5 Mistakes Buying Plywood - Don't Waste Your Money!

Don't make these 5 Mistakes when buying plywood from your lumber supplier!

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Buying plywood can be confusing. Don’t make these 5 mistakes when you buy plywood. Make sure you think about plywood quality, plywood sizing, plywood strength, and where you buy the plywood from.

[meganrunkel]

As a beginning woodworker, this was so darn helpful! I really didn't know the difference between the plywood...just kinda picked something. This was nicely laid ot, very clear! Thanks!

[oldtimefarmboy]

If you are going to paint it, you can mix the sawdust from your cutting with wood glue and press the mixture into any cracks and depressions to fill them in. Then when the glue cures you can sand it down like normal and have a smooth even surface to paint.

[wadewassenberg]

The "Sanded Ply" at Home depot isn't actually sanded ply.... well, it is S2S so technically it is sanded, but it's "Sande" ply (no d at the end). Sande is a species of wood used predominantly to make plywood. It looks like a typo on the tag at Home Depot... but it's not a typo :)

[landryb]

Mech Eng here. What is interesting is that the flexural stiffness of a sheet is proportional to the cube of its thickness (neglecting the fact that the orientation of the wood grain can vary from ply to ply). The 3/4" material is thus (0.75/0.5)^3 = 3.4x stiffer than 1/2".

[jennifersanjines]

Can we all just cry together at how much things have gone up but also really thankful to get my shop back in a few weeks, we’ve been building and my tools have been in storage for a year and a half! This was a helpful refresher, we used to have a great place in Knoxville that had maple prefinished plywood and it was the most amazing thing to work with!

[djswixify]

This video was absolutely spot on for someone who are getting into woodworking and love plywood. Have been so confused!

[tom]

Great overview video! Love working with baltic birch! Another tip when at the big retailers - if you know you don't need a full sheet, have a look at the damaged options. You might be cutting off the corner or edge anyway for your project and if you ask for a discount at the checkout, you might save an extra 10-20%! *This may require manager approval, but usually the cashiers in the garden center or lumber center have that authority, at least up to a certain amount.

[nellz]

Parking lot carpentry is the way to go. I’m that girl with my DIY track saw guide. To often the saw at HD is terrible when it actually works and now they want to charge for two or more cuts. Heck the saw at the woodworking store was not in the best shape either but they did have awesome inventory.

[alwaysforward_WYO]

Another option is to find a decent marine lumber supplier. I build wooden boats and some of the most incredible plywood you'll find is BS1088 rated Meranti or Okoume, especially the ones certified by Llyods of London. You'll pay almost $300 for a sheet of 18mm Okoume (almost 3/4"), but this is the stuff that they use in high end yachts so it's basically void-less and has about the same color as a good mahogany. The Okoume is very light and flexible while the Meranti is heavier and stiffer. Another plus is that you can get it in a large variety of thicknesses.

[technotic_us]

I made a cabinet recently. Back panel 2' x 4'. 3x 24x12" panels horizontal, 2x 22.5x12" for vertical top section, 2x 23.25x12" for the bottom section. Bottom section is open unshelved. I'm going to be mounting a couple things inside (a battery power tool rack, battery storage, and a row of bins). Top section I went 2 24x12" full overlay soft close hinged doors. 2 22x11" adjustable shelves. Frameless cabinet. I went with veneered plywood from home Depot, I forget the brand, but it's 3/4 inch walnut veneered. I ordered 1x 2x4' piece and either 6 or 7 2x2' sheets. The quality on these are amazing. Didn't find a single void. I inspected every sheet (they were boxed nicely, protected, delivered to my door) and they were perfect! Tho I think the 2x4' was $40 and the 2x2' were about $19-22. There were also sheets that were advertised as 2 face veneered. Thinking that these only had veneer on one side, I ordered a roll of veneer as well. Life lesson. These were veneered on both sides.

This was my first actual woodworking/carpentry project ever, at 43 years old 😂 I did a lot of research along the way and opted to go for pocket holes instead of brad nailing. The Kreg pocket hole jig set was only about $40, another $10 or so for a box of 1 1/4" pocket hole screws (the appropriate size for 3/4 wood) and a box of plugs for the holes was about $5. Much cheaper than an air compressor and Brad nailer, or an electric Brad nailer that would be good enough. Ended up getting the Kreg adjustable shelf jig for drilling the holes for the pegs, a Kreg concealed hinge jig, and the Kreg 24" circular saw guide rail system. For the finish, I used boiled linseed oil, then finished with polycrylic satin. I probably spent a total, with all the jigs and wood and hardware, twice+ what I could have got a quality pre built for, but it was an exciting and fun project, and it's a great feeling every time I look at it and realize, "I built that." It looks as good as any American made pre-built. Not sure what my original point was for posting this comment, but here it is, so..

[mkp]

As a 23 year retail employee at HD I want to say THANK YOU for the tip about returning the sheets back to the stack "The way you found them"! Nothing irritates us more tham shoppers sliding off to the next bay and LEAVING them there! Again, THANK YOU!

[wolfpat]

That string in your plywood comes from the manufacturing process. When the veneer strips are put together for the cross grain layers (the cores), they are held together by that glued string so they can be easily layered in the boards.

A typical 5 layer sheet is constructed by stacking a back, a core, a center, another core, and a face. Backs, centers and faces are three different grades of veneers.

Holes in the veneers from the curvature of the logs are called "wanes". I've actually seen boards in the stores with huge wanes in the backs.

[wolfpat]

If you see dye marks that are parallel to the grain, pass that sheet up. It means the glue didn't set where the marks are drawn. (Don't worry about dye marks across the grain. They mean it took two passes for that veneer to dry)

[penjon]

I've been using leftover scrap plywood, but starting to run out, and just as I'm about to do a complete garage reorganization. This came at a perfect time for me, and very helpful advice.

[dougdiplacido]

I really loved your suggestion about putting back the sheets that you moved. So many people just mess up the stacks and leave it in a mess. Loved your video also.

[BillWalters]

Thank you for encouraging others to put back the culled plywood for the rest of us - thoughtful!

[edreusser]

I have seen a thin slice of metal epoxied to the edge of a 1/2" thick plywood for a 6-foot shelf span. It was quite strong and stable, and the use of 1/2" plywood made it look very elegant. It is astonishing how cool it looks when creating things with undersized material, as long as they are appropriately strengthened with unseen bracers.

[bobbysharp]

Radiata Ply is FANTASTIC for any project! Before the supply crunch it was $30.95 per sheet at the orange store. Fantastic value! Wish they sold that same type in a 1/2" sheet. At $57 per sheet now I get birch ply at my RAW wood supplier at $65. Not baltic birch, straight birch. Baltic Birch is same price but in a 5x5 sheet, so less area per sheet. If the sheet has a bow it will not go away, never. You can force it straight but move on to another sheet. it's not worth the worry!

[aarongregerson]

I've been woodworking for a little while now, but this was SO incredibly helpful! Navigating plywood in a home center can be head spinning. Thanks for breaking it down for us!

[AlexiasShado]

Fantastic advice all around! I wondered what type of wood my bookcase was made of that melted in the flood. That's what convinced me to buy only hardwood furniture from then on. Also appreciated the tip on how to rifle through wood stacks to find the one you like, much like a shirt on display.