Flip over a sheet of structural panel at the lumberyard and the ink stamp — RATED SHEATHING 32/16, STRUCTURAL I, RATED STURD-I-FLOOR 24 OC — tells you exactly what that panel was engineered to do. Buy the wrong one and you either pay a premium for capacity your project never uses, or you install a … Read more
To seal exterior plywood, seal all four edges first with the same primer you’re using on the faces (or a paintable water-repellent preservative if you’re staining), then prime the faces and apply the manufacturer-recommended exterior topcoat system. Reseal every edge you cut on site. Edges absorb moisture far more readily than finished faces, which is … Read more
When a vinyl floor bubbles, dents, or telegraphs seams within its first year or two, the flooring itself usually gets the blame. In many of those failures, though, the real problem sits one layer down: the wrong underlayment panel was used, or the right panel was installed against the manufacturer’s instructions. Underlayment grade plywood is … Read more
Sanded plywood is a structural plywood panel with one or both outer veneers factory-sanded for a smoother, paintable surface. In the common grades, AC plywood has an A-grade face and C-grade back, while BC plywood has a B-grade face and C-grade back. Choose AC for highly visible or glossy painted surfaces. Choose BC for shelves, … Read more
Hardwood plywood is sold by a two-part grade: a letter for the face veneer and a number for the back. The price gap between an A-1 sheet and a C-3 sheet of the same species can be substantial, so buying a higher grade than a project needs wastes money, while buying too low a grade … Read more