On Mar 11, 10:30 pm, mm 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?

I tried to buy some cedar that was as advertised, nope even something as
simple as a 1x2 cedar strip is actually 5/8x 1 1/2. It sucks because I have
to buy a 1x4 board to fill a 2" gap or actually I have to buy a 2x4 board
and rip it 2 ways with a tablesaw to fit a 1x2 gap.

I'm not sure why this part bothers you so much. You gave one example
where you have to buy a bigger board and rip it. But if the lumber
was exactly 2x4, and the gap you needed to fill was 2 1/2 or 3 inches,
you would still have to buy something bigger than that and rip it.
Only a few gaps are actually the size of lumber, as long as lumber
only comes in a limited number of sizes.

This has to be a ploy
to sell more lumber, can't this be attacked as a "truth in advertising" or
false claims angle?

AIUI, 2x4's etc. were sold as 2 by 4 and the buyer had to smooth them.
Now they do this for us, much more efficiently than all but a few
customers could do it. It's usually considered worth it to pay less
for such extras than it would cost to do it oneself, like getting
one's milk pasteurized, one's corn already shucked and cooked, or
one's bread presliced.

Anyone who has every tryied to build with rough cut or remodel a house
that was built with it is _very_ familiar with the problems. I have
done both. To build new with it you start with a stack of rough cut
and sort through to find the ones that match dimensions. Even knowing
the problems I tried to use lumber I salvaged off a schoolhouse to
build my 18x30 addition. Did manage to use it for floor joists but
only by shimming or trimming the ends of every one to match height.
Did build one 18' wall with the studs but only after lots of sorting.
I gave it up at that point, bit the bullet and bought new lumber.

Harry K