Best Type Of Plywood For Interiors

Prakash Rai
3 min readJan 24, 2022

Wooden interior design is classic and timeless. No material is as adaptable and creative as plywood.

Plywood blends the rustic with modern style in a cost-effective form. But which plywood is best for interiors?

While buying plywood from a plywood store, you will be overwhelmed to know that there are more than 15 types of plywood that can be used for different purposes for interiors. Plywood is preferred over logs as these have a much smoother surface and do not expand or shrink due to weather changes.

Best Type Of Plywood For Interiors

What Is Plywood?

Ply means layer, so the plywood is an engineered wood in which the sheets or layers of wood are glued together with a resin in high pressure. The sheets come in different textures, sizes, and thicknesses.

Types Of Plywood

There are different types of plywood that fit perfectly in interior design, however, let’s first discuss the basic types available in plywood store for interiors.

  1. Moisture-Resistant Plywood: These plywood are known as commercial plywood in plywood stores and, these are extensively used in interior applications. Moisture-resistant plywood resists moisture in humid and damp conditions. This ensures it does not expand or shrink in changing weather.
  2. Boiling Water Resistant Plywood or Boiling Water Proof plywood: This type of plywood is most favored for the fabrication of cabinets. This type of plywood resists the invasion of termites, borers. Moreover, this type of plywood is fire-resistant. This makes it highly preferential for kitchen or bathroom cabinets and furniture like sofa or bed.
  3. Hardwood Plywood: Hardwood plywood is crafted from Teakwood, Gurjan, or Birchwood. In this, the hardwood is made by layering more than 7 layers of wood. This makes it sturdy and durable. Hardwood plywood is most expensive and these are used for making wall structures or heavy-duty floors.
  4. Softwood Plywood: Softwood plywood is cheaper in comparison to hardwood plywood. These are crafted generally from Pinewoods. These types of plywood are pitted with hardwood to make it sturdy like hardwood. These are used in roof sheathing or making subfloors in your house.
  5. Poplar Ply: Poplar ply comes in the mid-range of hardwood ply and softwood ply. This type of plywood is lightweight and mostly used in high structural interiors.
  6. Alternative Core: As the name suggests, it has alternative layers of red and yellow-tinged wood. The woods are layered in cross-section providing it with an alternative core. This makes the plywood durable and cost-friendly. It is used extensively in interiors.

Engineered Woods For Interior

Blockboard

The blockboard is made of various layers of wood between two sheets of ply. The manufacturing design decides its durability. The thickness in which it is available in 16,19, 25mm.

MDF or Medium Density Fibreboard

In MDF instead of wood, wood pulp is used for making plywood. It is less durable if compared to its alternative plywood. It is mostly used for making computer tables working desks and lightweight cabinets.

Particle Board

The particleboard is manufactured by pressing wooden chips together. It is not that durable however it is the cheapest. This type of plywood is not resistant to termites or borers. It is also used for making furniture and cabinets but has lower quality than other types of plywood you can find in plywood stores.

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Prakash Rai

Hi, my name is Prakash Rai and I define myself as a passionate blogger working at a leading plywood company based in India.