Hello everyone,

I have a friend who recently closed on a D.R. Horton home. Yes, I realize their reviews and lawsuits however they are insistent. My question is this:

He showed me a piece of wood they build the house with- it used either 3 or 4 small, maybe 2 feet long pieces that connected together to make a normal size board. It looked to be made up of a number of male/female ends, and was somehow glued together.

He said the builders stated this was a way to make the home sturdier, as connecting multiple pieces makes it stronger than one piece, and it gets more out of the tree since they do not have to harvest one full size board.

Can anyone shed some light on this? It sounds bogus to me, as I do not see how wood glued together would ever be stronger.

Thanks in advance!

Its common with paint grade trim, I've never seen that done with 2x4's however.

But making it stronger? BS, not when they are connected end to end like that as you describe. Don't confuse that with engineered lumber or engineered beams, that can in fact be stronger than a solid chunk of wood.

They typically use that when you can't get a 2X 4 in a long length. They are very straight and resist twisting and drywall nail and screw pops. Very common. Google "finger joint 2X4" studs. They are used only under compression and the polyurethane glue is as strong or stronger than the wood.

I stand corrected then... I've just never come across them personally... yet anyway.