Construction FAQs | What’s the difference between 2×4 and 2×6 walls?

What’s the difference between 2×4 and 2×6 walls?

When building homes many have 2×4 pieces of lumber that make up the wall.  The walls are about 4 inches thick and that empty space is filled with insulation.  But other homes have a thicker wall so that it can hold more insulation and is thus more efficient.

So a lot of people want to know what size best suits their needs when building their home.  And it can be a little bit of a tricky answer.  There’s no clear cut answer to this question and there’s even an equation that builders can use to determine at what point does the decision to go with the thicker walls make sense.  Not only sense, but cents and dollars.

The idea is the extra thick wall will be able to save you money heating or cooling costs.  But the problem is that it costs a lot of extra money to have the thicker walls.  When the walls are thicker a lot of other areas are affected.  For example, if the walls are thicker the windows and doors will have to be able to accommodate this change in plan and requires extra money in parts.  But at some point, if you’re saving enough energy on your power and gas bills, then it actually starts to save you money.

Without going into the way to calculate if the decision is worthwhile for you, there’s a basic principle that you can follow.  If you’re in a very cold climate where there a lot of days in the year when the temperature outside is cold, then it might be a good decision.  Conversely if there are a lot of days in the year that are very hot outside, like in the desert or Arizona, then it could help to keep the heat out and the cold air in, saving you money on your AC costs.

If you have any questions about any construction related matters give us a call, we’re happy to help.