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Canada doesn't even build outside walls with 2x4's any more. Local const. is 2.6, and even 2.8 for l.5 stories, and we're NOT in an earthquake, tornado, flood, and hurricane zone. !!!
Much of the US has the same requirements, largely as a function of energy efficiency requirements. Or, houses end up being framed with 2x6 since it's the easier means of complying to energy efficiency requirements.
I just bought 100 2x4x10's for $5 a piece at a small sawmill local to me. Full dimension 2x4's too. I'll be getting the floor joists and rough sawn 1x boards from them too for the sheathing, to build the last section of my house this summer. The big box stores aren't the only game in town. Unless you live where there's codes and that forbids anything not officially grade stamped.
The loggers and landowners aren't getting higher stumpage prices here either.
Not worried about the wood moving on you? Not worried about the drywall?
Wood at box stores, and lumberyards where a contractor is more likely to shop, is smaller for a reason. It's dried, and planed and molded.
The kiln drying of wood is largely about bugs and interstate commerce, but all the same, your lumber will dry whether you kiln it or not, and it will shrink when you dry it. And the "extra" wood from the planing/molding process that you save may create a lot of extra work moving forwards. In the old days they didn't do that step but it wasn't as critical because walls were commonly lath and plaster. Nowdays we use drywall and that requires a flatter more consistent surface to apply since you can't adjust for irregularities in the wood beneath it, without planing down some of that wood beneath it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Just was at a local lumberyard (not Lowe's or Home Depot) and found (retail):
3/8" CDX Plywood $50.88
2x4s, stud grade fir $8.18
7/16" OSB Sheeting (used for most homes) was $66.88, last summer I paid $9 for some. Yes, they told me that increased demand and tight supplies caused the big increase.
Not worried about the wood moving on you? Not worried about the drywall?
Wood at box stores, and lumberyards where a contractor is more likely to shop, is smaller for a reason. It's dried, and planed and molded.
The kiln drying of wood is largely about bugs and interstate commerce, but all the same, your lumber will dry whether you kiln it or not, and it will shrink when you dry it. And the "extra" wood from the planing/molding process that you save may create a lot of extra work moving forwards. In the old days they didn't do that step but it wasn't as critical because walls were commonly lath and plaster. Nowdays we use drywall and that requires a flatter more consistent surface to apply since you can't adjust for irregularities in the wood beneath it, without planing down some of that wood beneath it.
All the old houses here were built this way. I built the first half of my house the same way and have had no issues.
I did something similar after reading that and checked random pieces with a moisture meter at home depot. Right now my rough 2x4's have a moisture content only slightly higher than the average from home depot. They're stacked, stickered, and covered, and I won't be getting to the framing of the walls until likely June or July. So they should be at a good moisture content by then. Even so, I likely won't be finishing the interior until next winter. So it will dry even more. I'm using a combination of 3/4" pine beadboard and lathe/plaster for the walls. I personally dislike drywall walls. It's an inferior product.
When I was studying forestry in Maine we had a visit to one of the larger sawmills up there. They cut spruce and balsam fir. Both are combined for grading purposes (spruce-fir). But fir has a higher moisture content than spruce. They kiln dried all of it for the same time, aimed primarily at the spruce. That meant the fir left still, technically, not dried. All of this was allowed by the grading standards but it meant sometimes stacks of lumber heavy on fir content would even go moldy in transportation and storage. They decided it was cheaper to occasionally replace a load of moldy lumber than to dry the fir for the appropriate time. Mixing fully dry and still green lumber is a recipe for problems.
I quite specifically purchased hemlock framing lumber over fir for its slightly better decay resistance, strength, and generally tighter growth rings around here (I watched 5 inch fir trees being cut into single 2x4's in that Maine mill, there weren't many rings in them). Sapwood is not as good as heartwood.
From what I read, the wildfires in CA, and subsequent rebuilding are a factor causing the high prices. If there's another bad fire season this year, it may delay lumber prices dropping.
I did something similar after reading that and checked random pieces with a moisture meter at home depot. Right now my rough 2x4's have a moisture content only slightly higher than the average from home depot. They're stacked, stickered, and covered, and I won't be getting to the framing of the walls until likely June or July. So they should be at a good moisture content by then. Even so, I likely won't be finishing the interior until next winter. So it will dry even more. I'm using a combination of 3/4" pine beadboard and lathe/plaster for the walls. I personally dislike drywall walls. It's an inferior product.
When I was studying forestry in Maine we had a visit to one of the larger sawmills up there. They cut spruce and balsam fir. Both are combined for grading purposes (spruce-fir). But fir has a higher moisture content than spruce. They kiln dried all of it for the same time, aimed primarily at the spruce. That meant the fir left still, technically, not dried. All of this was allowed by the grading standards but it meant sometimes stacks of lumber heavy on fir content would even go moldy in transportation and storage. They decided it was cheaper to occasionally replace a load of moldy lumber than to dry the fir for the appropriate time. Mixing fully dry and still green lumber is a recipe for problems.
I quite specifically purchased hemlock framing lumber over fir for its slightly better decay resistance, strength, and generally tighter growth rings around here (I watched 5 inch fir trees being cut into single 2x4's in that Maine mill, there weren't many rings in them). Sapwood is not as good as heartwood.
I thought that the kiln drying was more about bugs than anything else. Otherwise the lumber would air dry sufficiently unless you were milling o Sunday, framing on Monday. And, even doing that, would be fine theoretically if you left the interior open to the studs for awhile as you ran electrical, plumbing, etc...
Plaster/Lathe or drywall you would have the same concern if the framing underneath moved after it was put up.
The cost of petrol and the inflation cause by the left taking us up to Thirty Trillion national debt is yet to be felt ```
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