Plywood is a material that is known to many developers. With its help it was always possible to ennoble any room. Today, there are many building materials, but plywood has not lost its relevance of wall decoration. After all, the natural structure of the tree is still applied. The availability of plywood should also be noted. Therefore, everyone can transform their home using this material.
Material benefits
Regardless of the type of wall surface, plywood can easily replace various finishing materials. It is not necessary to use a variety of decorative topcoats. After installation, the wall becomes smooth and beautiful. On such walls you can not glue the wallpaper. They can be treated with paint or stain. In addition, the texture of the material may be different. So you can align the walls in different rooms.
The benefits of plywood include:
- Environmentally friendly material.
- Sound and heat insulation.
- High surface strength.
- Flexibility.
- Minimum weight of material, construction.
- After installation, a flat surface is obtained.
- Relatively low cost.
- Easy and simple installation.
Types of plywood
Plywood is made by gluing veneers. Therefore, the sheets may differ from each other. There are such main types of plywood:
- Laminated.
- Construction.
- Waterproof.
Laminated plywood is ideal for decorating living rooms. The advantage of this material is a variety of shades. Thus, you can use it in various rooms without additional decor.
It is construction plywood that is used as the main material during the sheathing of rooms where the appearance of the walls is not important. The main advantage of plywood wall decoration is minimal cost. Most often, this material is used for sheathing utility rooms.
Appearance
According to the appearance of the surface, plywood is divided into 4 grades:
- On the surface there are up to three small knots with a diameter of up to 1.5 cm. Small cracks are allowed on 1 m 2 not more than 2 pieces, dropping out elements up to 0.6 cm. A change in the color of the material may be observed.
- Pin or fused knots up to 2.5 cm in diameter may be present on the surface. Perhaps the presence of small cracks in 1 m 2 not more than 2 pieces, dropping out elements up to 0.6 cm. Color may change. Sometimes fragments of a tree are present.
- Sometimes knots fall in diameter of 0.6 cm, there are cracks up to 30 cm long, up to 2 mm wide. Possible discoloration, waviness, ripples.
- Loss of knots with a diameter of 4 cm is possible, there are multiple cracks, waviness, ripples, fragments of a tree.
Plywood stamps
The degree of moisture resistance of the material determines the brand of plywood. Exists:
FBA - sheet material glued with albumin-casein glue. This material has the least resistance compared to the rest. But such plywood refers to environmentally friendly products.
FC is a plywood brand that is made from birch veneer. This is the most common type of material. It is characterized by an average moisture resistance, therefore, most often this material is used for interior decoration. The main advantage is non-toxicity, environmental safety. But with increased humidity, the surface of the plywood can deform, swell.
Attention! Plywood of the FSF brand is characterized by increased moisture resistance, but glue based on phenolic resins is used in its manufacture. Indoors, this material cannot be used, because it is characterized by a high level of toxicity. Such plywood is used for external construction and finishing works.
FOF is most often used in furniture production.
FB is the most moisture resistant and durable brand of plywood. During its manufacture, phenol-formaldehyde resins are used.
Wood type
Do you plan to finish the walls with plywood? Then you need to familiarize yourself with the types of material by type of wood :
- Coniferous. The use of coniferous wood in the manufacture of plywood contributes to the presence of natural resin in the fibers. It reliably protects the surface of the material from destruction. Such plywood is characterized by a large operational period.
- Deciduous. Such material is often made from birch.
- Combined. This plywood is made from various types of wood. This helps to improve the characteristics of the material.
Wall Mounting Methods
The interior decoration of the walls with plywood is, first of all, a reliable fastening. There are several options for attaching plywood to the wall, which determine the various types of surface. For example, leveling the surface of a brick wall is different from performing finishing work in a wooden house.
Finishing with slats and nails
Most often, in wooden houses, walls are finished with plywood. This method is simple, reliable and fairly common. To perform the work, prepare wooden slats and small nails. They should have small hats that will be almost invisible on the surface. The length of the nail should be 2.5 times the thickness of the plywood sheet.
Wall decoration with plywood in a wooden house should be performed in accordance with the requirements and recommendations of specialists. Pay particular attention to the mounting rails. The crate may be different. Its step directly depends on the load that will act on the material. Sheathing the floor with plywood involves the construction of a battens with a pitch of 40 cm. Such a design can provide rigidity, stability. If plywood is used for leveling walls, you can prefer a material with a thickness of about 9 mm.
The distance between the fasteners is from 10 to 30 cm. In addition, the joints of plywood sheets can be glued together.
Screw fixing
This method is more complicated, because it involves the manufacture of special holes in the crate for screws. It should be noted that in the facing material these holes must match the diameter of the screw. In the rail, the diameter of the hole should be 2 times smaller.
Often this method is used for cladding metal surfaces. When choosing screws, you should give preference to such fasteners that will not damage the surface of the plywood. Additional washers should also be used.
According to the same principle, it is possible to finish the walls with plywood inside the house with bolts. Remember that fasteners cannot be screwed in tightly. Otherwise, the surface may sag, crack and lose its properties.
Installation of plywood with glue
Most often, glue is used when mounting on a wall of unclad type of material. To do this, you can use a variety of wood glue. For internal work it is better to use colorless PVA, which does not violate the appearance of plywood. For fastening to a metal surface, epoxy glue should be used.
It is better not to do wall decoration with laminated plywood in this way. If there is a need for this operation, first you should clean the surface of the plywood with sandpaper. Thanks to this, the adhesion of surfaces will be better.
Mounting
First of all, you should prepare the surface. Remove all old finishing materials, remove dust, dirt. The surface can not be leveled, because after the construction of the frame it will still not be noticeable. When choosing a plywood sheet, you should pay attention to the height of the room. In this case, you do not have to attach small pieces of material with insufficient sheet length.
You should also prepare the rails for installation. They are treated with an antiseptic that will protect the wood from insects, fungus, etc. First 2 bars are attached (next to the ceiling and floor). Directly on them in the future the remaining rails are attached. There should be a distance of approximately 45 cm between them.
If the wall is made of concrete or brick (or similar materials), then for the battens, metal suspensions should be made, which are fastened with dowels. If necessary, waterproofing material and insulation can be placed between the bars. Now you can begin the fashionable wall decoration with plywood. Mounting occurs in one of the ways described above.
Output
Looking at the photo of the wall decoration with plywood, we immediately see that this process is simple. It is enough to choose the right material, to study the features of its installation to the utmost and to correctly install.
Plywood is an excellent, economical, environmentally friendly material that will allow to level any surface in a room in a short period of time.