Plywood sheets

[mobydick21]

Ok so that has to be the most boring title in the world. Thanks for reading my query anyway. So I am looking at buying plywood. The cost in the local DIY superstore is less than £40 for a sheet. The price in a more bespoke smaller website is well over £100. Why such a huge price difference. I mean I get that the cut and storage and quality will vary. But to such an amount? Over double? What is it about plywood sheets that I am missing?

 

[Spectric]

A great deal, ply is just a generic name and comes in various grades and has different uses. At one end you get shuttering ply and at the other Birch ply with a massive price difference and many choices in between. You get ply with two really decent faces, one decent and one ok or just two ok, all depends upon what you are doing with it and you also get stuff that has had fancy patches used to make good some of the imperfections. Another aspect is the number of layers, how it has been laid and cheaper stuff will have more voids and be more prone to de-laminating . It is work doing some homework on as it could save you buying the wrong stuff and knowing what is what gives you some heads up when buying. If you want decent then find a proper timber supplier because the DIY sheds often sell the stuff only DIY'ers want, I have used it for shuttering when on offer once simply down to cost and it was all it was fit for anyway.

 

[ajs]

Even before we consider the material itself, how many couriers do you think will take an 8x4 sheet? You pay for delivery and simple hassle of what may be outsize goods. Stuff like this you're always better off buying locally even if you want it delivered.

If I want sheets or long lengths I can't transport myself I usually go to Savoy Timber since they have a branch her in Preston. They will deliver to Manchester, probably from Wigan, but only on certain days of the week since it's a little out of their area. From memory it's a flat £10 delivery charge regardless of the order but it may be a little more out of area. Regardless, Manchester will have many equivalent suppliers in any case.

Like many similar places they are essentially construction orientated so your choice of ply will be "internal" or "external" for a given thickness. They don't do fancy stuff from stock. Last time I needed some, blockboard was a special order item.

https://www.savoytimber.com

 

[sometimewoodworker]

@Spectric has given a very brief over view if the differences but has vastly understated the varieties available along with the costs involve. You can find small savings by buying from a DIY superstore but the differences from the superstore are most in the plies used, glue, layout time and press time for the sheet. The superstore will have told the plywood fabricator all of these to get the lowest cost for a plywood that is just about good enough. They will also be buying the complete run from the factory of their own plywood. They will have a small saving because of all the volume and more because of corners cut to achieve the result.

When you go to the mid tier suppliers they are buying from a middleman who will not be cutting as many corners, if any, so all the above cost savings are not in place. so a jump of 2.5 times is not surprising. If you were to buy the mill run and have the storage for all the FEUs that will comprise you might get the cost down to just 2.25 times the superstore price. But in any event the best of the lumberyard plywood is guaranteed to be better than the best of the superstore plywood (you can always get the anomalous sheet that is c*r*a*p)

Then you get to the higher end suppliers where the lowest quality readymade will be at least 4 times the price and it goes up from there. You can find prices going on for many times higher depending on your exact requirements and the wood you want to use etc. A price of 20 times the ST cost is easily possible.

Shannon's Lumber Industry Update episodes No 38, 40, & 41​

have about 1 and a half hours of information and at that he is not giving a complete view but you will get an appreciation of the complexity.

TLDR there are few, if any, bargains in plywood, you always pay for what you get. You may not know enough to pay enough or may pay too much for a quality you don’t need.

 

[mobydick21]

Wow, such great replies. Many thanks for taking the time for me. I will take a look at the better ply. My project is to make shaker replacement wardrobe doors. Not sure the extra cost of better ply would be worth it but I will have a look.

 

[robgul]

Wow, such great replies. Many thanks for taking the time for me. I will take a look at the better ply. My project is to make shaker replacement wardrobe doors. Not sure the extra cost of better ply would be worth it but I will have a look.

The @petermillard style "faux Shaker doors" made from MDF would probably be a much cheaper option, and arguably a better paint finish.

 

[baldkev]

If painted, i agree with rob
Make sure to buy 'mr mdf' ( moisture resistant ) and again, here comes the levels..... you can get caberwood trade mr mdf which is green, but fluffy edges when cut. For some things that wont matter ( like the panels within your doors ) but then you step up to the caberwood pro and it has a higher resin content, so the edges machine and finish much better, making it more suitable for the rails and stiles..... and then theres medite mr mdf ( very good ) , kronospan and others......