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Lining a wall with plywood: how thick should the ply be?


ToughButterCup

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Lining a wall with plywood isn't as easy as it looks, I'm sure.  But then nothing else in house building is either. 

We are considering lining some walls with ply. The substrate for the ply will be battens fixed on concrete - perfectly rigid, therefore. 

 

Question is, how thick should the ply be?

Thanks,

Ian

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12mm is generally fine for either a wall finish or to put behind plasterboard so you can put up shelves or cupboards. Has the advantage that it is the same thickness as plasterboard so you can mix and match ply with plasterboard over or double plasterboard.

If you are using ply as the final finish make sure you quickly paint it with something like osmo uv protection to stop it going yellow.

Edited by Alex C
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37 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

Is it for a finish? I've used 8 and 6mm birch faced ply for a finish before, if it's between two rooms you might want to do something heavier, or even ply over plasterboard for a bit of deadening... you need to watch out for surface spread of flame regs too

If you use anything thinner than 12 for a finish it will bow unless you cover it in fixings. I have used 2400 x 600x 9mm  sheets of top spec wisa birch ply nailed at 300 centers around the perimeter and it still bowed over its 600mm width over time.

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24 minutes ago, Construction Channel said:

Why do you want to [...]

 

Cos I  do. ?

 

Cheaper than plastering.... £300 for 60 sq m

The internal walls upstairs will be PB. We're only going to line some walls with ply ; needs to look sexy like all the ply - lined walls we have seen this summer - and the offices where D works. Looks a treat - but I suspect it can be over-done.

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44 minutes ago, Alex C said:

If you use anything thinner than 12 for a finish it will bow unless you cover it in fixings. [...]

 

I propose putting the boards on to 40 by 40 battens (themselves fastened to the concrete substrate with concrete bolts or maybe 100 , by 75 concrete screws)

Boards screwed to the battens  with something hefty and plugged. The battens will be painted black so that, using a 3mm gap, there is a sort of 'shadow-gap' round the boards.

 

Gonna look sexy as Hell 

 

(Why would I want something like that then?)?

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Make sure you get a high grade birch ply with a least a BB finish otherwise it will look like a shed. You need to pay close attention to the detailing and any shadow gap details/window reveals. When it is done well I suspect it is not cheaper than plasterboard and plaster. If you want to plug the boards that is going to make your mind up for board thickness. 

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We used 12mm shuttering ply as it was the cheapest.  The stuff that was sourced from China looked smoother than the stuff from Brazil. Ultimately it’s all hidden under plasterboard.  We put it in on walls where extra strength needed (over pocket door frames) or extra noise reduction or where fittings like basins would be hanging.

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4 hours ago, AnonymousBosch said:

 

Cos I  do. ?

 

Cheaper than plastering.... £300 for 60 sq m

The internal walls upstairs will be PB. We're only going to line some walls with ply ; needs to look sexy like all the ply - lined walls we have seen this summer - and the offices where D works. Looks a treat - but I suspect it can be over-done.

 

£300 for 60m2?? 

 

Unless I missed something that's £15/sheet??????

 

Where are you getting a finishing grade ply from for that? 

 

Fwiw if I had a choice I would replace plaster with ply everywhere. Fill the bastard with screws and leave them showing but I do like the "industrial look" 

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7 hours ago, pocster said:

I’ve been “told” to use osb as it’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly.....

I wired a whole house that was finished in OSB.

 

Yes it looked carp (the wall finish that is not the wiring)

 

And it all had to be painted with that expensive fireproofing treatment.

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3 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

Instead of your shadow gap thing

do you know you can get a special profile to put between the sheets to provide the gap 

I’m thinking of having this on a wall and a ceiling, but all hidden fixings. 

What is this profile called please?

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