPF studs are more likely spruce than anything else. It's cheap, it's plentiful, it may not be optimal for house construction, but the US sure has been working hard at keeping it out of the country in spite of NAFTA and WTO rulings.
plywood for layout
I am helping a freind build a 17 x 32 double deck layout in his basement. It is all built from 3/4" plywood ripped to 3 1/2" and 2" with 3/4" raodbed. I work in a plywood plant and can get some good deals on plywood at times. I have put up a couple of pics of the progress so far.
Scott O'Dell
I am helping a freind build a 17 x 32 double deck layout in his basement. It is all built from 3/4" plywood ripped to 3 1/2" and 2" with 3/4" raodbed. I work in a plywood plant and can get some good deals on plywood at times. I have put up a couple of pics of the progress so far.
Scott O'Dell
NYSW F45
Active Member
Dammmmm! i think i just got a woody, lol
"Oak"-kay, I can accept that. (I had to throw that weak joke in because we're talking about wood...
)
Anyhow, to provide some reasoning behind my statement, when we bought our house, we had the opportunity to see it built from the ground up, and from what I saw the wood studs were not all that staight. And then, when they finished all of the interior drywall and painting, I could sight down the wall and see hoow wavy it was.
Donnell
)Anyhow, to provide some reasoning behind my statement, when we bought our house, we had the opportunity to see it built from the ground up, and from what I saw the wood studs were not all that staight. And then, when they finished all of the interior drywall and painting, I could sight down the wall and see hoow wavy it was.
Donnell
kenw
5th Generation Texian
well, I can certainly understand that. Stud grade lumber is pretty awful stuff, it is very low quality. It's normally ok because it takes more than 1 or 2 studs to hold up a wall so the strength is in the numbers. And interior walls are rarely load bearing so they only need to be strong enough to hold up the sheetrock and some very thin layers of paint.
There's lots of ways to use cheaper wood in construction that still get you straight walls, but most hourly-rate carpenters have no clue as to how.
Yeah Mac, it of course varies with the crews, but a good lead carpenter wants to be proud of his work, not to mention having a good reputation. Sometimes though, framing crews are put together from off the street and barely know what they are doing. They reach in a lumber pile and only care if it's the right size. You find this a lot with large housing tracts that go up overnight. However, a good carpenter can make some boards that look bad to us work by selective cutting, nailing, and providing it still has plenty of moisture content to be flexible. The problem with many pre-cut studs is they are usually too dry to work with, meaning you can't straighten them by nailing or scabbing in straighteners.
A good piece of advise is to always pick your own lumber, regardless of the amount. Sometimes this is hard to do and you have to rely on the lumber company to do you right. Most will, as they hate to come out and pickup boards for exchange. Still, it happens.
Ken you are so right and here, crews are now building several houses at once, keeping them in a mad rush back and forth. When we were building a house, there were several exterior wall studs that where bowed terribly. I asked them to yank them out and replace them. After a few days and no results, I went out there one evening an smacked them in half with a crowbar. The next day I asked the contractor if he got my message...he did...no more problem with bad lumber.
BTW: My daughter and family live in Spring, Texas.
A good piece of advise is to always pick your own lumber, regardless of the amount. Sometimes this is hard to do and you have to rely on the lumber company to do you right. Most will, as they hate to come out and pickup boards for exchange. Still, it happens.
Ken you are so right and here, crews are now building several houses at once, keeping them in a mad rush back and forth. When we were building a house, there were several exterior wall studs that where bowed terribly. I asked them to yank them out and replace them. After a few days and no results, I went out there one evening an smacked them in half with a crowbar. The next day I asked the contractor if he got my message...he did...no more problem with bad lumber.
BTW: My daughter and family live in Spring, Texas.
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RexHea said:When we were building a house, there were several exterior wall studs that where bowed terribly. I asked them to yank them out and replace them. After a few days and no results, I went out there one evening an smacked them in half with a crowbar. The next day I asked the contractor if he got my message...he did...no more problem with bad lumber.
LOL, Rex. Now that's what I'd call real project management.
I'm lucky to be living in house that was custom built by a contractor for his brother. The lumber is all straight and top grade, even the trusses in the attic. It's all hurricane tied too instead of just toe nailing everything together. You could really tell the difference in construction when we had the tornado here. All the houses that didn't get a direct hit but had the roof and sills secured with hurricane ties survived structurally intact. All the others had the roofs gone with the wind. I have no idea why toe nailing is still allowed here.