In home or hotel renovations, wooden furniture is often the top choice for those who value quality living. However, due to the high cost of natural wood, not everyone can or is willing to afford the expense. As an alternative, engineered wood has gradually become an affordable option. With a wide variety of engineered wood materials available for furniture making, it is always recommended for both homeowners and contractors to understand the characteristics of these materials and make an informed choice. This article aims to assist you in making the best decision by comparing 5 common types of engineered wood.
Laminated Veneer Lumber, commonly known as LVL, is a type of engineered wood made by stacking and hot-pressing veneers, typically about 3mm thick, along the grain direction, and then sawing them into the desired dimensions. This material effectively addresses the shortcomings of fast-growing artificial wood, such as its soft texture, low strength, and dimensional variability, thereby turning waste into treasure and alleviating the contradiction of wood shortages.
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Laminated Strand Lumber, or LSL, is an innovative engineered wood product. It is made from similar raw materials to oriented strand board, primarily long strands of fast-growing poplar or aspen trees. Although they look similar, the fibers in LSL are randomly oriented and typically distributed along the length of the material.
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Plywood is a composite wood material made by gluing together multiple layers of thin wood veneers, with each layer's fibers oriented perpendicular to the adjacent layer. This design significantly enhances plywood's strength and dimensional stability. Plywood usually consists of an odd number of layers, ranging from 3 to 13, to ensure symmetry, which includes factors like wood species, veneer thickness, number of layers, manufacturing methods, fiber direction, and veneer moisture content.
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Oriented Strand Board (OSB), also known as Aspenite, originated in the 1970s and rapidly developed in North America and Europe from the mid-1980s. As a new type of high-strength, environmentally friendly structural panel, OSB has begun to replace plywood and fiberboard in many applications.
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Medium-Density Fiberboard, or MDF, is a type of engineered wood made by mechanically separating and chemically treating wood or plant fibers, mixed with adhesives and waterproofing agents, and then formed under high temperature and pressure. It is an ideal material for furniture making.
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The 5 types of engineered wood introduced in this article are the most common for furniture manufacturing, each with its advantages, making them suitable for different scenarios. Taking the bathroom vanities sold by Giving Tree Home as an example, which includes plywood and MDF, plywood bathroom vanities are the most famous, achieving the best balance between price and quality. For instance, plywood bathroom vanities are usually priced under $1,000 and are very suitable for use in humid environments like bathrooms.
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