2x3 vs 2x4

I noticed that Home Depot is stocking 2x3 studs these days. I have used them for a small garden shed and they are much easier/lighter to handle and still give the strength for most places. I'm just wondering why these haven't been produced longer? The price is about 25-35% less than 2x4's.

Reply to
Fred
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They've always been out there..just not in demand

Reply to
Rudy
2x3's have been around a long time.... they don't have the structural strength of a 2x4, and require 12" c/c spacing when used in bearing wall partitions.... that means 25% more studs than if you used 2x4s (plus the additional labor cost of setting 25% more studs!), so much for cost savings! In my area, for the past 25-years or more, it has been typical to use 2x6 studs for exterior walls because of the additional insulation space available.

Mort

Fred wrote:

Reply to
Mort Stevens

Major utility has been in furring out basement walls for insulation, with some non-load-bearing use--just pulled down the plaster in the bathroom on a late '60s house and found that the studs on the non-load-bearing wall were 2x3 while the ones on the adjacent load-bearing wall were 2x4.

Reply to
J. Clarke

And by all means check your local codes before using the 2x3s. mahalo, jo4hn

Reply to
jo4hn

Gosh!

Reply to
Tim W

Heh ... yeah, go figure. A 2x3 (1.5x2.5) is 28% less than a 2x4 (1.5x3.5). The pre-cut rough dimension is 25% less.

Knowing Home Depot, it wouldn't have surprised me though to see the 2x3s only 10% less!

Jack

Tim W wrote:

Reply to
mywebaccts (at) PLUGcomcast.ne

They have been around for 50+ years that I know of, maybe longer. I used them to frame out my basement to add insulation. Since they were not structural, they worked very well for that.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

They've been commonly available for as lon as I can remember, and I'm talking about long before HD even existed.

Reply to
lwasserm

In addition, my 35 year old house has rafters made from 2 x 5s. I have never seen such any where else.

Reply to
EXT

Did lumber even exist in the pre-borgian era...?

Wonders never cease...

John

Reply to
John Emmons

Wait a few years, they will be calling them 2x4s.

Reply to
CW

And they'll probably try to explain it away as an extra level of dressing.

Reply to
Upscale

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