BUILDING MATERIALS II

LAMINATES & VENEERS

OVERVIEW
Many wood based products -
developed over time to economise
on the use of timber

These wood products

manufactured under controlled
conditions in factories - Processed
woods or industrial timber with
desired shape, appearance,
strength, etc.

Most common forms of Processed

woods - laminates, veneers,
plywoods, various types of boards,
etc.
LAMINATES
Technique of manufacturing a material in multiple layers

Composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance or

other properties from the use of differing materials.

Usually permanently assembled by heat, pressure, welding, or adhesives.

provide look of traditional wood for a fraction of the cost

Laminates - scratch-resistant, durable and easier to clean

Easier to maintain, as the clear protective layer is resistant to pretty much everything except
long exposure to water.

Laminates - environmentally friendly as they use less wood to be manufactured

However, long time exposure to water or moisture may result in the laminate warping or
ballooning.

Relatively shorter life-span as compared to traditional wood - between 10 to 20 years.

LAMINATES - CLASSIFICATION
Laminates may be classified on the basis of the following parameters:

Manufacturing process

Thickness

Usage

Surface finish

Basis Of Classification Type Description

High pressure laminates (HPL) such as those
manufactured under the brand names of
High Pressure Laminates
Sunmica or Formica, are hard decorative sheets
Manufacturing process: (HPL)
that are commonly fixed by carpenters over
Depending on the amount of
plywood while making the furniture.
pressure used in the
Only the decorative paper is soaked in
bonding process
Low Pressure Laminates Melamine resin, and the laminated paper is
(LPL) then directly bonded to Particle Boards or Fiber
Boards (MDF and HDF)
LAMINATES - CLASSIFICATION
Basis Of
Type Description
Classification
Regular laminate sheets usually have a thickness that ranges
Regular Laminate from 0.6 mm to 1.5 mm, and these sheets are glued by
sheets carpenters to substrate materials such as plywood using common
adhesives like Fevicol.
Thickness Compact Laminates which have a thickness ranging from 3 mm to
30 mm. These Compact Laminates are self-supporting and hence
Compact Laminates do not need to be glued to woods or any other material. Both the
top and bottom sides of compact laminates have decorative
surfaces.
For decorative laminates the look and feel are the important
Decorative laminates aspects as they are commonly used to decorate and protect
wooden furniture
Usage for industrial laminates the focus is more on having a surface that
has higher strength, higher resistance to scratches and wear and
Industrial laminates
tear, and which is very durable. Industrial use products such as
circuit boards are made using industrial laminate materials.
Since Decorative Laminates are artificially created surfaces, they have a large variety in
colours, patterns and textures. Based on the surface finishing of the sheets, decorative
Surface finish
laminates can be classified as solid colour, floral patterns, gloss finished, matt finish
laminates, wooden finish laminates (which has designs that look like wood).
VENEERS
Thin sheets or slices of wood of superior quality

Thickness - 0.40 mm to 6 mm or more

Obtained by rotating a log of wood against a sharp knife of rotary cutter or saw

The Indian timbers suitable for veneers - mahogany, oak, rose wood, sissoo, teak, etc.

The process of preparing a sheet of veneers is - veneering.

The most suitable wood for veneers is walnut. However, other species like teak, sisoo, rose
wood, etc. are also used.
 VENEERS - CLASSIFICATION
Veneers may be classified on the basis of the following parameters:

Quality

Method of cutting

Properties
QUALITY REQUIREMENTS OF VENEERS
Types of surfaces
Defect categories
A B
Discoloration Nil 5%
Dote* 50 mm/m2 150 mm/m2
Insect holes Scattered upto 12 holes/ m 2 Scattered upto 24 holes/ m2

1 joint for every multiple of 200mm provided, no

Joints No restriction
individual piece is less than 100 mm in width

Knots (dead) 2 nos. upto 12mm dia/m2 4 nos. upto 20 mm dia/m2

Pin knots (dead) 2 nos./m2 6 nos./m2
Pin knots (live) No restriction No restriction
Knots (tight) 6 nos. upto 25mm dia/m2 No restriction PERMISSIBLE CATEGORIES OF
4 patches/ m2, provided they are all tight patches Any no., provided they are all tight patches and do DEFECTS
Patches
and do not mar the appearance not mar the appearance Max. no. of
categories of
2 splits, each not more than 1mm wide and length 3 splits, each not more than 4mm wide and length Types of
Splits defects
not more than 100mm not more than 150mm surfaces
permissible per
Unlimited, provided they do not mar the
Swirl No restriction sq/m
appearance
* It is an early stage of decay characterized by local discoloration of wood, most frequently in the form of streaks along the grain, but
A 3
sometimes as spots B 5
VENEERS - CLASSIFICATION
VENEERS - CLASSIFICATION
VENEERS - CLASSIFICATION
CLASSIFICATION OF VENEERS BASED ON PROPERTIES

Raw veneer -No backing on it and can be used with either side facing up.
-However, the two sides will appear different
Paper backed veneer -Veneers that are backed with paper
-Available in large sizes, or sheets, as smaller pieces are joined together
prior to adding the backing
-Helpful when veneering curves and columns
Phenolic backed veneer -Less common and is used for composite, or manmade wood veneers
-less likely to crack when being used on curves
Laid up veneer -raw veneer that has been joined together to make larger pieces
-process - time-consuming and requires great care, but is not difficult and
requires no expensive tools or machinery
Reconstituted veneer -made from fast-growing tropical species
-Raw veneer is cut from a log, and dyed if necessary
-the sheets are laminated together to form a block
-block is then sliced so that the edges of the laminated veneer become the
grain of the reconstituted veneer
Wood on Wood - Also called 2-ply is a decorative wood veneer face with a utility grade
wood backer applied at an opposing direction to the face veneer
VENEERS - MATCHING
VENEERS - MATCHING
RESIN BONDED PLYWOOD
Plywood - a very common and very useful construction material

Used in building houses, furniture, and many other purposes

Plywood in which the wood veneers are held together with synthetic resin, glues, or glue-
impregnated paper and finally formed with pressure and heat, are known as resin bonded
plywoods.

Majority of plywood types have the veneers bonded with resins.

INSULATING BOARD
Structural or finishing boards with insulating properties

Such materials offer effective insulation against heat/ cold and sound due to the
presence of minute air cavities

Can be used for ceilings, floors, walls, and roofs

Panels usually consist of plywood, oriented strandboard, or drywall glued and

sandwiched around a core consisting of expanded polystyrene, polyurethane,
polyisocyanurate, compressed wheat straw, or epoxy
Advantages
Strong. Able to bear loads, including external loads from precipitation and wind.
Insulating boards may be used completely for construction of structures. In such cases, construction can be faster and less
timber would be required
Insulate acoustically.
Impermeable to moisture.
Create shell of solid insulation around house, while reducing bypasses common with stick-frame construction. The result is an
inherently energy-efficient house.
Do not use formaldehyde, CFCs, or HCFCs in manufacturing
Disadvantages
More expensive than other types of insulation.
Thermal bridging at spines and fastening points is required
MEDIUM DENSITY FIBRE BOARDS (MDFS)
an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood
residuals into wood fibres, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming
panels by applying high temperature and pressure

generally denser than plywood

stronger and much denser than particle board

density - typically between 500 kg/m3 and 1000 kg/m3

does not contain knots or rings, making it more uniform than natural woods
MEDIUM DENSITY FIBRE BOARDS (MDFS)
Benefits of MDF
Is an excellent substitute for veneers.
Some varieties are less expensive
than many natural woods
Consistent in strength and size
Flexible. Can be used for curved walls
or surfaces.
Shapes well.
Stable dimensions (will not expand or
contract like wood)
Easy to finish (i.e. paint)
Drawbacks of MDF
Denser than plywood or chipboard (the resins are
heavy)
Low grade MDF may swell and break when
saturated with water.
May warp or expand if not sealed.
Contains urea-formaldehyde which is a probable
carcinogen and may cause allergy, eye and lung
irritation when cutting and sanding
Dulls blades more quickly than many woods
Though it does not have a grain in the plane of the
board, it does have one into the board. Screwing
into the edge of a board will generally cause it to
split in a fashion similar to delaminating.
Subject to significant shrinkage in low humidity
environments.
Trim (i.e. baseboards) comes pre-primed but this
is insufficient for fine finish painting. Painting with
latex paints is difficult due to rapid water
absorption. Most finishes appear uneven and nail
holes tend to pucker somewhat.
HIGH DENSITY FIBRE BOARDS (HDFS) OR HARDBOARDS
a type of fiberboard, which is an engineered wood product

similar to particle board and medium-density fiberboard, but is denser and much
stronger and harder because it is made out of exploded wood fibers that have been
highly compressed

density of hardboard is usually about 8001040 kg/m

Unlike particle board, it will not split or crack

Unlike solid wood, hardboard is very homogeneous with no grain

A wood veneer can be glued onto it to give the appearance of solid wood

Other overlays include Formica, laminated papers, ceramics, vinyl, etc.