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| Plywood Construction |
Let the design and colour of your home be limited only by your imagination, by using plywood as a home building material.
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We've looked into the diverse uses of plywood. Plywood is often best known for its use as internal cladding, but it can also be used externally. The properties of plywood mean that it is often used in earthquake-prone cities such as Los Angeles, where it withstands numerous earth tremors.
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Plywood can be painted, bent to shape (used vertically to get a curved effect), and rendered with acrylic/stucco in a range of colours and styles to suit. It is an appropriate material to use for bracing because of its natural strength, allowing creative freedom in the shape and design of windows.
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Portholes and triangular windows can easily be cut from plywood without the need for extra bracing, cutting down on much expense. It is a natural insulator and keeps heat in or out. During extremes of temperatures, the use of plywood minimises expansion or contraction. This makes it ideal for the Queensland climate, as featured in our show.
Benefits of plywood include:
Bracing as well as cladding
decorative and strong
design versatility (can be adapted to curved shapes)
cost-effective
lightweight and easy to handle
resists impacts and heavy blows
no special tools required
permanent marine glue bond
preservative-treated against decay
good thermal and sound insulation
it's real timber cladding
quick and easy to use.
Shadowclad is a product that makes using plywood even easier.
It is basically composed of strips of plywood joined together in such a way as to allow a groove between each board. These grooves allow the surface to expand in hot weather and contract in cooler weather without surface buckling. Ideal for the Australian climate, Shadowclad also serves well as a window frame insert, due to its strength and its dual role as both a brace and exterior cladding at once. Shadowclad is treated with a light organic solvent preservative. It can also be painted in a range of colours.
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The home has been built to a circular plan. The lounge room (on the second floor), the kitchen and dining area were designed to circle the central stairwell so that a curved wall of glass windows could be built, allowing sunlight into the home during winter. The outside features an extensive use of Shadowclad, particularly at the rear of the home.
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Here we see the use of plywood as bracing and cladding has enabled an unusual design. Triangular windows have been formed using Shadowclad, and inside expanses of glass encircle the combined living, sitting and kitchen areas. Some interesting shapes were used to complement the unusual design of the home. Features include a circular jarrah wood benchtop, cabinets and drawers, together with some high-fashion bathroom cabinets. A main highlight of this home is a suspended bridge walkway linking the living rooms!
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Window shapes have been cut into the plywood bracing of this home, which is covered in an acrylic render. There is also much use of Shadowclad, the leftover materials being put to good use in the making of a colourful cubbyhouse underneath. A long, yellow upright piece, similar to a vertical "spear", was incorporated into the design. This provides structural strength as well as a strong aesthetic element.
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This house has been finished in purple and jade green acrylic colours, demonstrating the freedom of colour choice when using Shadowclad plywood construction.
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Materials
Shadowclad, plywood, paint and other materials as necessary.
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More Info
The builder of Homes 1-3 is Kerry Carmine, ph: 018 714 241.
Builder of Home No. 4 is Danny Sheared, ph: (07) 5479 6323.
Shadowclad supplied by Carter Holt Harvey, Engineered Wood Products, 22 Prospect Street, Box Hill VIC 3128, ph: (03) 9258 7620, fax: (03) 9258 7629.
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Disclaimer
All Fact Sheets and other material on the Our House website are provided as a general information service only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the advice of a properly qualified tradesman. Neither ninemsn nor its licensors (including the Nine Network) assume or accept any responsibility for, and will not be liable for the accuracy or appropriate application of any information whatsoever in any Fact Sheet or other material on the Our House web site. Your use of the Our House web site is governed by this disclaimer and the ninemsn's Terms of Use.
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