Aaron Gjermundson wrote:

I've live in a couple "steam era" houses and can tell you that the structural lumber used in both of them was NOT finished. The floor joists in my current house, visible in my layout room are 2x10's and the rough circular saw marks are clearly visible. The wood grain is very course and splinters are guaranteed if you brush up against it in the wrong direction. Same for the original 2x4's in the walls. Also, the wood is a dark brown/red color with almost NO knots, not the blond knotty wood that you buy now. The corners are square and not rounded. The only place that I have found finished wood, is on the floors, and the 1x12's, 16's, and wider used on the roof, under the shingles.

My experience has been the same, in Pittsburgh, PA and here in Berkeley (my current house was built in 1926). It's certainly true that the wood is dark brown, but if you cut it (and this wood is darn hard by now), it is far lighter inside.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history