While you are reading this, we just hope that once you’re done reading this, you say – why didn’t I find this blog earlier.

With over a decade of experience in the interior design and material procurement industry, this blog has been written with the intent of simplifying the plywood purchase for your interiors.

While this will contain the basics of what plywood is and its variants, the focus here would be on how to shortlist WHAT TO BUY

Plywood has been the core of the furniture industry for decades now and is the best alternative to solid wood. Having a variety of uses plywood is used in construction, exteriors, flooring, interiors including cabinets, kitchens, and much more

WHAT IS PLYWOOD?

It’s engineered wood made by gluing thin layers of wood with resin under high pressure

BEST TYPE OF PLYWOOD?

Plywood has many variants based on the type of wood, application, and process. However, let’s focus on the variants used for interiors/carpentry.

Mainly categorized into the following kinds

MR (Moisture Resistant)

BWR &

BWP

1] MR:

Also called commercial ply generally, this is extensively used in interiors for cabinets and wardrobes. As the name suggests this is moisture resistant and works fine for mildly moist and humid places.

2] BWR:

while this is resistant to water, this is not a certified variant.

Also, the appearance of BWR and BWP are similar. However, do not get duped as MR is generally painted/coated to give it the appearance of BWP. (locally known as dipping)

3] BWP:

This variant is generally IS:710 certified and confirms to high standards set by the BIS in India.

This is highly suitable for wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens.

Plywood is available in thicknesses of 19mm, 16mm, 12mm, 8mm, 6mm and the standard sizes are 8’ * 4’ and 7’ * 4’

Depending on your design and dimensions, your contractor would give you a list of your requirement

Selecting the right house, purchasing it, and registering it successfully has been a humungous task. Making a home of the house involves multiple teams, carpentry being just one of them.

AT DGPC we offer the best solutions under one roof

However in this post, we won’t be endorsing any specific brand, but just provide inputs on how to select the right materials for carpenting.

Carpentry has multiple stages

1] Selection of plywood

2] Selection of fittings

3] Selection of finishes/surface

In this post, we will cover how to select the right plywood. While the types of plywood would be more technical, the main factor to select plywood would revolve around your requirement which can be categorized as

1] Life of furniture:

A very important factor in determining the quality of plywood you select. If you intend to stay with this set of furniture for just 5 years and plan to move out or if you intend to stay long term, this factor would help you shortlist faster.

For longer durability features like bore proof, termite resistant is to look out for.

Also, ensure that the ply is made of seasoned high-quality timber. The options can be hardwood, poplar, eucalyptus, neem, macai, gurjan.

The table below can help you understand the hierarchy of quality and durability.

2] Climatic conditions

A place like Mumbai or Chennai is highly humid, while Bengaluru is pleasant, Rajasthan is too hot and Kashmir is too cold.

Based on your location features like termite resistance, bores proof, anti warping should be considered based on the climate condition of your location

3] Types of building

You may be planning the furniture for an apartment in a high rise of independent house or villa

Depending on the construction quality higher floors are lesser prone to fungal infections, generally because of it being away from the ground. A villa on the other hand is easily prone to termites/bores due to the proximity to the ground.

You may also require additional measures like pest control based on the type of construction and geography.

4] Application

Your furniture can be for your living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom.

Based on the application you can consider the variants MR, BWR, BWP.

While MR can be used for dryer areas like the living and bedroom, BWP variants are recommended for kitchens and bathrooms.

Remember, BWR variants can be misguiding and can be made only to appear like BWP but without or limited waterproofing feature.

5] Budget

Boiling down to a very important aspect, plywood variants can start from as low as 38/ sq ft to 150/ sq ft.

Based on the above factors, it will help understand which variant you require and you can create a balance by mixing variants based on application to keep your wallet happy [generally MR for dry and BWP for wet areas]. However, also remember that few warranty conditions may get affected if you use multiple brands.

Plywood is available in a lot of brands and variants. It can get very confusing to select. The best way to pick your choice would be to select a trustworthy brand or a trustworthy local vendor that understands the importance of making a house a HOME.

Want to know what are alternatives to plywood, click here.