External plywood to screen fencing

[gary_arry]

Is it possible (or a good idea) to screen off existing fencing in the back with exterior plywood. The idea is to clad the ugly fencing (and part wall) with smooth boards, primed and painted white to give a smart modern finish. We plan to have seats built into the wall and fencing at the back. I am hoping this is easier and cheaper than having new rendered walls built.
Many thanks!

 

[noseall]

a good idea if you want it to look like timber hoarding on a building site!! on a serious note, there will be a heck of a lot of painting involved not to mention fixing and bracing. by the way, white will have a big GLARE factor.

 

[amandaeb]

Hi Gary

I was at a wood yard today and we were talking about exterior ply - the guy there owns the yard and really seems to know about this stuff. He said that exterior ply always fails after a while, he said the glue they use is waterproof, but the ply ends up coming apart after too many wettings.

I don't know if painting it will improve its durability.

Have you seen the rolls of screening material you can get online and at diy sheds- I think these will only last a few years though. The only other thing I can think of is to put painted trellis up, with a few pots this can look really pretty.

Amanda

 

[gary_arry]

Many thanks for replies. Think I'll go for bamboo screens instead!

 

[Scrit]

I was at a wood yard today and we were talking about exterior ply - the guy there owns the yard and really seems to know about this stuff. He said that exterior ply always fails after a while, he said the glue they use is waterproof, but the ply ends up coming apart after too many wettings.

I don't know if painting it will improve its durability.

The grade for exterior use should be at least WBP and the glues are not affected by water at all. The problem isn't the layers getting wet, but the action of water getting into the edges of the timber (between the laminae) and then freezing in winter, in the same way that frost breaks down rock (for anyone who's done geology at school). This freeze-thaw-freeze cycle eventually causes the glue bond to fail through mechanical stress, the failure being gradual inwards from the exposed edges. The technique that signwriters used to use was to put a rebated moulding around the exposed edges (top and sides) to reduce the ingress of water. I've seen plywood signs made in the 1950s which are still in reasonable condition through the use of this technique - that and regular cleaning and repainting.

Scrit