Plywood or Drywall? Advantages and Disadvantages.

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Since the 1950s or 1960s, most homes have the interior walls finished with drywall, more correctly known as gypsum board. “Sheetrock,” the common name for gypsum board, is a proprietary name manufactured by USG (United States Gypsum Corp.). This relatively inexpensive engineered material was developed to replace plaster and lath walls. It provides a smooth, … Read more

How to Strengthen Plywood

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Plywood is used in a lot of situations where strength is required. Generally speaking, if the strength of the plywood is not required, then other engineered materials are used. However, there are times when plywood alone isn’t strong enough, or, although it might be strong enough, it isn’t stiff enough to meet the need. In … Read more

Plywood Scarf and Butt Joints

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Plywood is useful as both a building material and for making various projects. But what do you do when the project you are working on is larger than a sheet of plywood? In-home building, this is dealt with by nailing sheets next to each other so that the edges of both sheets are on a … Read more

What to do with Rotten Plywood?

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Like all wood products, plywood is subject to decay. This decay is usually caused by wood-eating fungi, which are activated by water. Wood can also rot due to wood-eating insects getting inside the walls of a home. Regardless of the cause, the rotting weakens the structure and must be repaired as soon as you become … Read more

What Sticks to Plywood?

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Plywood is used for making many different things, from furniture to homes. In many cases, the plywood is not left exposed but used as a substrate, providing structural strength and a flat surface to adhere to the finish materials. But how well those materials adhere to the plywood may not be as good as we … Read more