This lawsuit takes the cake

I don't see how anyone could stick this on Lowes, Menards, HD, or any other retailer. They did not come up with the sizing nomenclature they just ordered the stuff. Now if they had proof that these particular retailers were asking for 1-3/8 x 3-3/8 or something less than every other lumber yard across the country is selling that comes from the same mills THEN this case might have some merit.

This is simple abuse of the legal system to make a buck for those lawyers who can't put food in their mouths otherwise.

Deplorable.
 
Meanwhile, in metric, it's millimeters and is a more reasonably correct number, am I right?
(ignoring of course whatever +- mm tolerance)

I was reading a woodworking book from the UK and plywood dimensions were all whacky mm sizes since they had to cohere with 4x8 feet.
 
I thought that a scientist would say that a measurement of 2, with zero decimal places, and no tolerance explicitly stated, has a tolerance of -/+ 0.5 and you therefore only knew that the actual length was between 1.5 and 2.5.

If you reported the measurement of 2.0, then you would expect the actual length to be between 1.95 and 2.05.

The way I see it, if the actual width is between 1.5 and 2.5, then stating that the width is 2 is scientifically correct.

But this a consumer law issue, so there may be local laws which explicitly address tolerances of measurements.

 
jjowen said:
The way I see it, if the actual width is between 1.5 and 2.5, then stating that the width is 2 is scientifically correct.
Click to expand...
Excellent point.
 
Svar said:
jjowen said:
The way I see it, if the actual width is between 1.5 and 2.5, then stating that the width is 2 is scientifically correct.
Click to expand...
Excellent point.
Click to expand...

Tell this to many woodworkers who demand a tolerance no greater than (fill-in-the-blank) in their tools!

On a more serious note, why do we accept ballpark numbers with lumber, but less so with other commodities like food, gas, etc.?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-foods-overcharges-prices-20150702-story.html

Yesterday, I picked up some lumber paid for as 1 x 5, but as it turned out (based on the bar code on the planks), they were 11/16" x 4-1/2"

While it is true that seasoned woodworkers do know what to expect from a 2 x 4 and whatnot, the system is indeed confusing to new entrants. I suppose woodworkers on the other side of the pond don't have this kind of issue, do they?

 
^^^ that - 1/16" would tic me off.  [mad]

Not enough for a lawsuit, but it'd get returned and the store put on the do not patronize list.

unless somebody changed the generally accepted industry standard while I wasn't looking -  a 1x whatever is not 11/16" thick.  It's 3/4" .
 
And if the actual size ends up being required on the labeling then what about pressure treated ...............  going to have to change that label almost everyday that it sits in the store drying.  [scratch chin]  [2cents]  [bite tongue]  [popcorn]

Ridiculous  !

Seth
 
It'll return to the old days when you didn't select your own stuff.  You told a guy at the counter what you wanted, and he wrote a ticket, someone else picked it while you paid the cashier and you just paid whatever the price was.  There was not comparison shopping.

I can remember a few places that didn't sell to "Joe Public" .  No account , no sale ! 

And no visa, mastercard or paypal either.
 
So........................rational heads prevailed and this suit was dismissed.

Judge found that no "reasonable" person would conclude they were buying a board that measured exactly 2" x 4" and that the store labeling didn't actually include the ( " ) designation anyway. Negating the false advertising claim. 

In other words : a  2x4 is not a 2"x4"  :o
http://www.jsonline.com/story/money...ays-retailer-didnt-lie-its-4-x-4-s/739282001/
 
But the suit against Home Depot hasn't been dismissed yet.

Stay tuned..... [popcorn] [popcorn]

Peter
 
It will be interesting because the Depot's website lists lumber as : 2 in. x 4 in. x 96 in.  - which of course it's not.

I'm not sure what the in store tags say though.
 
Same thing.  They don't have all the other dimensions like Lowes does now.
 
Having something named by the dimensions of a raw product and then selling the processed version (that has different dimensions) with the same name is just a source of confusion. You might be doing it for 150 years but it's still a bad idea.

I must say that I'm happy to live in the metric system where there is no such confusion about sizing.

Might be that lumber here is available in seemingly strange sizes for you imperial guys (saw-raw beams are 10x10cm, planed ones are 9.7x9.7cm) , but it has the upside that when I stack x units of y sized lumber I end up with a something measuring x*y (within reasonable tolerances) instead of the x*y-x*1/2" in your approach.

Also our sawmills seem to be able to produce less waste when it comes to planing, ours only shave off 1.5mm per face while yours seem to need remove 7mm for the same operation [wink] (I know, the real reason is that your sawmills replaced the technical reasons with business ones over the course of the 150 years since there is extra profit in delivering everything 1cm undersized in every dimension).
 
Well, in Dutch DIY stores you can by no means be sure you actually get the size mentioned on the sticker.

I was putting up drywall the other day and had a few packs of 44x44 mm lumber around so we started out with that. Then we got some more 44 x 44 mm packs from the store which turned out to be 41 x 42 while it clearly said 44x44 on the package. I ended up having to put custom made shims of 3 mm everywhere behind it.

It is very irritating. They should always put the proper size on the package.
 
antss said:
It'll return to the old days when you didn't select your own stuff.  You told a guy at the counter what you wanted, and he wrote a ticket, someone else picked it while you paid the cashier and you just paid whatever the price was.  There was not comparison shopping.

I can remember a few places that didn't sell to "Joe Public" .  No account , no sale ! 

And no visa, mastercard or paypal either.
Click to expand...

Those dealers around here either changed or lost out to those who changed and went out of business.
 
I bought some bead board at Home Depot this weekend and it was listed as 6" wide, when it was actually 5 1/2"! On top of that, the part that ends up exposed (minus the tongue and groove) is even less. Call it 5". I'm calling my lawyer! [smile]

Then again, there was this amazing device that helped me sort this out. I take it to the store every time, but even if I forget it, I can grab one there. It is called a "tape measure." Then I apply this thing called "math", specifically division and multiplication, to figure out what I need. If I am not mistaken, this "math" thing is available at elementary schools nationwide.
 
Math. It's available yes, but there is no guarantee that the student will acquire or retain any of it when they leave, let alone know how to apply it to real life.

I'm really OK with that. It's what keeps us older folks employed since a significant portion of the  younger generation can't read, spell, or do simple math.

They have no trouble spewing out 140 character strings of misspelled words though in their tweets though.
 
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