Old Lumber

[oosik]

This summer I began cleaning up the area where the old homestead buildings use to be. Quite a bit of the lumber was still in good shape. So - I stacked the good stuff on a pallet. I want to add some sort of lean too off one end of the carport.

Wazhoo. My surprise. All this old lumber is FULL dimensional. 2x4's are full 2" x 4". Same with the 1" x 12" side boards. I guess I'll be using the old lumber for one entire part of the lean too. Probably the one far wall on the unit.

This lumber dates back to the 1890's when the old homesteader occupied the property.

Has anybody else run into something like this.

This is an oil painting of one of the old homestead buildings. I was just a mere child when the last of the old buildings were torn down. This was the first building on the property. It was a combination - temporary residence and chicken shed. Must have been a heady experience.

 

[IndyIan]

Its interesting that you haven't seen this before. I guess the east side of the continent was settled for quite a while before the west coast, so there's lots of houses still standing here built with full dimension lumber, and in my area every timberframe barn built in the 1800's and early 1900's has lots of thick boards. My in-laws place was rebuilt in 1918 using boards and beams from the old house built in 1860's which was far too big. They did realize the strength (and sometimes overestimate)of a true 2x4, or 2x8 so its got a variety of centre distances for the floor joists and studs, and none are down near 16". Also almost every board has some cuts or notches from were the stud or joist was used in the old house. Some of the roof boards in the attic have white wash on them for previous life in a barn.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I moved to a property here in Washington State about 14 years ago that had lumber milled in the 1940's on a circular saw. It had the edge of the kerf marks in it from the saw, and made it look unique.
I thought that was old lumber, guess I stand corrected after the @IndyIan post.

 

[Oaktree]

Cool that all that old lumber was still good after having been out in the weather for 100+ years. Up here it would have rotted away decades ago.

 

[old and tired]

Our old house, build around the 1930's, was American Chestnut, sawn with a water powered saw mill. I have an architect friend that was into history... you can see where the saw slowed down until enough pressure built up to speed up the saw to cut faster...

We had full 2x4 but we also had a lot of rounded corners with bark still on the studs... We did not fix up the old house, we just use it for storage.

 

[CliffordK]

Frequently rough cut lumber is the full inch sizes, and planed/kiln dried lumber is much smaller.

The theory was that one started with larger lumber, then planed it down to finish size.

Then over time as milling improved, they simply made lumber smaller.

Sometimes one can find inch dimensions on posts or beams. 4x4, 6x6, etc.

If you need boards that are 1 1/2" x 4", you could either rip down 2x6 boards or 2x10 boards. Or perhaps hunt for rough cut lumber.

 

[California]

There was also a tiny reduction in the dimensions of common milled lumber, January 1971. I think each piece went through a bend test to assure strength, replacing the traditional eyeball grading.

It was claimed that the new spec, with tested lumber, assured improved strength so the milled lesser dimensions were irrelevant. (And this had to have improved the yield of finished lumber from each log, profitable to the mills).

But it made some layout more difficult. For example a common wall with a 2x4 bottom plate and double 2x4 top plates would need longer studs to fit the same standard dimension sheetrock on the interior walls. I was working as a framer at the time and this added some new figuring as new and traditional milled lumber were mixed together on a project.

Out here at the ranch there are a lot of random scraps from redwood boards, all full dimension from 100 years ago. All has been repurposed, likely multiple times, so its hard on saw blades as there can be fragments of rusted nails that aren't obvious. HF used to sell the same metal detector wand used by TSA etc. With that I catch most of the hidden nails before sawing, but not every time.

 

[BnRidge]

The homstead here was built in 1846 using full dimensional lumber. The construction techniques seem odd by todays standards. The sequence was to lay an 8x8 sill beam, set first floor joists into notches in the beam, tip 16' wall studs clear to the second floor. Add a stringer for the second floor joists, set the second floor joists on the stringer, sheeth the walls with up to 1x16 planks, lay tongue and groove flooring on the two floors. Interior walls have wall studs flat leaving only 2" inside the wall- no need to leave room for utilities. Plaster was a mixture of lime and horse hair for added strength. The plaster is different than more recent from the 1920s, much softer and grainy.

 

[workinonit]

I sawed the lumber I built my house with full dimensional and used it like that. You can use it that way or have it planed to size if you like.

 

[sandman2234]

My house was built in 1964 and from what I have seen, is built with full dimensional wood. The previous owner built the home while living in an Airstream trailer out back. The beams under the house are 2x12 and are rather impressive. I think he purchased the wood previously used, but never got to ask him about it.
When we purchased it, we had an alarm installed and the installer broke more drill bits on this house than he normally did in six installs. The walls studs all have a board bracing between them so they couldn't just drill the top plate and drop the wire in and expect it to reach the bottom. There is a small (and I do mean SMALL) opening in one of the upstairs closets where they accessed the trusses between the two floors. Apparently they had a small guy who crawled in and around between the two floors to do some of the work. I sent a borescope camera in thru that hole just to see what they had done.
Davd

 

[bigtiller]

There was also a tiny reduction in the dimensions of common milled lumber, January 1971. I think each piece went through a bend test to assure strength, replacing the traditional eyeball grading.

It was claimed that the new spec, with tested lumber, assured improved strength so the milled lesser dimensions were irrelevant. (And this had to have improved the yield of finished lumber from each log, profitable to the mills).

But it made some layout more difficult. For example a common wall with a 2x4 bottom plate and double 2x4 top plates would need longer studs to fit the same standard dimension sheetrock on the interior walls. I was working as a framer at the time and this added some new figuring as new and traditional milled lumber were mixed together on a project.

Out here at the ranch there are a lot of random scraps from redwood boards, all full dimension from 100 years ago. All has been repurposed, likely multiple times, so its hard on saw blades as there can be fragments of rusted nails that aren't obvious. HF used to sell the same metal detector wand used by TSA etc. With that I catch most of the hidden nails before sawing, but not every time.

My parents house was built in the early spring of 1971. The builder used up the last of the 2x4's in this part of the country with the odd dimensions of 1-5/8 X 3-5/8

 

[wolc123]

I built a loft in my new pole barn, with a wood shop and metal shop under it, from lumber (mostly American chestnut) salvaged from my great great grandfathers old timber framed barns. I also added a lean-to woodshed on the back of the back porch, using that lumber.

I love the color and feel of that old chestnut wood, especially the hand-hewn beams. It’s tough to reproduce that with modern materials.

It is still a work in process. The roofs and foundations were failing on the two old 36 x 46 x 16 timber framed barns. He had built the newest one in 1883. It had the year cut into the siding, up under the peak.

I got the “18” board down intact, and matched it with a “20”, using a jigsaw, to mark the year, that the shell of the new pole barn went up. I put those two boards up inside, under the peak.

The cost to repair them old barns would have been several times higher than the cost to build the new 36 x 50 x 12 pole barn, with (2) 12 x 25 porches.

I still have lots of lumber left from the old barns, stacked up in the new loft. My next project with that, is going to be making a big set of swinging doors, for the end of the back porch. When I’m finished, that back porch will be totally enclosed. I found some big iron strap hinges, at a local barn sale, that will work well for those new “old” swinging doors.

Another plus, about reusing that old lumber, is avoiding the inflated cost of the new stuff. The 24 face cords capacity woodshed, that I added to the back, didn’t cost me a dime in materials. I even saved most of the old forged iron square nails from the old barns. Not sure what I’m going to do with them.

 

[California]

I just cleaned up a random plank to put across the head of the stairs so 2 yo grandson won't fall if he sleepwalks.

One side was painted, no nails, so it must have been a cabinet shelf.

Its milled lumber, 7/8" thick by 16 1/8" wide! A single plank, not two pieces joined.

I don't think you can buy 1 x 16 planks any more.

 

[WinterDeere]

Amusing hearing the word "old" applied to anything made after the Civil War, but of course "old" varies by region. Europeans laugh at us when we call our pre-Revolutionary colonials "old". I'd guess you probably don't find much older than 1849 on the west coast!

I've lived in houses built 1692, 1720, 1734, 1740, 1775, and one "new" one built 1877. All in south eastern PA.

On the lumber, I bought two flitches of yellow pine that had been milled in the 1840's and left in a furniture maker's stock from then until 2002. I milled it and installed it as flooring in a bedroom of the 1877 house. It was just enough to do the room with nearly zero waste, at random widths, after re-sawing each piece. All floors in that house had full-length planking, no butt seams, meaning each board ran the full length of the room.

 

[jyoutz]

Amusing hearing the word "old" applied to anything made after the Civil War, but of course "old" varies by region. Europeans laugh at us when we call our pre-Revolutionary colonials "old". I'd guess you probably don't find much older than 1849 on the west coast!

I've lived in houses built 1692, 1720, 1734, 1740, 1775, and one "new" one built 1877. All in south eastern PA.

On the lumber, I bought two flitches of yellow pine that had been milled in the 1840's and left in a furniture maker's stock from then until 2002. I milled it and installed it as flooring in a bedroom of the 1877 house. It was just enough to do the room with nearly zero waste, at random widths, after re-sawing each piece. All floors in that house had full-length planking, no butt seams, meaning each board ran the full length of the room.

Not really on the west coast, but my state capital city is the oldest capital city in the United States. 1625. Spanish colonial.

 

[California]

I'd guess you probably don't find much older than 1849 on the west coast!

Yep.

This little farmhouse is about pre-WWI, and its one of a very few that old around here. Population of the whole state then was around 3 million. Today, 39 million. I enjoy keeping this original because it is so unique. I've kept the apple orchard in commercial production and it feels like a nature park, while nearly every property in the region has been converted to a sterile vineyard.

My other grandparents had the oldest farmhouse in their little valley, built about 1875. The interior walls were 1x12 rough sawed redwood planks with wallpaper.

Before the transcontinental railroad (1869) the west coast was extremely remote. Several months travel overland or via ship, from the east coast, to get here. Some buildings from the 1849 gold miners remain but not much. Mine owners who got rich built nice homes, and some of those remain.

As for pre-1849: Long ago the state lost a lawsuit and was ordered to try to buy from minority-owned businesses in the same proportion as the minority percentage in the state. A Native American and I hit the road to qualify business who wished to be qualified. My buddy, a Native American, did the ethnic verification while I appraised whether a business was ongoing, or just a scam such as a favorite foreman suddenly listed as a supplier.

We got to a lumberyard in Monterey and found they were authentic. The owner said they sold to the Mexican government before American California existed. And that's the old-lumber part of this story.

 

[Oaktree]

Its milled lumber, 7/8" thick by 16 1/8" wide! A single plank, not two pieces joined.

I don't think you can buy 1 x 16 planks any more.

My (1830s-vintage) house is built of vertical planks roughly 4.5" x 24" Lotsa luck finding THEM today!!

 

[WinterDeere]

Not really on the west coast, but my state capital city is the oldest capital city in the United States. 1625. Spanish colonial.

Yeah, the west coast statement wasn't aimed specifically at you, just a general statement. Your state capital is indeed old, as part of Mexico. I'm sure it's beautiful, and has some fantastic architecture. Of course it wasn't a state capital in the US until 1912!

My home office is built into what was the kitchen of this house from 1775 - 1890's, and sits atop the original 1734 kitchen, both complete with the classic "walk-in" cooking fireplaces. A new "modern" kitchen was added to the house in the 1890's, and then this room became the library. The built-in desk and library shelves are newer but built in the style appropriate for the age of the house from black walnut and stained mahogany, as was popular in the 18th century. Americans wanted rich imported mahogany but black walnut was more easily sourced, just showing us that making cheaper materials or woods look more expensive was popular even back then. Of course, now black walnut is even more expensive than most species of mahoganies, turning that upside down.

 

[jyoutz]

Yeah, the west coast statement wasn't aimed specifically at you, just a general statement. Your state capital is indeed old, as part of Mexico. I'm sure it's beautiful, and has some fantastic architecture. Of course it wasn't a state capital in the US until 1912!

My home office is built into what was the kitchen of this house from 1775 - 1890's, and sits atop the original 1734 kitchen, both complete with the classic "walk-in" cooking fireplaces. A new "modern" kitchen was added to the house in the 1890's, and then this room became the library. The built-in desk and library shelves are newer but built in the style appropriate for the age of the house from black walnut and stained mahogany, as was popular in the 18th century. Americans wanted rich imported mahogany but black walnut was more easily sourced, just showing us that making cheaper materials or woods look more expensive was popular even back then. Of course, now black walnut is even more expensive than most species of mahoganies, turning that upside down.

It’s a bit misunderstood. NM was a Spanish colony from 1598 to 1821, and only part of Mexico for 29 years (from 1821 to 1850). It became a U.S. territory in 1850 and state in 1912. The capital city Santa Fe) has flown 5 national flags: Spain, Mexico, US Territory, Confederacy ( short time), and U.S. During all of those years, SF was the capital.

 

[WinterDeere]

It’s a bit misunderstood. NM was a Spanish colony from 1598 to 1821, and only part of Mexico for 29 years (from 1821 to 1850). It became a U.S. territory in 1850 and state in 1912. The capital city Santa Fe) has flown 5 national flags: Spain, Mexico, US Territory, Confederacy ( short time), and U.S. During all of those years, SF was the capital.

Hey... you tryin' to sneak "something you don't know" into "old lumber"?

Interesting history, tho!