Timber sheet material for outdoor use - has to be smooth and paintable

oinkely

Hi All,

Looking for ideas for what to use for a small project I have planned for the garden.

A bit tricky to desribe but I want to put in a decorative fireplace in the garden and I want it set into a smooth panel of about 8 foot by 8 foot. I was thinking of using plywood for this, as I want to paint it in quite a bright colour.

I have been advised that plywood + outdoors are not a good match,, even with a good few coats of paint on them.

Any ideas on an alternative sheet material, or a good way to protect ply from the elements?

Budget is not massive though, hence the ply idea. I have the fireplace and surround already, just need to sort out the 'wall' material.

thanks

fergal.b

Marine plywood coated in epoxy resin and then painted will last outside, my boats do





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oinkely

thanks Fergal,

Any idea where to buy / how much it would cost for epoxy resin for two 8*4 sheets of ply?

And is id difficultl to workk with?

thanks

Oink

fergal.b

You can get the epoxy here http://marineparts.ie/west-system-a-pack-1kg-slow.html you can also get pumps that screw on to the tins that make it easy for mixing "1 - 1" don't mix too much at a time as it will setup and heat up too quick I do about 3 pumps of each at a time. West systems epoxy have lots of youtube videos so check them out.
Most of these will have marine ply.

http://www.wallerwickham.ie/csd/index.php NOT too cheep but good stuff.

http://www.chadwicks.ie/

http://www.brooksgroup.ie/products/t...wood-products/

http://www.strahan.ie/tradeshop/view...p?productid=79

http://woodworkers.ie/prices/p_sheet_plywood.shtml

https://www.build4less.ie/index.php?cPath=397_398_687

oinkely

Thanks Fergal,

Do you think one pack of resin would be emnough to treat two sheets of ply on both sides and around the edges?

thanks

fergal.b

You will be looking to cover 128 square foot in two coats and then the edges will take another bit so lets say 300 square foot I say you are looking at about a gallon in total of resin and hardener. It might also take a bit more depending on how much the wood absorbs it. If you have to do two coats do the second one about 3 hours after the first and it will bond but if you let the first coat set you will have to wash of any wax "amine blush" off and then give it a light sanding, do this also before painting.




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Calahonda52

Good stuff here Fergal, just to help the OP how many kg to the gallon, given that its 50 euro a kg it might blow his budget

jeepers101

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Good stuff here Fergal, just to help the OP how many kg to the gallon, given that its 50 euro a kg it might blow his budget

Going by this link,

partA +PartB /2 = 1.6g/ml = 1.6kg/l

1 gallon =4.54l

4.54*1.6 = 7.264kg required

fergal.b

They do sell a 6kg pack for €165 http://marineparts.ie/west-system-b-pack-6kg-slow.html
Another option might be to make it out of treated decking boards or even the plastic ones, it wouldn't be too expensive for an 8x8 deck.



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monkeynuz

jeepers101 wrote: »

Going by this link,

partA +PartB /2 = 1.6g/ml = 1.6kg/l

1 gallon = 3.8l

3.8*1.6 = 6.08kg required

Total cost = 304 euro

I thought a gallon was 4.54 litres?

jeepers101

monkeynuz wrote: »

I thought a gallon was 4.54 litres?

Sorry, confused it with the US gallon. Post edited accordingly.

oinkely

thanks All for the advice and the pricing guide. I'll have to rethink my plan as that is way out of the budget. Already in trouble for buying a used fireplace on donedeal to get the project started!

Might just go with treated 7*1 and plane/sand it down a bit to get it looking a little more finished and then paint it and see how it looks. Trying to get inject a splash of colour into a very wooden garden! Deck, fence, shed, wooodstore and kids wendy house are all unpainted timber and it's a small area.

cheers all