I’m always confused by these kinds of assessments people make with some unrealistic test. Lumber for building a house doesn’t need to withstand bites from a human jaw!
Years ago, Tesla advertised solar shingles that could withstand a bowling ball being dropped on them. Why?! Hail is a thing, but bowling balls don’t fall from the sky.
Extending this concept, let’s say I want to sell you a new motorcycle I invented. I won’t demonstrate how well it rides or how fast it accelerates, but I will show you how deep I can submerge it underwater before the gas tank crumples — 4000 ft! Let’s see Harley beat that.
It’s like those TV shopping channels showing you how many bowling balls a vaccum can lift. That is of course critical for a piece of plastic and electronics that sucks up dust. It’s so stupid I can’t help but laugh.
Absolutely, modern construction is often about not using (/spending) more than the spec requires.
Basic wood will be lower grade because it doesn’t need to be. And it will be cheaper because of that.
C16/C24 will be stronger and less knotty, and will meet a higher spec, for a price.
As the old saying goes, any old idiot can make a house that doesn’t fall over. It takes an engineer to make a house that just barely doesn’t fall over.
