Are studs not made straight anymore?

[mats.3]

Hello
I have now been to two builders' merchants (kbygg and byggmax) on my search for 45x70 studs. I'm searching high and low for some that aren't bent or warped. I thought the standard was that the studs should be perfectly straight? Is the reason I'm searching now, thinking I'm not the only one starting up building projects, and all the straight ones have already been sold?

Best regards

Ask for straight lumber when there are a few studs in the racks because the stores want to sell everything, but most stores have finger-jointed on short studs.

 

[e-Flex]

I was at Byggmax the other week and was struck by how straight all the studs I looked at were, so it seems like it varies.

 

[Stefan Järnankar]

Hello
I have now been to two building supply stores (kbygg and byggmax) in search of studs 45x70. It's been like searching with a flashlight for one that isn't bent or twisted. I thought the standard was that the studs should be perfectly straight? Is the reason that I'm searching right now, thinking that I'm not the only one starting construction projects, and all the straight ones have already been sold?

Best regards

Just look at how customers treat the timber overall in their hunt for knot-free and the best-looking pieces. They tear and rip and leave everything like a pile of matchsticks. No wonder there's a lot of warping and twisting. 🤪

 

[cpalm]

And to those who flip through the entire lumber stack in search of the finest piece, make sure to show that you've had some sort of upbringing by leaving it neatly organized after you're done.

Yep, crooked studs are placed back at the bottom of the pile! 😆

Joking aside, things are in order here, so it probably varies depending on the customers' and staff's sense of organization.

 

[Kalbygge]

I don't know how it looks at Byggmax today, but about 10 years ago, the Byggmax stores around here were buying second-grade lumber from nearby sawmills, sometimes even third-grade. K-rauta, as it was called back then, was just around the corner from Byggmax and also bought from the same sawmills, but they purchased first-grade, so at Byggmax you had to carefully inspect each piece, especially during the deck-building season, whereas at K-rauta it was usually just a matter of loading up. If Byggmax still handles purchasing in the same way, it probably varies widely across the country how easy/difficult it is to find straight beams.

I called one of Byggmax's suppliers and asked why they sell second-grade to them. The guy on the phone replied, "you're crazy, if we sold junk to our biggest customer, we'd soon be out of business." I also called St.Eriks (I think it was) and asked the same thing. They replied that Byggmax is absolutely their largest customer and with big customers we are especially careful.

So the answer is that much of what is said about Byggmax is a myth.
However, it is a bit frustrating when they use understaffed, inexperienced personnel in the stores. But that's the business idea, just like Netonnet, i.e., low costs = cheap products.

 

[Mats-S]

buy from Karl Hedin. They are not only straighter, but you can feel that they weigh much more (i.e. denser timber) and better planed

Agree.

Karl Hedin in Karlstad, there's no better timber to buy. Also, super friendly staff who are always happy, positive, and helpful. Got an account and deal there so basically the same prices as at Bygg Max

 

[Mats-S]

They responded that Byggmax is by far the biggest customer and we are extra careful with big customers.

The problem is often that the timber is handled incredibly poorly when it is stacked at ByggMax, out in the sun haphazardly. Of course, it turns into only propellers then from the originally straight studs.

At Karl Hedin in Karlstad, all the timber is nicely stacked indoors, with no sun pressing on it either. Sure, there are a few propellers there too, but they are extremely few and easy to avoid

 

[lennart Å]

Hello
I have now been to two hardware stores (kbygg and byggmax) in search of 45x70 studs. I'm searching high and low for ones that aren't bent or crooked. I thought the standard was for studs to be perfectly straight? Is the reason that I'm looking now, thinking that I'm not alone in starting construction projects, and all the straight ones have already been sold?

Regards

I think they are made of banana wood, otherwise, they wouldn't look like that!

 

[smulanski]

I think they are made from banana wood, otherwise they wouldn't look like that!

Then you're very wrong..

 

[Staffan-N]

The banana is an herb, not a lignos, and thus does not form "wood" that can be sawed into planks.

Goodnight.

🙃

 

[Juha Lahti]

Hi
I have now been to two building supply stores (kbygg and byggmax) in my search for 45x70 studs. I'm searching high and low for ones that aren't bent or twisted. I thought the standard was that studs should be perfectly straight? Is it because I'm looking right now, and perhaps I'm not the only one starting building projects, and all the straight ones have already been sold?

Regards

Metal studs are perfectly straight!

 

[Alfredo]

Metal studs are perfectly straight!

Which was already discussed in post #3.

 

[Magnus E K]

The latest bananas I bought at Ica tasted like mold. They weren't straight either.

(On the subject that wood is a living material where no two beams are exactly the same.)

 

[polaris78]

Many cramped lumber yards have materials that are supposed to be placed in compartments, lying out in the sun one day and in the rain the next, sometimes under a roof but if it rains the slightest slant, it gets wet anyway..

Then you come to another place with enough space for all the timber indoors, maybe not heated but sheltered from outdoors, and the makeshift roofs over timber spots in some places seem quite poor and it's nearly impossible to maintain the quality of the timber..

one end of the same beam is soaking wet at one end and relatively dry at the other end...

Then, of course, many customers refuse to buy the crooked ones, the ones with lifting damages, and those with ugly knots, so many pick out the finest from the pile, which eventually leaves only crooked rubbish in the compartment that no one wants...

Then, it doesn't help that some have knowledgeable staff who are paid decent wages and who look after things, put them back, and tell people to leave timber as it was before, not in a pick-up-sticks pile...
And then we have other places where the number of staff there with full wages is small, and various forms of wage subsidies provide staff who might not quite cut it as they seem better suited for Samhall, but the company got cheap labor but with significant gaps in knowledge and work effort...

Last week, I was looking for beams for a project and asked two of the lumber yards if they thought the majority of their customers were boat builders... thick beams that are not like 70x45 and 45x45 which can easily be straightened during installation and look like bananas, but the lumber yard still wants full price for them... they can sell that garbage to someone else. I don't intend to stand and fuss trying to bend thick beams straight, 220x45, it's just not possible to straighten...

But some lumber yards really need to think about how they store the timber... avoiding rain on the timber seems like a good start...

this is what it looks like in too many places...

 

[O]

I have stopped buying from them, I buy from Karl Hedin.

Usually, builders buy from the nearest supplier or at the best price. So you can expect it to be the same products at nearby building suppliers.

They are not only straighter,

All wood is straight because it is cut straight and delivered in bundles. If you let it dry in the bundle, it will stay straight even when it has dried.

If you stack it like pick-up sticks haphazardly, it will warp as it dries.

you can feel that they weigh much more (i.e. denser wood)

If you can feel that it weighs much more, the reason is that it is wetter. And therefore hasn't dried and bent yet. Wood so densely grown that it is much heavier simply isn't available in regular building suppliers.

The main reason wood becomes warped or bent is that it has been left free when drying. If you want it to be straight when it has dried, you must ensure it is straight during the drying process. In bundles or mounted, it doesn't matter as long as you fix it completely straight.

Which reasonably means it is better to choose a light plank than a heavy one if they are otherwise equally good. The light one stays straight, and the heavy one will become warped if you're not careful.