About Our Plywood Sheets

What is Plywood?

Plywood boards or “sheets” are made up of three or more thin layers of real wood that are glued together. The layers are known as “plies”, hence the name “plywood”. Generally, the thicker the plywood, the more layers it has. Furniture made from plywood manufactured board, and sheet products. It is a versatile material with a huge range of applications, from wall and floor covering to moulds for concrete structures, designer furniture to packaging.

This type of wood's thin sheets of veneer that are glued (plies) is usually set up perpendicularly to the adjacent layer (90 degrees) as part of a process called cross-lamination (also known as cross graining) that helps add extra strength to the material.

What Plywood does Champion Timber offer?

We offer a wide range of differing thickness plywood including hardwood throughout plywood suitable for external applications, hardwood faced general purpose plywood, birch plywood ideal for high-end joinery applications, marine plywood which conforms to BS1088-2003, and softwood structural plywood (CDX roofing sheets) ideal for wall sheathing etc. We also have a range of handy panel sizes.

To what quality specifications do we qualify?

High quality Champion plywood is compliant with EN314 and EN636.

Plywood has two material components, wood and glue, EN314;1993 and EN636;2003 are standards that work in tandem with each other with EN314; referring to bonding quality and EN636 referring to the durability of wood species.

EN636 defines the specification of plywood regarding the type of glue, the durability of the timber and its suitability for structural applications.

The number following the EN636 code defines the durability of the timber used in the manufacture of the plywood

EN636 – 1 (Class 1) Defines product that is suitable for dry interior use only

EN636 – 2 (Class 2) Defines that the product contains timber that is classified as non-durable and is suitable for use in humid areas or exposure to occasional wetting. It can be used in the exterior application when fully covered or given a fully external decoration.

EN636 - 3 (Class 3) Defines that the product is made from timber that is durable (hardwood throughout) and is suitable for all exterior applications including frequent wetting. Prolonged use in an external application would require boards to be covered or decorated.

The final part of EN636 deals with its suitability for structural use. All the plywood we stock of a thickness 9mm or over is suitable for structural use and is defined by the addition of the letter "S". Boards below 9mm show the letter "G" in their description and are only suitable for General use (non-structural)