Help with specifying Plywood

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9fingers

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This might be a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway.

I need about 30 sheets of 18mm plywood for the floor and inside lining of block walls of my workshop. The floor needs to be reasonably durable and the walls capable of screwing cabinets to anywhare I want them (not just on the studs)

I would like one face to be reasonably smooth but the walls will end up being painted to reflect as much light as possible. The other side can be as rough as you like.

I don't particularly want the darkwood stuff which seems very prone to splintering. I'll be cutting either by hand or hand held circular saw.

What do I ask for? Ive seen terms such as CDX, good one side, elliottis pine,wbp etc.
Price is an issue. Any saving I can make or blag by sounding like trade will help but not if I have to display my ignorance when ordering.

Any good cheap suppliers in Southampton/Winchester area.

TIA

Bob
 
W T Edens would seem to be the obvious choice, I know they have a branch in So'ton. 18mm birch ply would do the job nicely, especially good at taking screws. Just ring up and say 'how much for 30 sheets of birch ply 18mm long grain delivered' and say you wil pay the driver.

Other materials such as OSB and MR MDF might be worth considering if the ply is too dear. You can always fix strips to it for hanging cupboards etc from

John
 
your going to get 40 sheets (8'x4') of mdf or ply in a pack. You will get a better price if you ask for a pack but your going to struggle with off-loading it. They may not deliver unless you can fork it off.

But still worth asking.

What height are your walls??
 
Thanks for the replies:

John, Isn't birch ply the really nice fantastically expensive stuff with lots of fine laminations about 1mm or less thick?
Local timber place Totton timber want £46 per sheet in 18mm.

What is the cheaper stuff with about 3mm plies called. It is quite yellow rather than the near white of birch.

LyNx, the walls are about 2.3m to the wall plate and then a pitched roof with ties fitted so I can just swing an 8x4 sheet corner to corner. Sorry about the mixed units but I use both in my day job!

Good point about the 40 sheets in a pack being cheaper, I'll be able to use the excess making cupboards etc. I'll have to see if they have a wagon with a Hiab. Most of the builders merchants use them now.

Regards

Bob
 
9fingers":12yey4y2 said:
Thanks for the replies:

John, Isn't birch ply the really nice fantastically expensive stuff with lots of fine laminations about 1mm or less thick?
Local timber place Totton timber want £46 per sheet in 18mm.

Probably because they are going to buy it from the place I told you to try, and they are going to add their markup. For 30 sheets you are entitiled to approach Edens directly

Same thing applies to any other type of sheet material you might choose. I can't advise on the cheaper types of plywood as I don't use them, but from what I remember of the stuff I've seen in diy warehouses I wouldn't bother, I reckon you would be better off with MR MDF

I've never seen a (large) timber merchants lorry with a HIAB


John
 
You can get 18mm birch ply in a B&Q wharehouse costs about £34 a sheet if I remember correctly. Plus they will deliver for about a tenner.

Les
 
Actually latvian birch ply isn't any more expencive than Far Eastern ply. Have a look here, they do 35sheets to a pallet and do deliver all over the south coast.

Jason
 
Hi Bob

9fingers":2d9iboi7 said:
Good point about the 40 sheets in a pack being cheaper, I'll be able to use the excess making cupboards etc. I'll have to see if they have a wagon with a Hiab. Most of the builders merchants use them now.
Builders merchants may well use them to unload brick packs or bagged aggregates on site, timber merchants don't because they rob 2-1/2 to 3 tonnes (or more) off the payload and their deliveries are predominently to businesses. Some merchants do offer deliveries on vehicles with 1-1/2 tonne tail lifts, but you'd probably need a 2 tonne wide fork pallet truck if your own to take a delivery from one of those firms.

les chicken":2d9iboi7 said:
You can get 18mm birch ply in a B&Q wharehouse costs about £34 a sheet if I remember correctly. Plus they will deliver for about a tenner.
Which against even split pack rate from a sheet merchant is expensive

In terms of what you want to do a Far Eastern, South American or African (Gaboon) hardwood plywood will work out considerably cheaper than birch in my experience (sorry Jason), and as suggested elsewhere cladding the walls with MR-MDF will be cheaper still - a decent merchant should still give you a reasonable discount if you buy 35 to 40 sheets, even if mixed. But your problem will be getting it off - from experience the driver may refuse to help you or at best only help to drop to kerb. You can't really blame them as your inability to unload is placing his back at risk. That said it's really only the minority who are like that and the offer of a brew and a choccy bicky can do wonders for relations!

If you do decide to go for birch go for a BB/BB board - the lower the grade, the lower the price.

Scrit
 
Thanks for all the advice.

I got time to ring WT Edens today. The nearest branch to me is New Milton near Christchurch. Yes they will deal with me OK, no they don't offload and don't have HIABs. So you were right!

Based on buying a full pack (between 35 to 50 sheets of 18mm - dunno why it varies), the vat ex prices are as follows.

Finnish Birch Bb/bb £28.41 50 sheets per pack
Latvian Birch BB/BB £28.99 35 sheets per pack
Tropical Hardwood £22.18 35 sheets per pack
Chinese Plywood(hardwood face plies, poplar core) £15.05 43 sheets per pack
Hardwood BB/CC £22.82 35 sheets per pack
Finnish Spruce £16.36 50 sheets per pack
Brazilian Elliottis Pine £13.96 50 sheets per pack

Hope this might be of interest.

Bob
 
9fingers":350ufl4v said:
Based on buying a full pack (between 35 to 50 sheets of 18mm - dunno why it varies)......
It depends on the vagaries of the mill and how they "stuff" containers, so there just isn't a "standard" number of sheets.

From what I've seen of spruce plywoods it frequently makes Douglas fir shuttering look like good quality. I feel both it and the Elliottis Pine will be soft and probably have too many voids to serve as flooring. After all you don't want machines sinking-in through the floor because of voids (there's a thread about this elsewhere at the moment)

Scrit
 
scrit
checked out my local dealer, Hanson's in sudbury,
and they thought
that at this time finnish birch is only the birch outside, with a spruce
core, whilst they say the latvian is birch all plies.

is that your experience and knowledge?

paul :wink:
 
My main supplier, Pennine, is still doing Finnish all-birch ply, but it ain't cheap

Scrit
 
According to Edens website

Both Finnish and Latvian birch that they sell is birch throughout.

I guess to be sure you need to check their stock at the point of ordering.

Bob
 
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