On Mar 12, 5:23 pm, dicko wrote:
On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 18:32:21 -0700, "Eigenvector"

wrote:
Is there any type of wood that is sold as per its dimension anymore?

....
Its even worst than what you think.

My house is sided in 3/4" x7 1/2" redwood boards. A normal person
would call it a 1 x 8.

The house has stood here for 50 years with nary a problem but last
year a squirrel decides to gnaw through the siding. So I walk into
the local lumber yard and say I'd like to buy a couple 1 x 8 clear
redwood boards. The clerk says he has to special order them, I say OK
and leave.

A few days later the boards arrive, I go to pick them up and low and
behold, within the last 50 years the definition of a 1 x8 has changed
to be 5/8" x 7 1/2"! So the replacement board sits 1/8" shallower
than all the rest of the siding.. I had to buy a sheet of 1/8"
masonite and use it as a backing to my new 1 x 8 board to make
everything match.
....

That's owing to the material being redwood -- what with the demand for
redwood combined with the difficulties from environmental, etc. on
logging redwood and the subsequent high prices, in the last 20-30
years there is tremendous pressure on stretching particularly clear
material to the limit. "Full" dimension 1x redwood is still available
but would require ordering architectural material rather than
dimension lumber to ensure it -- and the price would probably go up
50% or more not simply the ratio of thicknesses...