So let’s see how you did last time on our little trivia test.
1. You had a 3″ nail 1/8″ in diameter, and you were nailing a shelf support. The support couldn’t be more than 1 1/2″ thick — or 2x stock. This comes from a little equation: the nail should penetrate the fastening member 12 x (nail diameter), or in this case: 12 x 1/8″ = 1 1/2″. Subtract 1 1/2″ from 3″ and you get 1 1/2″.
2. Ever thrifty, you were going to use thicker flooring material and space out your joists more. Only problem was, you had to then figure out how far apart to space the joists. The answer is 19.2″. It might sound a little odd, but multiply that number by 5 joists, and you get an even 8′.
3. An ashlar is a half-height concrete block. When you’ve calculated your wall height and it doesn’t work out to an even number of blocks, you have a couple choices… fiddle with the thickness of the mortar joint as you build, or simply use a course of ashlars.
4. S-Dry means a piece of lumber left the mill with a moisture content of 19% or less. This is good framing lumber, as it shouldn’t warp or twist, wrecking your subsequent drywall job, etc.
5. A cricket is a peaked structure which is sometimes built uphill of a chimney. It prevents a heavy buildup of snow (and later ice) behind the chimney, protecting it from damage.
If you didn’t get ’em all, don’t worry. We did have some tough ones. More trivia down the road.