Inventive Uses For Plywood

Composed of sheets of shaven wood in varying or uniform thickness, plywood is thin sheets of wood bound with glue and because of the way the sheets of wood are juxtaposed, their grains run in contrary directions, giving the marvellous golden wood some outstanding strength.

Hardwoods and softwoods are both shaven, trimmed and glued to be repurposed as plywood. Hardwood plywood will make sturdy cabinets because of its beauty and few defects. Then there are the softwoods, whose large defects tend to incline them towards disposable or invisible uses.

While we may often picture plywood as that ready-cut wood used for covering broken windows, ply has a lot of uses you may never have considered.

Window sashes and frames:

• If you have an old window frame with a lintel or sash which needs replacing, paint or seal your plywood, cut it into shape and apply it. Remember, you can get plywood in some impressive thicknesses and you won’t have to worry about strength. Ply is remarkably sturdy.

Planter boxes/ garden uses:

• While ply might not come in the right thickness to replace a sleeper, so long as it’s given a quick extra coat of paint or varnish, plywood can be effective outside in the garden. It’s light enough for you to fasten your planter box off the ground or on a fence post, or you may wish to put a thick back on a planter box you can easily move around. Plus it’s bendable, of course, and can make a nice woven rippling edge.

Ply is useful when building

• Many grades of plywood have the marvellous properties of chemical resistance, moisture resistance and insulation. In building and construction, plywood can be called upon to make external walls and light partitions, or light doors and shutters.

Disposable plywood

• It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, so plywood is available to mould/form wet concrete paths and pours; packaging anything from motorcycles to fireplaces to packets of wood; and to replace cupboard doors.

Don’t forget, at 28 Kioreroa Road Renovation Warehouse always stocks plywood from nice big packets (always available as cheaply as possible) to small pieces. That’s not all: we do decking timber, seratone, plywood shelving strips, gates, hardboard and plywood as thin as 7mm.

Remember to ask us about our various grades and cuts of timber, our range of brand new and recycled cabinetry, reclaimed doors and windows, and a whole host of other available items.