Home Depot, Menards Sued Over 'Deceptive' Size of Their Industry Standard 4x4s

Table of Content

• TWO BY FOUR LUMBER AIN’T REALLY 2″X4″, HOME DEPOT BEING SUED OVER SIZE – WHO KNEW?
• Get free shipping on qualified 4x4 products or buy online pick up in store today.
• Home Depot, Menards Sued Over 'Deceptive' Size of Their Industry Standard 4x4s
• TWO BY FOUR LUMBER AIN’T REALLY 2″X4″, HOME DEPOT BEING SUED OVER SIZE – WHO KNEW?
• Get free shipping on qualified 4x4 products or buy online pick up in store today.
• Home Depot, Menards Sued Over 'Deceptive' Size of Their Industry Standard 4x4s
• TWO BY FOUR LUMBER AIN’T REALLY 2″X4″, HOME DEPOT BEING SUED OVER SIZE – WHO KNEW?

Two home improvements stores are accused of deceiving the buyers of four-by-four boards, the big brother to the ubiquitous two-by-four.

A 2×4 isn’t really two inches by four inches but is actually just a bit less in either way. They’re all the same, but they’re just not what some people not familiar with lumber might think. But an unscientific survey of 18 Menards shoppers found that about a third were unaware that “four-by-four” doesn’t represent actual dimensions of that piece of lumber. Frankly, if it had, we’d still be here and Turin would be lamenting that there was no clarification of what “nominal” dimensions meant in this context. Especially since at least some Menards storesdo say it’s a nominal dimension.

TWO BY FOUR LUMBER AIN’T REALLY 2″X4″, HOME DEPOT BEING SUED OVER SIZE – WHO KNEW?

Further, they note that these are consistent with government-approved industry standards. “Defendant has received significant profits from its false marketing and sale of its dimensional lumber products,” the action against Menards contends. However, Turin and his clients dispute that the differences between nominal descriptions and actual dimensions are common knowledge. Not everyone realizes that the dimensions you see on lumber at your favorite home improvement store aren’t entirely accurate.

With some of Menards’ lumber products, both the nominal and actual size are shown, a document Turin filed in the case against Menards says. But the lumber in question is labeled only with a nominal size — “4 x 4 — 10’,” for example — that consists of numbers “arranged in a way to represent the dimensions of the products,” the document says. That leaves the “average consumer” to conclude that the pieces measure four inches by four inches, Turin said. Lumber has been standardized since the 1920s, and these particular standards have been in place since 1964 according to a government history on the subject. The chains defend this by saying that the descriptions are a nominal dimension and it’s common knowledge.

Get free shipping on qualified 4x4 products or buy online pick up in store today.

Turin said his clients don’t argue that the retailers’ four-by-fours (and, in the Menards’ case, a one-by-six board as well) are not the correct size under the standards published by the U.S. The product labels, however, should disclose that those are “nominal” designations and not actual sizes, Turin said. “Defendant’s representations as to the dimension of these products were false and misleading,” the suit against Home Depot alleges. The lawsuits against the retailers would-be class actions, filed within five days of each other in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois. Attorneys from the same Chicago law firm represent the plaintiffs in both cases. People who work construction know that a 2×4 is actually one and one-half inches by three and five-eighths inches.

"You would never want to hire Jeff Bezos as a carpenter. To inspire others, anyone can even build their own door desk in six steps. True enough, said Yevgeniy Turin of McGuire Law, the firm that represents the plaintiffs in both cases.

Home Depot, Menards Sued Over 'Deceptive' Size of Their Industry Standard 4x4s

Standard and better prime kiln dried heat treated untreated spf lumber. Get free shipping on qualified 4x4 products or buy online pick up in store today. “It’s difficult to say that for a reasonable consumer, when they walk into a store and they see a label that says four-by-four, that that’s simply — quote unquote — a trade name,” Turin said in an interview.

They’re just trying to sell products that comply with it. Turin claims the home improvement chains “cause substantial injury to consumers” with their product descriptions, but then outlines what happened. People bought a product they knew nothing about then acted like they got screwed in the process. Turin goes on to argue that his clients aren’t saying the lumber didn’t meet the standards, but that there was nothing to tell them it was a nominal measurement. As for the original desks that Bezos himself made, "They were pretty wobbly," Lovejoy says.

TWO BY FOUR LUMBER AIN’T REALLY 2″X4″, HOME DEPOT BEING SUED OVER SIZE – WHO KNEW?

That’s how it’s been for as long as most people working with the stuff can remember. The same is true of 4x4s, which are not actually four inches by four inches. It is common knowledge and longstanding industry practice, they say, that names such as two-by-four or four-by-four do not describe the width and thickness of those pieces of lumber. That year, Bezos told CBS's Bob Simon in a profile for for "60 Minutes," the office space and door desks were to demonstrate an important value for the business. Unfortunately, Home Depot and Menards didn’t create the standard.