Weatherproof plywood

[Michael Dye]

Looking for some advice. I've got a scoreboard that is also used for attaching announcements. Staples are normally used, but I have seen nails and pushpins, as well. My problem stems from the wood originally used for the scoreboard. It is 3/4" plywood, painted, and has gone through several years of heavy use and, quite frankly, needs to be replaced. I would like to use something that accepts staples and pushpins a bit better (a softer composite, perhaps) as well as being able to take a yearly coat of paint to maintain it's new appearance. Any ideas from the audience? Thanks, in advance.

[Roy Harding]

Marine grade ply.

[Mel Fulks]

I would buy a piece of good one side cheap plywood and glue cotton duck cloth on it with Titebond 2 glue. Then paint it with acrylic paint. Thin first coat with water and brush well in cloth. Holes can periodicly be filled and touched up but will little negative effect if ignored,especially if the board has a little over hang roof. Treatment goes back several hundred years and their are you tube videos.

[Tom M King]

Pressure Treated plywood is sold around the lake here, which is used in boathouses mostly from what I've seen. I don't think it's typically sold in a lot of places. It lasts a long time outside, but probably not the best to hold paint.

Best might be to make the plywood part easily replaceable.

[Mel Fulks]

Tom, in your work on old houses do you ever see remnants of canvas glued to porch and portico sloped floors?

[Joe Spear]

How about MDO? The surface is a resin impregnated paper and is used for the big road signs you see along highways. As long as it is kept painted, it lasts a long time.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Michael, for a board on which notes are posted, how about some of these Harbor Freight foam floor tiles (or other cushion materials as mentioned in the thread on Workshop flooring in the WorkShops forum) attached to a rigid substrate, such as plywood treated as some others replying to this thread have mentioned ?

[Tom M King]

Tom, in your work on old houses do you ever see remnants of canvas glued to porch and portico sloped floors?

Nope, Not yet.

[Perry Holbrook]

I always first look for outdoor sign materials at my local sign guy. Their world is full of interesting board materials.
Or perhaps post in the CNC forum here.

Perry

[Michael Dye]

I like the idea of the canvas. All of the recommendations for the marine grade plywood are great. Only problem with the plywood is the hardness. I'm trying to find something soft enough to accept the staples, pushpins, etc. But, we need to be able to pull them out just as easily. The foam floor tiles might do it, as well. The issue I have now is that when our crew staples into the existing wood, the staples never come out in one piece. Many a bloodied hand has resulted from the bits and pieces of staple jutting out of the plywood. Canvas might be the way to go. I will build a sample tomorrow and try it out.

[Mark Blatter]

Two thoughts, though not sure either would work the best, but I think both are pretty immune to weather.

First is corrugated plastic. They use thin sheets of it for yard signs.

Second is expanded PVC. I have used it in 1/2" sheets, but I think you can buy it thicker. It isn't real strong, but will take push pins and staples quite well.

[Mel Fulks]

Tom, I'm surprised but thanks for reply. I know I've read mentions of use in specific places in this country at least back to 1830. Especially for porticos where dirt might fall on to lower floor and people's heads. An old timer I worked with told me he and his father were still maintaining old wood fire escapes into the 1950's by that method.

[Robert Hayward]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homasote

I will admit I have not seen Homasote sold in stores in a long time. It is good cheap ( it used to be anyway ) material for a bulletin board if kept painted. The USAF used to use it for bulletin boards all over USA. The house I am in while typing this is 46 years old and the gable ends are covered with Homasote. It is as good as the day it was installed.

[Tom M King]

I thought about maybe using some kind of foam board. Contact these people, and see if they have any ideas: http://www.foamboardsource.com/gatorfoams--gatorfoam--1-2--gatorfoam.html

[Mel Fulks]

The stuff suggested will work just fine. But they are expensive. Most of these kids organizations don't have a lot of money. I went so far as to consult with a paint company technician on copying the old painted canvas and sent them a finished piece for testing and they said it was "a very good surface". Well, I'll add one more expensive way: teak covered with gold or platinum.

[Paul F Franklin]

FWIW, my local lumberyard (NE Ohio) still sells homasote.....

1/2" XPS insulation covered with canvas would probably work well. Wouldn't even need to cover it except for appearance. Cheap enough to replace when it gets too beat up.

[Eric Schmid]

Azek cellular PVC. You'll need more support for it than marine ply, but you'll never have to paint it and it's soft. Comes in 1/2" thick 4x8 sheets.

[Bob Michaels]

The issue with plywood is delamination (the plies start to unravel). I always coat the edges of ply when used outdoors. I coat the edges with 3 coats of West System epoxy. Then i paint with a good quality paint because the UV will cause issues with epoxy if left unpainted. I never had a failure with this approach.

[Michael Dye]

I got on the Azek website and found they manufacture exactly what I'm looking for. Best of all, there is a dealer not far away. I had thought about the composite crown molding that I use from time to time, just didn't realize that it was available in 4'X8' sheets. Hell, they even have it in 4'X10'. Thanks for all of the help, everybody. That is one of the main reasons I like this website. Always constructive answers to all sorts of problems.

[Nick Nelson]

Arauco plywood.