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Why Modern Lumber Sucks
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Feb 27, 2025
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0:00
I I am um going to talk a little bit
0:02
today about something that uh near and
0:05
dear to my heart and I get I get a lot
0:08
of questions about it
0:11
and it's kind of the cause of a problem
0:14
that everybody thinks something else is
0:16
going on so I know that sounds confusing
0:19
here's the best part I've got some
0:20
really great visual aids to really show
0:23
why modern Lumber today sucks all right
0:26
so I'd say we get into
0:28
it first of all remember if you like
0:31
what you are hearing or seeing you know
0:33
hit the like button um feel free to
0:36
start a chat I'll do my best to answer
0:38
the questions and comments of course
0:41
help too all right you know that helps
0:43
the algorithm the more people comment on
0:45
videos
0:47
um because they interpret that to think
0:51
that people are really interested so
0:53
comment a lot all
0:55
right why modern Lumber sucks here's the
0:59
here's the
1:00
here's a little bit of History first
1:02
understand that if you go way back in
1:04
time uh I don't know let's go back to
1:07
the late
1:08
1800s when they would build homes uh
1:11
here's here's what did not exist there
1:13
was no such thing as plywood uh OSB did
1:16
not exist there were no engineered
1:18
Lumbers so all of the lumber that was
1:21
used in home construction was solid
1:24
dimensional Lumber so that would mean 2
1:27
by material for the floor choice and
1:30
wall studs roof Rafters and wall
1:33
sheathing floor subflooring that was all
1:36
like 1x6 tongue group uh material um and
1:40
of course you know they had really nice
1:42
Hardwoods to do finish
1:44
flooring
1:46
well so back when the country was young
1:50
all right when the United States was
1:51
young we still had a lot of old growth
1:54
Timber around all right and some of this
1:57
old growth Timber we're talking about
1:59
trees that might be two three 400 years
2:01
old all right and so so if you cut down
2:06
a tree that's 200 years
2:08
old in the you know when General Lee was
2:12
offering his surrender to General
2:15
Grant um and you wanted to grow a new
2:18
one you know that's um it's going to be
2:22
we're going to have to wait another 40
2:23
years before that to mature all right I
2:24
mean 200 years is a long
2:27
time so what happened was is that that
2:31
as America started to grow and as the
2:34
demand for lumber started to increase
2:37
right think about it they can't grow
2:39
trees fast enough to satisfy the demand
2:44
and anybody who was you know who who ran
2:47
numbers at a lumber mill or who owned a
2:49
Lumber Company a Timber Company you know
2:52
they could do the math they knew how
2:53
many trees they had in their Forest they
2:56
knew how many they were cutting down a
2:57
year they knew how long it would take to
2:59
grow this is really a simple problem to
3:02
solve so what happened is along the
3:05
way in the
3:07
1900s um probably 1940s 1930s you'd have
3:12
you can look it up when was plywood uh
3:15
when was plywood invented so plywood was
3:18
the first step all right so
3:21
plywood um was the first step to
3:24
hybridize Lumber because plywood took
3:28
out of well ply plywood Place were the
3:30
1X sixes so plywood started to be used
3:33
as sheathing on the outside of houses
3:36
and for the subfloor all right so that
3:39
solved one problem but but they
3:42
continued we contined to grow as a
3:43
nation and we continued to have a
3:45
voracious appetite for Timber so not
3:48
only could we use our Timber but we
3:50
could import it like from Canada
3:52
Canada's Got a lot all right so the
3:54
bottom line is the timber companies just
3:57
like they do with the food we eat which
3:59
is not necessarily all good they started
4:01
to hybridize trees and the scientists
4:06
not Japanese scientists right these were
4:08
American scientists they they decided
4:11
that they had to figure out a way to
4:12
make trees grow faster I know so here's
4:16
here's what happened here's the result
4:18
so here is a piece of hybridized lumber
4:21
that is going to blow you away so this
4:23
is a 4x6 all right so so look at this so
4:28
this is where the
4:30
the tree was was you know it came up as
4:32
a Seedling this is year one year 2 year
4:36
three year four year five year six so
4:39
and as you go out here it's eight so
4:41
this giant piece of Lumber in eight
4:44
years it had grown from here to here all
4:48
right
4:49
so look at how big these light colored
4:54
rings are and I'm going to explain that
4:55
in a minute all right so let's talk
4:57
actually let's just talk about that now
4:58
and if you have questions feel free to
5:00
ask them I'll do my best to answer hey
5:03
Nick how you doing
5:06
um the answer you've got a great
5:08
question do you think we'll ever develop
5:10
a replacement engineered material for
5:11
natural wood that has similar properties
5:13
and more importantly is equal in
5:17
cost
5:19
um well I don't think so that's kind of
5:21
a loaded question we can talk about that
5:23
later all right let's talk about this
5:25
now so when a tree grows in in in the
5:30
United States really anywhere in the
5:31
world here's what happens so in this is
5:36
typically think about this when you
5:37
count how old a tree is what are you
5:40
always doing you're always counting one
5:41
or the other Rings you're not counting
5:43
the light one and the dark one the light
5:45
one and the dark one you count like the
5:47
dark ones like you'll go one two 3
5:52
4 five six 7 eight all right so that
5:58
means that the light wood is grown in
6:03
the same year as the dark wood this
6:05
Lightwood is what we call Spring wood
6:07
and that's exactly when it grows so when
6:09
the the when this deciduous tree when
6:12
the sap starts to come up it it mother
6:15
nature knows what to do the sun's
6:17
getting higher in the sky Spring's here
6:20
it starts to grow and put on this
6:22
lighter colored wood the thing is this
6:24
lighter colored wood is not as strong
6:28
and um in absorbs water very rapidly
6:32
then when we get into summer when rains
6:34
start to fall off the tree smart the
6:37
tree knows that
6:38
wow it's going to be winter soon so it
6:41
starts to slow down and it puts on this
6:44
dark band of wood it's called Summerwood
6:46
all right this is what makes wood so
6:48
hard to sand all right so so this is
6:54
this is what makes a tree strong you
6:56
have alternating bands of spring wood
6:59
Summerwood Springwood Summerwood
7:01
Springwood Summerwood all right so now
7:04
let's look at an old growth piece of
7:06
Timber this is a 2x4 stud that was sent
7:10
I asked one of my newsletter uh I asked
7:13
my newsletter list one day if you have
7:14
any old Lum I would love to have it I'll
7:16
pay for postage and I had a bunch of
7:18
people send me things look at
7:20
this all right look at this one so this
7:24
you can't even tell where the center of
7:26
the tree was but it was right about here
7:28
where my finger is
7:30
all right because you can see this
7:33
semicircular curve here and so the
7:36
center of the tree was about here so I
7:38
would estimate that from here to here
7:41
was about 9 years before I went live I
7:44
counted these it's really hard for you
7:46
to see them but from here to here is 29
7:50
years and then the Rings get really
7:53
tight from here to the end of the tree
7:56
is probably another 20 rings 20 20 years
8:01
it's crazy this is just a 2x4 not a 4x6
8:06
so when the spring wood and the Summer
8:10
Wood are about the same width it makes
8:14
the wood more stable it makes it
8:17
stronger and it makes it so it's less
8:21
likely to to twist and warp and
8:24
everything else the other thing
8:26
is termites Carpenter an they do not
8:30
like to eat the Summer Wood they they
8:33
just go after the spring wood so
8:35
typically old growth Timber was more
8:38
insect resistant all right so that's why
8:43
modern Lumber sucks all right it's
8:45
because it's got way too much spring
8:48
wood way too much and and that's why and
8:53
plus add to this the fact that wood is
8:55
hygroscopic okay so what does that mean
8:57
it means that wood changes is that shape
9:01
with relationship to the amount of
9:02
moisture it has in it well guess what
9:05
all of
9:07
this all of this spring wood all right
9:10
all of this light colored wood can
9:13
absorb water like a sponge so that means
9:17
wood that has a lot of spring wood it
9:19
can just go expand contract expand
9:22
contract and that's what causes a lot of
9:24
the cracks in these newer homes or if
9:26
you're putting up a groom Edition
9:27
because that that
9:30
that Lumber it's it has it's not stable
9:32
enough yet so modern Lumber just sucks
9:36
all right hi pppo how you doing uh
9:38
thanks for the compliment uh how about
9:41
Morningwood there there let's try to
9:43
keep it decent here come on um hello
9:46
Vanessa um anyway so Nick um I don't you
9:50
know the trouble with engineered Lumber
9:51
is it's it's it's always going to be
9:54
engineered Lumber it first of all it's
9:56
good here's what I don't like about
9:58
engineered Lumber engineered Lumber it's
10:01
totally dependent upon the glue that's
10:04
used all right so if there's a problem
10:08
with the
10:09
glue you know there could be all kinds
10:11
of problems because the people who make
10:13
the glue are not necessarily the lumber
10:15
companies uh if the glue is a bad batch
10:18
uh you're going to have a bad batch of
10:20
engineered Lumber you know whereas
10:22
traditional Timbers um different species
10:26
of wood have their own builtin
10:30
strength factor for example Douglas fur
10:33
is considered probably the strongest of
10:35
all here in America uh Southern yellow
10:37
pine is probably number two Southern
10:39
yellow pine even though it's been
10:42
hybridized it's a very strong it's a
10:45
very strong piece of lumber and realize
10:48
too that there are different grades all
10:51
right so there's there's different
10:53
grades of lumber uh Lumber that has
10:55
fewer knots in it is stronger right so
10:58
knots by default make Lumber weak so uh
11:01
anyway um let's see here uh new to the
11:05
shape but this seems very super well
11:07
thanks very much uh Lucy uh Lumber is
11:10
interesting it's a big industry um Brian
11:14
uh let's see pressure treat Lumber
11:15
doesn't last long so here's the thing
11:17
about pressure treated lumber I'll
11:18
probably do a separate live on that
11:21
um I've got all kinds of columns on my
11:24
as builder website about pressure
11:26
treated lumber rotting um it's it's a
11:29
big problem and what a lot of people
11:31
don't realize is that there are it's
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first of all when it's made it's not all
11:35
the same I think I have a column on my
11:38
website if you look up pressure treated
11:40
ratings uh in my search engine you'll
11:43
come up with this column and I think
11:45
there are 11 different grades of
11:47
pressure treated lumber so you can go to
11:51
Home Depot and typically buy one that's
11:54
not meant for ground contact for example
11:56
that's the kind of treated lumber we
11:58
would use for a bottom plate on a wall
12:01
like on a foundation where we don't
12:03
expect it to really get wet and and then
12:05
they have material that's meant to be
12:07
outside then they have stuff that's
12:08
meant to be buried then they have stuff
12:10
that's meant to be peers for commercial
12:13
work that has a lot of preservative in
12:15
it so the reason you're seeing pressure
12:18
treated lumber
12:19
failures is
12:21
because they might be using the wrong
12:24
material in a particular application so
12:27
that's if if I was called in as an
12:29
expert witness on a case I I that's the
12:31
first thing I would try to determine you
12:33
know I would take a piece of the lumber
12:35
uh send it to a testing lab and find out
12:38
okay how much preservative did it really
12:40
get so that's what's going on with that
12:42
Colonel Sanders and the next person's
12:44
going to say are you the Ralphie guy in
12:47
the movie Christmas Story no I'm not but
12:51
he's my brother no he's not uh Nick says
12:54
in California they changed use uh now
12:57
it's right exactly so
13:00
don't get me started on don't don't make
13:02
don't let's not go down that road about
13:05
politics and all that and government
13:07
regulations um all right um if you have
13:09
any other questions I'd be more than
13:10
happy to answer them uh but just
13:13
understand the biggest reason uh modern
13:15
Lumber sucks is because they've
13:17
hybridized it and it grows too fast all
13:19
right keep in mind uh you know if you're
13:22
a tree hugger uh and you know I like the
13:25
environment too I love the environment
13:27
but understand that trees are just a
13:29
crop trees are absolutely they're no
13:32
different at all than corn or soybeans
13:36
or
13:37
tomatoes whatever um they um it just
13:41
that it takes them a while longer to
13:42
grow all right so you know you might
13:45
Harvest a tree now every 15 to 20 years
13:48
they might be doing it you know if
13:50
they're just going to ship it up and
13:51
turn it into OSB all right and the other
13:54
thing about uh Lumber the lumber
13:56
companies they typically plant multiple
13:59
trees for every single one they cut down
14:01
so if you hear these activists get all
14:04
excited about trees being cut down you
14:07
know it's the same old thing they don't
14:09
have all the facts um the lumber
14:12
companies aren't stupid they they know
14:14
they need to grow more trees so they're
14:16
planning more than they're cutting down
14:18
simple as that
14:20
um all right don't have a chicken coop
14:23
uh I don't have one but some people down
14:24
the street have one um but I'm not
14:26
growing chickens a lot of work a lot of
14:28
work we do have a lot of coyotes around
14:30
here too so they would be uh you'd have
14:33
to really watch them keep them in keep
14:35
them locked up from the coyotes okay I'm
14:37
going to be doing a lot more um live
14:40
broadcasts uh got a lot of topics if
14:43
there's something you want me to talk
14:46
about just go to my website the ask and
14:49
go to the ask Tim Page and just tell me
14:51
say hey could you cover this or cover
14:53
that love to do it um Prue chicken man I
14:57
don't know nick uh Tim off topic but
14:59
what happened to that house you're oh um
15:03
that house that I was vlogging about um
15:07
eventually it got closed in um they put
15:11
locks on the doors and I was unable to
15:13
have access uh PE it's it's been
15:17
occupied now for about 18
15:19
months
15:20
um I guess the people in it are happy as
15:23
clams uh they're probably unaware of all
15:25
the
15:26
mistakes um the build must not go onto
15:30
YouTube he's never approached me uh so I
15:35
it's it's just down the street for me
15:38
it's only about uh 3/4 of a mile away
15:41
from where I live so uh it just it was
15:44
really a shame uh really a shame it was
15:46
a really great example of
15:49
um uh a builder who was not providing
15:52
enough off you know oversight uh he he I
15:55
don't know how often he stopped by and
15:58
he also had a bunch of Subs that didn't
16:00
care and that's a recipe for disaster
16:03
all right
16:05
so simple as that um all right you're
16:08
welcome uh all right so thanks for
16:11
tuning I'm trying to keep these things
16:12
about 15 minutes I don't want to bore
16:14
you I just want to kind of get into a
16:16
topic and get back out once again if you
16:19
have something you want me to talk about
16:22
or explore uh just go to my website
16:25
because there's no easy way to do it
16:26
here unless you comment on this video
16:28
after the fact fact I do read all
16:30
comments I moderate them all uh go to my
16:33
website askthe builder.com go to the ask
16:35
Tim Page there's a simple form there
16:38
just fill it out and tell me what you
16:40
want me to cover I'll do my best uh
16:43
William yeah sounds like there's a lot
16:44
of them out there there's there's many
16:46
more bad Builders out there
16:47
unfortunately than good ones uh that we
16:49
do have a couple of good ones here in
16:50
New Hampshire the one this older guy is
16:52
about my age he built my son's house uh
16:54
three years ago best builder I've ever
16:57
seen in New Hampshire best I'm telling
16:59
you just there's not there wasn't a flaw
17:02
in that house it was remarkable and but
17:04
what was the difference I found out that
17:07
the Builder was there every
17:10
day he was on the job site and he stuck
17:13
around for about 6 hours a day so he
17:15
just B he babysat the subs and he was
17:18
just watching them like a hawk so they
17:20
wouldn't make a mistake or if they did
17:21
make a mistake he made him fix it right
17:24
there
17:26
um have you built any radios uh uh okay
17:29
Jason I am a ham radio operator um I'm
17:33
an amateur extra so I've got the highest
17:35
level of privileges um I'm not a builder
17:38
I don't I'm not I I I've tried to build
17:41
a couple of small kits I'm just not
17:43
interested in it that much and I
17:47
um my I'm finding as I'm getting older
17:49
my eyes are not as good as they should
17:51
be or could be so sometimes it's a
17:55
little hard to really get a really you
17:57
know to accurately solder
17:59
those um you have to be really you have
18:02
to know what you're doing when you
18:03
solder these uh those circuit boards all
18:05
right so it's just not my B book I don't
18:08
I don't like building them uh my my real
18:11
passion is outdoor radio so I love to do
18:15
uh you know I'm like the
18:17
um you know back in World War II the
18:20
resistance uh you know they dropped a
18:22
bunch of par what they call paraset
18:24
radios paraset they Parish you know
18:26
parachuted them uh that's what they why
18:28
they were called parachutes these 40 m
18:31
radios they dropped into Enemy Lines and
18:35
um so the the French Resistance an
18:39
Italian or whoever would operate those
18:41
radios and um their life expectancy was
18:45
only six weeks all right because the
18:47
Germans they could they had direction
18:49
finders they could figure out where you
18:51
were so you had to get on the air
18:54
broadcast or I'm sorry transmit and then
18:57
you had to get off the air and get the
18:58
out of there um so I can when I go out
19:01
and do radio if you go to my blog I have
19:03
a really neat radio blog uh it's double
19:05
I can't type I'm sorry so simple you
19:08
know so the the website is my call sign
19:12
W3 a TB so go to W3 ATB there are
19:18
hundreds of stories there of uh Outdoor
19:21
Adventures that I've done and the
19:23
coolest thing is is I can be on the air
19:25
just like those old
19:27
spies and just a matter of minutes
19:30
because all I have to do is put a 29
19:32
foot wire up into a tree just hang it
19:35
just get I throw a water bottle up in
19:37
the air that's got a string on it and
19:39
then the water bottle goes over a branch
19:42
and then I just pull uh pull it up in
19:44
fact you if you want to see how it's
19:46
done I did a really pretty cool video
19:48
it's right here on YouTube go to go to
19:50
the YouTube search engine when we're
19:51
done here type antenna in tree and then
19:55
type my name antenna in tree Tim Carter
19:58
and you'll see this video I made that
19:59
shows you how to do it so you just need
20:01
a 29 ft wire you you you attach a 9 to
20:05
one unon uh underneath it to to get down
20:08
the impedance down to like 75 ohms and
20:12
then you connect it to your radio and
20:13
you're on the air so simple as that so
20:15
maybe I should do a uh live broadcast
20:18
about radio I don't know I maybe I don't
20:21
think that would interest many people
20:22
maybe it would we might do it all right
20:25
uh so anyway if you're not are you an OP
20:27
I don't know if you're an operator or
20:28
not J if not it's a really fun hobby
20:30
it's a really great hobby okay I'm going
20:33
to sign off here thanks very much for
20:35
watching so now you know why I model
20:36
number sucks and once again like the
20:40
video um comment whatever that really
20:42
helps get more viewers and it's going to
20:45
help us grow this this uh live
20:47
broadcasting all right thanks very much
20:49
I'm Tim Carter ask the Builder
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