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Lapel, In | All I know is lumber nailed together is much,much stronger if you first drive a nail in at an angle and the next nail, the opposite way with the nails driven towards the long part of the board,alternating the direction with each nail. Any torque on the lumber just tightens the two boards together.If anyone doesn't believe this , just nail 2 ,2x4s together this way and try to pull them apart. The only way it can be done without destroying the boards. is to pull the nails with a cats paw. Its a much stronger bond than bolting the two boards together in my opinion. I would use at least 2- 2x12 yellow pine. Probably 3 if you really don't want to worry about strength like I am sure you don't. That would make the sill 4 1/2 " wide. And I would not use treated lumber. To me, its like lubricating the inner fibers of the wood and makes them more likely to sag.
A trick an old carpenter taught me is to hollow the end of your hammer out and fill it with melted bee's wax. Then rub each nail in the bee's wax if bending nails is a problem. Works great in dried out hardwoods. | |
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Lumber strength
