What was I thinking? (Home Depot plywood)

[Bob Jones 5443]

For a few years now I have focused on smaller projects involving quality hardwoods. Recently I took on a larger built-in that I figured would be fine with plywood, as I was going to use face frames, molding trim, and paint.

I went to Home Depot with my frame of reference stuck in 2010, the last time I bought 4x8 sheets for another large built-in (different house). I remember Purebond as the brand that was of sufficient quality that it held up under the needs of that type of project.

Boy, have things changed.

The best piece I could find was a maple veneer. I checked for voids between the plies, and there didn't seem to be any, so I mentally put the sheet in the category of the sheets I used to buy there a decade ago. Purebond it is not. Where to start?

• The edges weren't straight or even square to the face of the sheet.
• The outer veneer is probably 1/128" thick if it's that (I should have noticed that in the store).
• The back face is just plain unacceptable: foot-long voids that I'll need to fill and sand before painting, lower-quality maple veneer compared to the front. (I didn't pull the sheet to look at the back!)
• SO...MUCH...PITCH! My crosscut blade, dado stack, and router bit –– heck, the whole router table around the bit –– were all gunked up after a very few cuts. What is that glue they're using? Yuck.

The sheet is flat enough, and with no inner voids it will likely hold up in use. But what a piece of inferior product it is.

C'mon, folks; back me up. Surely you remember when Purebond was an acceptable medium-quality sheet good (suitable for face frames and painting)? That memory is what brought me back to Home Depot. I am now done with buying plywood there.

I know what you're thinking: I wasn't observant enough. Guilty as charged. I let my positive memory of Purebond prejudice my judgment of the junk they're selling today. But now that I'm down to the rabbeting stage on all the parts, it's too late to start over.

[Brian Tymchak]

Are you sure it was Purebond? I've never seen Purebond maple ply at my HD, only birch. Purebond is the only plywood I'll buy at a big box store. I just bought a few sheets of 1/2" @ HD ast week. It was perfect. Both sheets even had a square corner to start from.

[Bob Jones 5443]

Brian, what I bought in 2010, Silicon Valley, was definitely PureBond (and yes, it was birch). Today my four nearest Home Depots in Contra Costa County do not carry a selection of PureBond, so I bought that inferior (maple, not PureBond) piece last month that was on the shelf. I see now I didn't specify that in the first post.

Also, I just checked online. They asked for my location, so I gave it to them. The only 3/4" "Purebond" that came up as available was 1/2" boards precut for corn hole games.

Then I opened up the search for just plywood. Reading the fine print, I saw Columbia Forest Products PureBond. Only Red Oak came up as in stock in stores within 20 miles of me.

Maybe I should have ordered a sheet and waited for it to come to the store, but I didn't want to take a chance that the sheet would have something wrong with it. Instead I get a sheet with a lot wrong with it.

My wood guy just retired after 4 decades in the business. He always had top quality everything. There's nothing to take his place in this county of 1.2 million.

[lowell holmes]

You need to find lumber yards near you. I have three yards with in thirty minutes. I never have inferior wood.

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?...kilgore+lumber

[ray grundhoefer]

10 or 15 years ago I bought some 3/4 red oak plywood from home depot for a project.. It was by far the worst plywood I have ever had the displeasure of using. Voids all over and yes ,terribly thin veneer coat. At the time my regular supplier was out and I wanted to get started that weekend. BUT neverf again

[Jim Dwight]

If you are going to paint it, I think the softwood plywood HD sells (3/4) from Chile, I think they call it Radianta, is a pretty good buy. One side is clear and the other side is normally completely sound but will have some knots. I have a large cabinet in my bathroom made from it and painted and it is holding up great. It has a few voids but it pretty good. The face plys are thick enough you shouldn't sand through. It may have gone up a little but I've bought it for $40/sheet. Their Sandeply can also work sometimes but is made of some sort of very soft wood with lots of pores. Internal voids are not too bad in it either. I agree their hardwood plywood leaves a lot to be desired. Face veneers are typically rotary cut and very thin. Lots of internal voids and internal plys are often softwood. But sometimes I've had poplar internal plys which is typically sounder.

[Peter Kelly]

https://www.truittandwhite.com
https://www.macbeath.com

Not more than 30 minutes drive from Lafayette.

[Rich Aldrich]

I prefer the Timber Products hardwood plywood at Menards. It is decent quality. I have had good luck with it.

[Jim Becker]

What's available in your local home center (orange, blue, whatever color) will generally vary geographically. Menards is a slightly different animal from what I've observed from folks posting here and elsewhere over the years, as they seem to combine "home center" with "real lumber yard that caters to builders" into one operation. But since they are not in this area, I've never been in one to see with my own eyes what they carry. For a few years now, I've been buying most of my sheet goods from a commercial plywood supplier. (Industrial Plywood out of Reading PA in my case) I've only ever had one bad sheet...which they replaced two days later... and they deliver to my area twice a week with no delivery fee for a $300 minimum order. (which is not hard to accomplish...) It's the "good stuff".

[Ed Gibbons]

What's available in your local home center (orange, blue, whatever color) will generally vary geographically. Menards is a slightly different animal from what I've observed from folks posting here and elsewhere over the years, as they seem to combine "home center" with "real lumber yard that caters to builders" into one operation. But since they are not in this area, I've never been in one to see with my own eyes what they carry. For a few years now, I've been buying most of my sheet goods from a commercial plywood supplier. (Industrial Plywood out of Reading PA in my case) I've only ever had one bad sheet...which they replaced two days later... and they deliver to my area twice a week with no delivery fee for a $300 minimum order. (which is not hard to accomplish...) It's the "good stuff".

There is an Industrial Plywood in Lewiston. Good place.

[Dave Cav]

If you are going to paint it, I think the softwood plywood HD sells (3/4) from Chile, I think they call it Radianta, is a pretty good buy. One side is clear and the other side is normally completely sound but will have some knots. I have a large cabinet in my bathroom made from it and painted and it is holding up great. It has a few voids but it pretty good. The face plys are thick enough you shouldn't sand through. It may have gone up a little but I've bought it for $40/sheet.

I have used this stuff with fairly good results as well. Generally pretty flat and few to no voids and the A side is usually pretty good. The local HD generally has it in stock but shipments are hit and miss. I try to keep a couple of sheets around for utility work or shelves. One thing to note, it's not at all weather or waterproof. I had some scraps outside and they fell apart.

[Jim Becker]

There is an Industrial Plywood in Lewiston. Good place.

Same company, Ed. They serve more central PA from Lewiston and more eastern PA from Reading. Great folks. Good products. Acceptable prices. And...they deliver. (two days a week to my area)

[Mark Carlson]

I got a sheet of 3/4 inch Columbia Forest PureBond birch yesterday at Home Depot for $60. It was the last sheet. It wasn't bad. No voids, very flat and the faces were fine. I've used about 4 sheets in the past year for shop shelving and it worked well for that.

[Bob Riefer]

For a few years now, I've been buying most of my sheet goods from a commercial plywood supplier. (Industrial Plywood out of Reading PA in my case) I've only ever had one bad sheet...which they replaced two days later... and they deliver to my area twice a week with no delivery fee for a $300 minimum order. (which is not hard to accomplish...) It's the "good stuff".

Deliver to your area eh? Does that mean they would also deliver to my area (aka your old stomping grounds)? I can call and ask of course, but if you happen to know...


----

And, more on topic... I used a few pieces of the 2' x 4' maple veneer plywood from Lowes for a recent project at our own house. I had to painstakingly handle it, ensure no glue drips (therefore extremely minimal sanding), and in this case the top was ambrosia and all the edges received ambrosia trim. In the end, it turned out very nicely but it definitely wasn't very nice to work with.

[John TenEyck]

I recently bought some birch Purebond plywood at my local HD. One side of the 3/4" (which was well less than 3/4" actual thickness) was good, the other poor, but OK for my paint grade project. The 1/4" was not even 3/16" thick, but the show side was OK. Overall, the quality is not as good as a few years ago but still OK for what I needed.

When I need higher quality plywood I go to a local millwork supplier. For my own furniture related plywood needs I normally use Baltic birch and cover it with shop sawn veneer. Time consuming but top notch.

John