Shuttering, with the help of shuttering plywood, which is also known as scaffolding, is a basic but complex process of forming construction mold by the shuttering/scaffolding material i.e. timber, plywood, steel, aluminum, plastic, magnesium and fabrics. All of these shuttering materials have their own advantages, but the wood is most frequently used shuttering material and the cost of wood/timber will be dependant on its quality. Moreover wooden formwork is, aesthetically pleasing architectural method. Painting the timber and using an oil or epoxy treatment can increase the life of the timber formwork, allowing you to use it many times.
Plywood is also a synthetic form of wood, but it is different from timber, because plywood is an artificially processed form of timber. It consists of number of veneer sheets of ply layers. Now-a-days the use of plywood is growing rapidly in formworks, because of it giving a smooth finish to the concrete structures, thus reducing the cost of finishing. Plywood boards are available in different sizes ranging from 7mm to 32 mm. Generally boards of 18 mm thickness are being used. A board with 1220 mm width, 2440 mm long and 18 mm thick board covers almost all types of form work.
Advantages of Plywood Boards in Formwork:
Like timber, plywood boards can also be cut according to the required sizes.
Unlike timber, plywood is more durable and can be used tens of times more than timber.
Like timber plywood is also very light and can easily be handled.
Unlike timber, it does not absorb the water of concrete.
Plywood gives a smooth fish to the concrete, which, later on, reduces the cost of finish.
Plywood can also be used in curved formworks.
Extra-ordinary large sizes of plywood are available which makes the construction work easy and speedy.
It can be reused frequently as compared to the timber.