Plywood is possibly the most frequently and often used raw material in interior execution nowadays. Almost any project uses tones of plywood. Most of the cabinets, kitchen frames, wardrobes etc are made from plywood. So what exactly is plywood?

Plywood is made from thin sheets of wood stuck together using adhesives. Depending on the thickness needed, the number of these sheets could vary. Most of the plywood are made using alternate layers of hard and soft woods which have gone through some treatments to make them sturdier and more resistant to elements like water and fire.

Any final product of wood that is used as a raw material and has been made using some factory processes Is called Engineered wood. Plywood, MDF, particle board etc are all engineered woods. We have taken the difference between these in a separate article. Plywood is made by various processes of manufacturing and hence its also called engineered wood.

Plywood comes in the form of boards of wood. This gives ability to us to cut it and make it into boxes and other structures by screwing the different panels. Since it’s a flat panel, it is not possible to carve plywood or make it into things like chairs etc.

Plywood is resilient due to the various processes it has gone through. It is much more stronger as well compared to the base material that has been used to make it. This allows usage of much cheaper and more easily regenerated forms of timber to be used for making plywood. That makes plywood cheaper compared to hardwood of similar strength.

Biggest disadvantage of plywood is that it comes in form of boards and hence cannot be used for making lot of furniture. Plywood is also porous and gets spoilt in water but that is true for any form of hardwood, softwood or engineered wood. For certain finishes like PU polishes, duco and other polishes, plywood is not a good surface. This is because plywood has small pores which soak the polish and make the final finish rough and not of the same quality as would be expected. Plywood by itself can bend over time making it unsuitable for free standing structures like sliding doors.

Plywood as well as other engineered woods like MDF and particle board come in all qualities. Some very low quality plywood might even break with hand. Adhesives used could be of low quality making it difficult to work with the material. The same is also true for MDF. But given a certain range, good quality plywood and HDF are good materials to be used for homes. Its always better to avoid usage of MDF or particle board if the intention is to keep the interiors for a longer period of time. We do take up these comparisons in detail but we suggest understanding the pros and cons of each before deciding which one is better for your requirements.