Plywood and Countertops, a Dummies Discussion

¾-inch plywood

One of the most frequent ways that our nominees get themselves in trouble is assuming that the person asking the questions they answer have constructed a question that makes sense. Of course, if our DotDs knew what they were freelancing about, they'd know enough not the get caught by a nonsense question... but too often, they don't. That's what caught returning DotD Thomas West: someone asked "What Kind of Plywood Is for Countertops?" at eHow.com, and the dummy answered his question.

The answer is pretty simple: you don't make countertops out of plywood; if you're applying laminate you use MDF because it is so much smoother. According to West, who's already collected awards in three different categories,

"Plywood can be used in the construction of a kitchen countertop. Whether using thicker sheets as the framework or thinner sheets as the countertop work surface, your local lumberyard may stock exactly what you are looking for."

Well, plywood is used for the support framework, but as for the "work surface"? Hell to the no! Not deterred by facts, West soldiered on with his misinformation, "informing" his readers that,

"You may prefer the look of wood grain in your kitchen... If you cannot afford solid wood, thin plywood can be adhered to a countertop framework in much the same way that sheets of laminate are applied."

We aren't sure where Tommy came up with this notion, since it isn't in his sole reference, but that doesn't matter 'cause it's utter bushwa, anyway. What West doesn't seem to understand is that the veneer on plywood is less than ¹⁄₁₆ inch thick, to begin with, which is why his suggestion that "Plywood used as a finished worktop surface should be 1/8- or ¼-inch material..." doesn't make a lot of sense.

While certain mommybloggers and upcyclers have been content to use ordinary lumber or recycled wood (real or fake) for countertops, they also seem unaware that a countertop needs to be thicker than the ¾" thickness of nominal 1-inch dimensional lumber, otherwise it looks... cheap. That's why the once-popular wood butcher-block counters were 1½" or more thick, and made out of solid wood. Kitchen counters are one place where you do not want to cheap out, remodelers.

All that to say that West, despite his PhD in English, didn't know what he was talking about... the very definition of a Dumbass of the Day.

copyright © 2020-2023 scmrak

DDIY - PLYWOOD