Both were accurately labelled.
The piece is properly called “2x4 S4S” or “A two inch by four inch board from the sawmill which has been sanded on all four sides to smooth.”
How wide is the mouth of a 2" pipe? Why?
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I can’t imagine this is a winnable suit; the sizes are standards based, not made up by Home Depot, but rather issued based on standards with an actual standards body, http://www.alsc.org/geninfo_history_mod.htm. This is shocking to me.
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it’s totally winnable. i thought it was more recent, but in 2014 Lowe’s was forced to pay out a $1.6M settlement over the same ridiculous notions.
it’s completely absurd.
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Wow,
I swear the first thing I learned about carpentry is that a 2x4 is just a reference term and not the actual size.
This is just lawyers looking for a paycheck. Stupid…
(Started to write a big rant but I better just go back to work. 
)
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The “nominal” means “name” and these names are indeed the names of these pieces of lumber.
They are called 2x4s (no units) not 2" x 4"s.
I live in a 120+ year old house. The 2x4s are actually 2" x 4" but are un-planed and very rough.
This is confusing to lay-folk but everyone who uses these terms should already know this.
In the US for lumber the nominal vs. actual goes like this:
1 = 3/4"
5/4 (called five-quarter and typically only for decking) = 1"
2 = 1-1/2"
3 = 2-1/2"
4 = 3-1/2"
5 = not used
6 = 5-1/2"
7 = not used
8 = 7-1/4"
9 = not used
10 = 9-1/4"
11 = not used
12 = 11-1/4"
LVLs, PSLs and other engineered lumber are usually called out with actual dimensions and they use the " (inches) or ’ (feet) symbols to indicate actual units.
You can get “green lumber” (not treated, and un-planed) that has the actual dimensions the same as the nominal, but this is rare.
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Did I mention that I hate people?
'nuff said.
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I believe you – just shocking and hard to believe. I think the first time I ever bought a 2x4, I was told “just know that it’s not 2x4.” It’s pretty common knowledge for anyone who should be allowed to hold a hammer.
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Reminds me of the George Carlin quote:
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
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Huh. When I was a kid, 2x4’s were still 1-5/8x3-1/4. Now they’re pretty solidly 1-1/2x3. And 1-by is typically 3/4 by N-3/4…
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How on earth do people get such big damages? Did they build a mansion with it without noticing and it fell down due to being undersized?
I would have thought the worst that could happen is you drive home with a truck load and find it is the wrong size. How is that worth millions?
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Only skimmed the reports about the lawsuit. Is it a Class Action Suit where the damages are spread $3.75 to each plaintiff and a gazillion dollars to the lawyers?
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Referred to as the “Lawsuit Lottery”. Until law firms are required to pay the winning law firms costs (versus “if we don’t when, you don’t pay anything”), suit after suit will occur because the lawyers get paid either way (defending someone or 45% and higher portions of the awarded amounts). Ca-Ching 
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Yep. Congress is made up of a significant number of, maybe even a majority of lawyers. Never going to change in the U.S.
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The piece is properly called “2x4 S4S”
Ok, but it isn’t labeled like that in the store, at least in my limited
experience.
How wide is the mouth of a 2" pipe? Why?
I have no idea. You’re asking the guy who didn’t know what a 2x4 was.
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The Lowes suit in California was brought by a group of district attorneys as a consumer protection thing. Aside from needing to litigate to prove a point, it seems to me that the way law should work is not through litigation but through education and promulgation. But litigation sometimes seems to be the most efficient way to make businesses change.
From a big box hardware store, I can’t see that making exact dimensions part of the labeling is unreasonable. After all, the whole point of these is making it simple enough that anyone can use it. That means anyone, not just those who have been fortunate enough to get some experience on lumber dimensions.
Same applies to the Glowforge. They are going to be selling their materials to people who use totally different measurement systems materials that defy exact specification. Simplification makes sense for the vast majority of customers who just need to put the appropriate material in the bed and don’t need a calipers.
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My “1/2-ton” pickup truck weighs 2.5 tons. Outrage!
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Baby oil doesn’t even contain any babies. What is this world coming to
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Don’t even get going on the Girl Scout Cookies (Adams Family movie reference)
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Cat litter doesn’t contain a litter of cats.
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Are you sure?
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