Plywood is a very handy building material made-up of wood that can be used in almost everything from furniture to house construction. It is a versatile and highly workable building material manufactured by layering of thin sheets of wood veneer that gives plywood a great strength and flexibility. In simple terms, plywood is a wooden panel; made by stacking & gluing several thin layers of wood veneers over each other.
Plywood is most commonly used for furnishing homes and offices. Apart from this, it is also used in building construction and woodworks for boats and ships. It is also used to make a light partition and external walls and in the flooring system.
As we all know that, every coin has two faces, so does plywood has its own advantages & disadvantages. So we would reckoned understanding it before using it in your home.
Advantages of Plywood:
There are several advantages of plywood which are given below:
- It has very good strength and durability compared to Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF).
- It is available in different thicknesses ranges from 6mm to 32mm.
- Plywood usually made out of different wood species.
- It is less susceptible to water damage than MDF.
- It can be easily polished or painted.
- It can provide smooth surface for laminate or veneer to stick on.
- It can hold screws well.
- It can be cut in any shapes.
- It is resistive to shrinking, warping, twisting and cracking.
- It is available in large size compared to solid wood and hence one avoids joints and therefore the failure given good looks. And because of the same it increase speed & ease of maintenance unlike the natural wood veneers, where you had to make up of joints
- It is economical as compared to solid wood.
Disadvantages of Plywood:
There are several disadvantages of plywood which are given below:
- It is more expensive than Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF).
- Because the layers of veneers are seen at the edges, edges have to be finished either with laminate or veneer.
- It often get splinter from the edges during transportation.
- It is quite difficult to cut.
- It is known to emit toxic VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compound) as it can irritates in eye.
- Water may damage Moisture Resistant (MR) grade plywood.
- For common people, it is difficult to judge which wood veneer has been used for making the plywood.
- It is costlier as compared to blockboard or particleboard.
- The most of the commercial grade plywood needs to be covered by laminates. Sunmica, so as to enhance its beauty and to increase its life. It is prone to termite effect and may get damaged once affected.
Plywood possible is the very useful & most commonly used building material. However, very little information is provided to common people, this can be the area where most customers get deceived. Therefore, you need to carefully consider its advantages and disadvantages of plywood before you use.
Some standard manufacturers of plywood in India are:
