Structural plywood is one of the necessary ingredients when it comes to restructure an old home, or to create a new home. It has various applications, and there are different types of plywood, like exterior plywood, marine plywood and interior plywood which are used in different domestic and industrial sectors. Right from carpentry, to works like making furniture, making building, roofing, bins and boxes, to creating crates, bracing walls and holdings, structured plywood has numerous applications, for which it is widely used in all sectors. The rough and unsanded look of the structural plywood make them more popular in for constructing houses, doors and also boats and yachts.
How do plywood specialists list the types of plywood?
If you try to go to the local hardware shops and inquire about the different types of plywood, the simple answer that you will get is that, there are two varieties, the commercial and the marine woods. The varieties of the commercial plywood are an important one that is used also in marine industries.
- It is a superior grade application which is not prone to rust and termite so it is used as a superior variety of marine ply.
- The marine plywood costs a little more than the commercial plywood varieties and it is also more durable, as far as the longevity of the ply is concerned.
- Hardwood and softwoods are used to make the ply, and the commercial MR grade plywood is also used to make ply for interior purposes.
What is marine plywood all about?
Marine plywood is a superior variety of structural plywood that is generally used for marine applications. It is generally not used much for domestic or for indoor purposes, but it is used more in making boats and vessels, where the marine vehicles remain exposed to water for a long time:
- It is used in ship building yards and in boat companies, where the vessels remain in water for days and months.
- It is sometimes used in the kitchen applications; for the simple reason that the higher grades and varieties make this type of structural plywood suitable to be used in commercial kitchens, where there is maximum use of water. The different varieties are used to a large extent to be installed in many industrial houses which deal with making kitchen furniture.
Moisture-resistant and fire-resistant plywood varieties:
- Good varieties of structural plywood are used in different industries as most of them that are manufactured by good companies, are fire and moisture-resistant. This makes them suitable to be used in both domestic and commercial sectors.
- There is also a grade that makes the plies boiling water resistant. This is the BWR grades, and in cases of kitchens where there is large-scale use of water, or in furnaces where boiling water is used, these types of structural plywood are used.
- The fire and the chemical retardant plywood are also some types that are used in many industrial segments. These varieties of structural plywood are resistant to the harshest of chemicals, and the surface of the plywood remains coated with a chemical that retards the flames of fire from spreading to different directions. So these types of structural plywood are used in marines or even in chemical industries and furnaces.
How can structural plywood be decorated?
- They can be used as decorative sun mica or in laminated forms.
- They can be decorated with wood polish, as used in different forms of wooden furniture.
Moreover, structural plywood can also be decorated with paints which are a low-cost alternative when it comes to decorating ply, and even by applying thin sheets of veneer, which makes the ply stringer and durable.