Sheet Woods

Hardboard

Usually 3mm thick
Not fully rigid
Used to line damaged wood floors before carpeting
Also available with a semi-gloss white finish
Most popular as cupboard backs and drawer bottoms in cheap furniture
Vulernable to water damage
Hardboard is occasionally called HDF, high density fibreboard, or masonite, a US trade name.

Pegboard

Hardboard with a matrix of prepunched holes.
Used for vending displays, long metal hooks go in the holes and products are hung on these.

Chipboard

aka Particleboard
Low cost sheet material
Made from wood chips & sawdust glued together.
Very widely used
Dimensionally stable, as long as kept dry
Much weaker than real wood
Comes in differing strength & finish grades
Flooring grade chipboard is a higher density stronger board
Occasionally called LDF, low density fibreboard
Made from mostly recycled wood.
- T&G, expand on

For Veneered chipboard, see Melamine below.

Melamine

Plastic coated chipboard
Available in white, brown wood patterns, and sometimes other plain colours
Veneer is very prone to chipping when cut
Veneer tends to chip over time, making it look tatty
Veneer chipping is mostly unrepairable
Veneered chipboard is the most popular furniture material today.

Blockboard

2 sheets of veneer with wood strips glued between
Used for furniture panels

OSB

Oriented strand board
aka Sterling board
Similar properties to plywood
A cheaper alternative to ply
Waterproof
Some OSB contains biocidal zinc borate to prevent mould & bacterial growth.

OSB vs ply

MDF

'Medium Density Fibreboard'
Fine wood fibres glued together
Uniform, can be tooled in any direction
Free from knots & other defects
Vulnerable to water
Often criticised for being an aesthetically inferior finish to real wood
Made from wood, scrap wood, recycled paper, bamboo, forest thinnings & sawmill off-cuts
Some concerns have been expressed about formaldehyde outgassing, which can possibly cause eye or lung irritation during working. But this is no more or less true than with chipboard or hardboard.
Green MDF is moisture resistant
Red MDF is fire retardant

Pineboard

Strips of pine glued side by side to make sheet wood
Each strip is in alternating grain direction
Eliminates nearly all potential for warping & cupping
Finished to furniture standard
Used for pine furniture construction, shelves, etc

Timberboard

Plywood

Sheets of wood veneer glued together
Each sheet has grain laid at 90 degrees to its neighbours
Excellent strength in both directions.
Available in various grades: - Marine, WBP, fair faced, beech, underlay
Various thicknesses from 4mm to 2"
Flexible 4mm ply also available
Not one of the cheaper sheet materials

Types of Ply

Marine: This is a very expensive and high quality product. It is made with water proof resins that will withstand prolonged immersion in water. The board is also guaranteed to have no gaps or "voids" in it, with no knots in any of the laminations. It is strong, durable, won't de-laminate, and can be finished to a high standard.

Water & Boil Proof (WBP): This is what most people usually mean when they say "marine ply". It is a high quality ply suitable for outdoor applications. As its name suggests it will remain waterproof, and won't blister or de-laminate even if soaked and then left to dry in the sun. Unlike marine ply it may have small voids, and is not suited to constant immersion, but is cheaper. Finish is usually nice and uniform (if a little plain) with no visible knots in the outer surfaces.

Shuttering ply: This is also WBP but it does not look as nice or "finished". This is because it is usually made from spiral cut laminations, and so will have knots and other marks visible in all the laminations. Its intended use is for building shuttering to temporarily enclose poured concrete work. It is strong and waterproof, but quite a bit cheaper than standard finished WBP ply. Shuttering ply tends to be somewhat absorbent at first, and is hence harder to decorate. The grain and texture of the surface will also tend to show through any finish.

CDX: Interior grade of ply - Unlike WBP this will not take well to getting wet. A couple of exposures to moisture is usually all it takes to have the surface start to bubble, and the laminations start to come apart. It is cheaper than WBP and much better looking than shuttering ply, it will also decorate and finish well.

Fair faced: This is a whole category of veneered and finished plys suitable for furniture making. Strong and dimensionally stable, the outer layers of veneer are usually cut from a more attractive hardwood, that will look to all intents and purposes like a solid hardwood when assembled and finished. Depending on the veneer chosen, these can be expensive (although still cheaper than solid hardwood). Note that similar MDF cored products are also available.

Laminate

Hardwood on chipboard generally, with or without a balancing underside layer of wood for greater stability.
Used for flooring

SIP

Structural insulated wood panels
2x OSB outer layers with insulation fill.

Non Wood Materials

Plasterboard

Very popular walling sheet
Cheap
Not as strong as wood sheets
Cut with handsaw or knife
2 sheets of paper with gypsum inbetween
9.5mm and 12mm are the most common sizes
12mm is significantly more robust
Available with various edge profiles:
Flexible PB is also available.
2 layers gives better soundproofing and longer fire resistance

Clayboard

Used as plasterboard
Typically 1" thick
Construction as plasterboard, but using clay based plaster
Much heavier than plasterboard
Better sound absorption

Sheet plastic

Not widely used in DIY
High price & lacklustre performance for DIY purposes

Fibre cement

New fibre cement sheet is normally glass fibre reinforced cement. Other fibres may be used.
Old fibre cement sheet (until 1986) was normally asbestos fibre reinforced
Both have similar properties, except for the health issues surrounding asbestos
Totally weatherproof
Waterproof
Very robust
Fireproof
Long lasting
Ruins drill bits & saw blades
Not cheap
Possible to make non-compressed fibre cement sheet at home
Used for soffits, bargeboards, furniture, garages, bunkers, heatproofing, fireproofing, and sometimes found in place of plasterboard.
Breakage on outbuildings is largely due to the very thin elements used.

Sag

Sag can be an issue with sheet materials, especially the lower strength ones like chipboard.

The Sagulator calculates short and long term sag, given the dimensions, loading and material type.

Sheet material

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