3 Ways to Finish Plywood Edges | House One

Watch these three easy ways to conceal plywood edges for more professional-looking results.

#ThisOldHouse #AskTOH

There are times we all need to work with plywood, but the exposed rough edge is typically less than desirable. Watch as This Old House DIY Expert and House One Editor Jenn Largesse shares three easy ways to conceal plywood edges.

1. Apply Wood Filler
The first and most obvious way to cover a plywood edge is with wood filler. The key is to create a solid surface that can be sanded to hide the roughness of a typical plywood edge. The upside to this method is that it’s inexpensive and easy.
The downside is that it only works for paint-grade builds and you’ll have quite a bit of sanding to do to get it looking just right.

2. Attach a Face Board
Another way to conceal the edge of the plywood is to cover it with a solid board. For example, I can use pocket holes to attach a 1x2 to the front edge of this piece of plywood. Once I fill and sand the joint smooth, this becomes a decent option for concealing the edge of the plywood.

3. Apply Edge Banding
The final way to finish a plywood edge is to apply a thin strip of adhesive veneer, called edge banding. This product comes in a variety of wood species to match the plywood and goes on easily with a household iron. Though you may want to pick up an inexpensive iron to keep in your shop so the excess adhesive doesn’t ruin your clothing.

When applying the veneer, I like to start with a bit of overhang, and then apply heat, and smooth with a woodblock. Once it cools, trim the excess at each end—I prefer to use sharp scissors instead of dragging a blade across the grain.

Use a utility knife, block plane, or a specialty-trimming tool to trim the edges. Finish with a quick sanding to get professional-looking results.

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3 Ways to Finish Plywood Edges | House One

[sean]

Cheaper and in my opinion better alternative to the wood filler method is to use drywall mud

[scottydntno]

Spackle for drywall repairs works great. Super soft and easy to apply and dries very fast.

[kiswas]

Thanks madam for your advice. I am not professional but I want to installation my plywood cabinet countertop. For your help I did excellent idea.

[skinnydee]

Thank you Jenn; your instructions were very helpful; God bless you 🙏🌹

[ericschumacher]

Screen molding is 3/4 inch wide and about 1/4 inch thick. I’ve attached it to the edge of 3/4 inch plywood with wood glue and a pneumatic brad nailer - looks great.

[wilderunner]

What do you think would look best on a rounded unfinished plywood edge? The band or the wood filler?

[landovash]

I think this series should be a staple of the YouTube This Old House channel as it actually shows the viewer how to do something (contrary to how-to's on TOH shows that do not accomplish that) and is quick to the point. Not to say I don't love watching the other show content (that is what I came here for), just titles need to be more accurate.

[mannypedraza]

Great video very informative and quick! Just what I needed to shake the rust off haha

[zebatov]

Trying to build a TV cabinet where the sides sit inside the top and bottom shelf, so the edges of the top and bottom will be seen. I can hide the front edges well-enough with 1x2, but not those sides. So I guess wood fill it is... but, I also want to stain/varnish. Not sure if wood fill stains.

[AlexMercadoGo]

What’s the right way to finish it if we want to maintain the look of a plywood edge?

[skinnydee]

Fred Kennedy,
What do you mean by (would love to see more people of color on this channel). To me, you sounded racial!

[lunstee]

The trimming with scissors would have worked better from right to left instead of what was shown. As demonstrated, the cut is at least a scissor blade width past the end of the board. Done correctly, the top blade face is in plane with the edge of the board and the bottom blade slides against the board edge onto the top blade.

[elnatanliberman]

Hi, Thanks' for those tip's, if the plywood has laminate on it I found it difficult to paint the edges without staining the laminate, do you have some recommendations for me?

[isaiahd]

How does this work if you want to stain the board?

[Indowwindows]

This was so satisfying and informational to watch!

[fudomyo-o]

re: the edge banding, do you give the whole piece a quick sanding or just the cut edges? It is ready for paint?

[PMichaels]

Awesome video! Quick and practical tips. Thanks! 👍🏼

[michebre]

Thanks so much. Being new to using a router with a roundover bit, should the iron on edging be applied before or after routing my edge with a roundover bit? thanks.

[billbrammer]

I inherited a house with plywood edges already painted on some interior trim… Can you recommend a wood filler that will stick to already-painted wood edges?

[manideepboorla]

I thought what sonia gandhi is doing here 😂