Engineered Wood Explained (Man Made Timber)

In this piece will will be telling you a little bit about the most commonly used types of engineered wood.

• PLYWOOD: Plywood is constructed by gluing together layers of veneers. The layers are stuck together using a high quality water proof glue and are heated up and compressed during the gluing process. The grain direction of each veneer is revered on each level, this adds strength to the sheet. Plywood is strong enough to be used as a structural material, it has many applications in construction, such as shuttering.
• MEDIUM DENSITY FIBREBOARD (MDF): MDF is constructed by turning left over wood chippings into dust and combining them with glue and wax, the sheet is then heated up and compressed during the gluing process. MDF cannot be used as a structural material but it has many uses fro indoor application such as furniture making.
• ORIENTED STRAND BOARD (OSB): OSB is constructed using strands of wood, usually a few inches long by a couple of inches wide. The strands are stuck together with a high quality water proof glue and the grain is again reversed for each layer. OSB can also be used for many of the construction applications that plywood can. We use 8 foot by 2 foot tongued and grooved OSB2 for our attic flooring. 
• GLUE LAMINATED TIMBER (GLULAM): GLULAM is constructed of layers and layers of timber glued together with strong water proof glue. They can be made into long robust timbers which can be used as structural supports, both horizontal and vertical. They are also shapable at the manufacturing stage and so can be created curved.
• HARDBOARD: Hardboard is similar to MDF but is much more dense and it is often constructed using no resin. It is often used in furniture making as the back board of cupboards etc. Hardboard is used as the outer skin of the trapdoors of our standard range of folding attic stairs.
• BLOCKBOARD: Blockboard is constructed of a centre of lats of softwood such as pine which are sandwiched between two layers of hardwood veneers. They are then compressed together and glued wit a high quality resin.
• CHIPBOARD: Chipboard is constructed by compressing together timber shavings or sawdust with a resin or glue. Chipboard is generally used because it is cheap but it does not stand up well to moisture, meaning it cannot be used outside.

We hope this was informative for you and if you have any questions, please let us know.

All the best.

The Original Attic Stairs Team.