Ply shed cladding immediately suffering

[smp50]

I have clad the outside of a shed with 9mm "exterior grade" ply, and battened over the joints to give a board & batten type appearance. After one bit of rain many patches of the ply have started to bubble, see picture for example.


Anything I can do or have I wasted my money on the ply and will it need more cladding on top of it? I haven't treated or painted it yet as it's only been on a couple of days, but I would have expected it to survive a few drops of rain :/

 

[r896neo]

Exterior grade does not mean what people think it means. It is not waterproof, merely the glues used will not dissolve from moisture vs interior grade plus.

It needs covering with a waterproof layer or at the very least battens and cladding to shield it from rain.

 

[smp50]

Hmm, this was specifically suggested to me as an acceptable cheap way to clad it! That's a shame, so it was pointless really.

What can I safely cover it with now? The shed is 3.66m * 3.20m so a lot to cover. I got the ply and battens for about £240 which was half the price of cheap featheredge and much faster to put on.

Any specific recommendations of cladding material?

 

[chappers]

Just an idea, how about taking it off turning it round and getting it treated/painted pronto

 

[Nige F]

Did it come from China ? The little B'stards are flooding us with everything imaginable - all C-rap- and the tools can be dangerous - a pry bar shattered when struck with a hammer for an example (by someone I know well ) Yeah. Let them and the French build us a Nuclear Power Station. Rant over . A good suggestion but I don't think paint of any sort will help that ply. Might be worth spending £ and clad with plastic weatherboard - then it'll be maintenance free forever . And just clad the back/ unseen side with roofing felt.

 

[motorbiking]

wood stain paint. the type you paint on windows and doors. it will be fine. also i'd put mastic under your battens.

 

[smp50]

wood stain paint. the type you paint on windows and doors. it will be fine. also i'd put mastic under your battens.

Just an idea, how about taking it off turning it round and getting it treated/painted pronto

Most of the panels have cuts in them now to fit around windows, rafters, etc. - won't be easy to do that. And considering how quickly it's got damaged I wonder if treating/painting it even makes a difference? I mean, featheredge stuff you can leave untreated for a couple of winters and nothing much happens to it! Ply even with paint is always going to be a problem, maybe?

Only really good thick paint will actually *stop water touching it*, right? Normal stains and preservatives (does ply even absorb them?) just inhibit rot, I think - the structure of the wood still has to hold up to water.

Did it come from China ? The little B'stards are flooding us with everything imaginable - all C-rap- and the tools can be dangerous - a pry bar shattered when struck with a hammer for an example (by someone I know well ) Yeah. Let them and the French build us a Nuclear Power Station. Rant over . A good suggestion but I don't think paint of any sort will help that ply. Might be worth spending £ and clad with plastic weatherboard - then it'll be maintenance free forever . And just clad the back/ unseen side with roofing felt.

It was from B&Q, the only place I have around here to get timber from.


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Maybe featheredge on top is the way to go, it will only cost me another £200, and I guess the inside will now look nicer with all that ply :'(
The ply is only 9mm, so too thin to nail into and I'll still have to go on the battens underneath, I guess.

 

[r896neo]

Did b and q advise you this was suitable? If so demand a refund. I have had so many people do things based on advice from b and q staff that is just awful.

There is something about people who work in diy stores and builders merchants that makes them absolutely incapable of saying "I'm sorry I don't know the best way'' They have a physical compulsion to spout off whatever bullshit they heard from 'a guy' 15 years ago.

They are usually surprisingly happy to return or replace stuff.

Worth a try anyway.

You could as mentioned cover it with felt or even a breather membrane would help if you could batten it off a little

 

[motorbiking]

I reckon 3 coats of a decent wood stain exterior grade wood paint will do. Worse case is you clad it as well. You just want the water to bead and roll off. I used marine ply in my man cave and used wood stain to protect from UV and weather, but I reckon I could have got away with a lower grade ply.

 

[smp50]

Did b and q advise you this was suitable?

No, I can't honestly claim that they did - I got the advice elsewhere (and have seen it done, tbh)

I reckon 3 coats of a decent wood stain exterior grade wood paint will do. Worse case is you clad it as well. You just want the water to bead and roll off. I used marine ply in my man cave and used wood stain to protect from UV and weather, but I reckon I could have got away with a lower grade ply.

OK - worth a try, and I can see if it hasn't fallen apart by next spring. Can you suggest a specific product example you're thinking of so I can see the kind of thing you mean? There are so many different "wood care" products, no idea quite which you mean. Actual paint?

 

[bernardgreen]

You could paint it with Sadolin Classic, that will give at least 5 years protection on timber, may not be as long on plywood. When it needs re-doing you can paint on another coat without any need to rub down the old paint. Some of the timber we protected with it only needed to be re-painted after 10 years

www.sadolin.co.uk/products/sadolin-classic-wood-protection/

 

[motorbiking]

I used wickes own brand on my man cave. Ronseal do one too.. Its more about the colour tbh. As long as it claims to waterproof, protect and UV block it should be fine. it may blister when wet, but these should go down once dry

 

[JohnD]

I clad my shed in WBP ply (it was actually left-over 18mm spruce flooring ply) T&G with the tongues facing up. Eaves, gutters and kickboards to keep water off the edges, and treated it with fence stain, which is cheap, easy to recoat, and leaves a water-repellent waxy film. No blistering, and it's about 5 years old now.

If you need to re-clad yours, I'd treat it first, then add battens to give an airspace before the shiplap. You can put roofing felt on the battens to improve weatherproofing (shiplap is not totally weathertight because the joints move with the weather).

 

[smp50]

I used wickes own brand on my man cave. Ronseal do one too.. Its more about the colour tbh. As long as it claims to waterproof, protect and UV block it should be fine. it may blister when wet, but these should go down once dry

I'm still a bit confused by the different types - any very specific named/linked examples? There are oil-based and solvent-based, relevant difference? And are we talking about paint-paint or the kind of thing we might slap onto a fence (which in my experience soaks in completely and doesn't "coat" the wood at all)

e.g. this kind of thing:

http://www.wilko.com/exterior-paint/wilko-timbercare-country-brown-5ltr/invt/0074038

?

 

[motorbiking]

No its paint paint not creosote.

http://www.toolstation.com/search?searchstr=84829 14290 43780 24288 73633 48234

http://www.screwfix.com/p/ronseal-exterior-5-year-wood-stain-satin-dark-oak-750ml/71848

You'll still see the grain, but it will have a plastic/varnish like finish