Wood – New Plywood is Delaminating

plywood

I just purchased 30 sheets of new 1/2 inch spruce plywood for use as subflooring. As I worked, 2 of the first 8 sheets spontaneously delaminated as I was cutting them. Not just a little at the edges, but in sheets of several square feet. The adhesive that is supposed to bond the plies is visible (dark colour) but it appears to have come unstuck. Has anyone encountered this behaviour before?

Best Answer

It sounds like the mill’s blow detector was not functioning. Or a bad batch of glue, , plugged nozzle several possibilities, take it all back. I used to work in a plywood mill and with 2 sheets bad that unit probably will all have the same issue. I would take the cut sheets back. The mill randomly pulls sheets and chizzles chunks and those chunks only a couple inches square have to stick together. So take it back and get some from a different unit.