"The unlined walls had exposed four by twos"

[odilonredon]

Hello

I don't understand this sentence.
"The unlined walls had exposed four by twos, and a few garden tools hung from nails, with various tins along the beams."

What does "unlined wall" mean? Does it mean a wall without wallpapers?
and how does a wall "expose?"

I have no clue "The unlined walls had exposed four by twos" mean.
Can anyone here help me? Thank you so much.

 

[bhaisahab]

A "four by two" is a piece of timber measuring four inches by two inches in thickness.
The timbers in this image are smaller than "four by twos".

 

[Jill Dorchester]

In AmE, we call them "two by fours." It's a type of lumber. The walls inside of the shed looked something like this picture, with no drywall or plaster covering them, and the supporting beams visible. "Exposed" in this case is an adjective, meaning bare or uncovered.

 

[Roman55]

What does "unlined wall" mean? Does it mean a wall without wallpapers?
and how does a wall "expose?"

I am not a teacher.

An unlined wall is a bare wall, usually understood to be a wall with neither insulation nor plaster.

The wall isn't exposing anything actively. I would take exposed to be an adjective meaning that the four by twos were visible. Had means possessed, it isn't used as an auxiliary to form a past tense.

 

[tedmc]

In western countries, walls of houses are commonly constructed of timber frame as the structure. The framework consists of vertical members(studs) and horizontal members(beams/noggings) with typical cross-section dimension of 4"x 2". Four-by-two is actually a builder's lingo. The wall framing in Jill Dorchester's picture are 4 x 2's.

The timber frame is usually covered on both sides, externally with weatherboards and internally with plaster boards (lining, with or without wallpaper). But in this case as described, there is no internal lining and the timber framework is exposed.

not a teacher

 

[BobK]

It's the fact that the walls aren't covered (not with wallpaper, but with plaster) that reveals the woodwork. The writer probably thinks it's cleverer to say 'the unlined walls revealed' than to say 'Because there was no plaster on the walls, you could see...'. It's not. It's confusing (and badly written).

b

 

[MikeNewYork]

These days, at least in the US, a 2 by 4 is actually a 1 and 3/4 by 3 and a 1/2.

 

[BobK]

:up: Same in the UK - the sizes are called 'nominal'.

I've thought further about this, and I gather from the context (and the next page) that it is talking about a shed (though my shed isn't nearly so sturdily built! - I'd guess there were 1.5x1.5s at the corners and 2x1s in the walls) So my previous reference to plaster was inappropriate. The shed had 'unlined walls' (as sheds tend to have). There is no past perfect. (I may be the only one who thought there was, but this seems to me a possible area of doubt for a learner.)

b

PS Apart from being poorly written this text is doubly inappropriate for a student of English as its content is so odd.

 

[bhaisahab]

In my experience rough sawn timber is 2 by 4 and planed timber is 1 and 3/4 by 2 and 1/2.

 

[MikeNewYork]

2 and 1/2 or 3 and 1/2?

 

[bhaisahab]

Sorry, 3 and 1/2.

 

[MikeNewYork]

That's what I thought.