# Sealing plywood edge?



## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

You can use Titebond glue as a 'paint' to seal the edges of the plywood. I would do that _before_ applying actual paint, though.

Allegedly, exterior paints have qualities that help them survive UV better than interior paints do. And interior paints allegedly may have qualities that may improve their 'scrubability' compared to exterior paints.

Here is Valspar's comments ....


> Can I use an exterior paint inside the home, or an interior paint outside?
> No. It is important to use products as they are labeled. Interior paints are not usually designed to withstand the sun's rays, or bad weather, or contraction and expansion cycles of the substrates in changing temperatures. Exterior paints normally are not evaluated for indoor air conditions. However, if a product is labeled "Interior/Exterior," then you can be confident of its performance in both environments.
> 
> http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/how-to/faqs/


YMMV


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## Trainee73 (Feb 13, 2012)

I've thought about using an edge banding router bit.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

So what are people buying at the oops counter? I really have never seen any outdoor paint and I check every time that I go in.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

check for miscolored exterior paint during your exterior painting season.
yes, there is a difference between indoor and exterior paints. you will also find there is a difference in
interior rated and exterior rated plywood.


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## RedHalo (Apr 24, 2016)

Interior paint used outside won't last long. Sun will fade and it will almost 'wash' off after a short period of time (ask me how I know :/). I spend a little extra and get Valspar's Duramax. That stuff is almost bullet proof. Last for years!


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## Steve in PA (Jan 26, 2015)

I used enamel porch paint and after 1 year everything still looks almost new.


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## kramerbryan (Oct 30, 2013)

I asked for oops paint at my local Benjamin Moore dealer and mentioned it was for my bees. They gave me a few gallons for free because of the bees. Always use outdoor paint and prime before.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Go to your Sherwin Williams store (or Benjamin Moore store) for outdoor mistints. Home centers mostly sell to homeowners who mostly do indoor painting. Never had them not have some except for the time I showed up just a few hours after another beek had been there and cleaned them out.

For plywood edge sealing I glue on a 3/8" x 3/4" strip of wood using Titebond 3 (waterproof) glue to the edge to band it. That means you cut the plywood 3/8" short and glue the edge band on first, so too late for you now, but remember it next time. Then paint.


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## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

I just bought 5 gallon of Valspar Duramax from Lowes for 50.00...granted it's baby blue but that's fine with me. Just keep checking you will find plenty of outdoor paint mistints.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

JConnolly said:


> Go to your Sherwin Williams store (or Benjamin Moore store) for outdoor mistints. Home centers mostly sell to homeowners who mostly do indoor painting. Never had them not have some except for the time I showed up just a few hours after another beek had been there and cleaned them out.
> 
> For plywood edge sealing I glue on a 3/8" x 3/4" strip of wood using Titebond 3 (waterproof) glue to the edge to band it. That means you cut the plywood 3/8" short and glue the edge band on first, so too late for you now, but remember it next time. Then paint.


 Thanks for answering both questions with good advice.


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

I band it with a piece of pine glue an nail it.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

The birch plywood is most likely made with a glue not designed for exterior use. Thought I'd throw that out there to suggest that you put multiple coats of paint on every surface of the plywood.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Titebond III to seal it. And Sherwin Williams for the paint. Ask to see the mis-tints. Mine seems to have a never-ending supply of high quality, ultra high solids (gloss) machine paint (made for metal). I sticks fantastically over the top of Kilz 2 primer. SW here asks $5 a gallon for the off tint stuff. My personal preference is as high gloss as I can find. Thankfully this one seems to have tons of it. Usually there's a date on the label. I've used stuff that's been (unopened) and "expired" for a year, maybe two, without issue. Shake it/stir it really well.


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## rolftonbees (Jul 10, 2014)

I would paint the edges with titebond as others have suggested, then put multiple coats of paint on.it.

I.have found thst if I consider a paint job as a 2or 3 year effort, instead of.life.ling I get longer lasting results. I trade out my boxes and bottom boards etc each year ans scrap, reglue , add nails or screws as needed and touch up any peels or seams with paint. 

I have decade old woodware made of plywoodfrom repurposed furniture that I was given that I.have gotten three more years from by renewing their protective coatings.


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## johnbeejohn (Jun 30, 2013)

I check lowes everyone I'm there always have enough around 
Someone also on here said before about going to ur local paint recycling place they said they got all they wanted for free


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## dott (Aug 1, 2015)

If you have a habitat for humanity in your area they should have a restore, I've got paint from the store for $7.00 a gal. The big box stores and some local paint stores donate the paint, I think the paint is a discontinued item.


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## Mike Gillmore (Feb 25, 2006)

Brad Bee said:


> The birch plywood is most likely made with a glue not designed for exterior use.


That is a possibility that needs to be considered, whatever you end up doing with the edges.

I made a handful of migratory type hive covers with some very nice looking cabinet plywood. I glued the edges well, and painted the entire boards multiple times with a good exterior Valspar paint. 

They did not last long. When we got into the mid summer humid weather in the first season the laminated wood separated and curled up so bad that half of the cover was not even touching the top of the box. 

Not saying that will happen with your Birch plywood, but if these are manufactured for interior use the glue that was used might not hold up outside.


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## Jeff L (Dec 13, 2016)

Another place to look for oops paint is at your local habitat for humanity store, a lot of companies in this area donate their oops to them.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

I go by my local Habitat _ReStore_ 3-4 times a month. What I have seen is that a fair portion of the paint there is brand new, never opened containers that have some dried paint on the outside of the container & label. It appears to me that its likely that the pallet that these paint containers were on got damaged (careless forklift operator, perhaps) - spilling paint from the damaged can over other cans on that pallet.

The cans with the spilled paint on them get donated to Habitat, but they are brand new. At times I have found stickers applied that indicate the damage occurred while the paint was in possession of a freight carrier.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

I bought 2, 5 gallon buckets of good quality Valspar paint at a local closeout, over run type store this past summer for $50 each. I have had no luck finding mis tint exterior paint. I've checked at Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and box stores.


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

Brad Bee said:


> The birch plywood is most likely made with a glue not designed for exterior use. Thought I'd throw that out there to suggest that you put multiple coats of paint on every surface of the plywood.


Exactly. There is risk of delamination, so it will be important to fully coat on all surfaces to help avoid or delay that kind of issue.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

So what is the preferred wood product for
bottom boards? I have use plywood for tops and bottoms with pretty good success; if I paint them well. The edges seem to be the main issue. This time I really want to address this and have BBs that last a long time.


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## cervus (May 8, 2016)

Nabber86 said:


> So what is the preferred wood product for
> bottom boards? I have use plywood for tops and bottoms with pretty good success; if I paint them well. The edges seem to be the main issue. This time I really want to address this and have BBs that last a long time.


I'm using exterior 3/4" plywood dadoed into 2" x 2" cypress "runners" on 3 sides. The plywood is cut about 3 inches longer than the side runners. That leaves only the front edge and landing board portion of the plywood exposed. I'm hoping they last a long time, so far so good. I think plywood is as good as any once you put some protective coating on it.


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## Fivej (Apr 4, 2016)

Nabber, I'm sorry but have to agree with the others who have said that the birch ply probably will not hold up well because it is most likely for interior use. I am an amateur woodworker and have never seen exterior birch ply, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. however, since most of it is protected, it may last almost as long as pine or fir.
I would seal the edges with several light coats of Titebond exterior glue. If there are voids in the ply, stand it on edge and let it seep in. After it dries, I would coat it with some marine varnish and then your paint.
As for the best type of wood to use for the future, I think its cedar. But its expensive. I think for the cost of the birch, it will last you long enough if you seal it, so not a big deal. J


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Rader Sidetrack said:


> You can use Titebond glue as a 'paint' to seal the edges of the plywood


:thumbsup:


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

I know Titebond is good glue, but is it better than caulk?


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

Nabber86 said:


> So what is the preferred wood product for bottom boards?


This application is best served by exterior grade plywood. The birch plywood is an interior grade produce designed for utility cabinets, etc. I've been using scrap nominal 1/2" plywood sheathing material left over from when our home addition was built for bottom boards and the like.


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

Nabber86 said:


> I know Titebond is good glue, but is it better than caulk?


Titebond III is essentially water proof under typical conditions and will penetrate into the wood. Caulk is good for sealing cracks, but it's something that sits on top. You theoretically could rub caulk on edges to help seal them, of course, but brushing on the glue may be less messy.


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## Fishmaster50 (Apr 30, 2015)

When I make bb I use a 1x6 on the outer edge that would be in the weather and plywood on the inside. Not sure what grade plywood it was but holding up. Also did rabbet a groove in the other boards to help hold it all together.


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## frogpondwarrior (Aug 2, 2016)

Small town and there is really only one box store and some chain stores. However, living on the border I have 8 paint stores in about a 5 mile radius. One cdn store sells Benjamin Moore and there is a Sherwin Williams in Calais Me. However, I usually just visit the basement because over the years there have be partial cans left over from the apartments. So at one time paid through the nose but now get to use it all up. Feels like a win even at full price. Also, along the way have picked up a few of the $10 mis-tints. So they are there if need be. Just not needed since I started beekeeping. 
exterior paint is suppose to have a fungicide in them to help with mold and mildew but who has not seen that on building exteriors'.


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## frogpondwarrior (Aug 2, 2016)

Even marine grade plywood will warp and separate over time. As suggested titebond is good, exterior grade caulking, oil base paint if you can get it and marine paint will all protect the end grain for years. Most latex paints will crack and begin to peel in very few years.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

> Even marine grade plywood will warp and separate over time.


Not when used for bee hive equipment.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Fishmaster50 said:


> When I make bb I use a 1x6 on the outer edge that would be in the weather and plywood on the inside. Not sure what grade plywood it was but holding up. Also did rabbet a groove in the other boards to help hold it all together.


I have been trying to learn woodworking and have barely been able to make a decent groove (dado cut?) in a bb side board. After destroying a lot of lumber, I think I got it right. The unexposed front edge is the trouble that I am having.


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## Brad Bee (Apr 15, 2013)

I've been using Advantech for top and bottoms for about 3 years. Learned about it from Cleo Hogan on this website. It is much more stable than plywood when used in construction applications so I would imagine that translates over to bee hives.


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## Scitfrostbite (Aug 15, 2015)

It's a bad idea to use interior plywood outside. The glue used in interior plywood is not waterproof. You must use exterior rated plywood outside. I would not even leave exterior plywood edges exposed outdoors if you want the piece to last. Cut a 3/4" wide dado in the bottom board side pieces to conceal/protect the exterior plywood edges.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Well I went to the habitat for humanity store and found a wide selection of exterior paint for $9 a can. It looks pretty old so I am going over to the hardware store to have them shake it up for me.

Regarding the birch plywood. When I found a $50 piece of plywood for $20 I had to have it because it looked so darn nice and I didnt think about it not holding up in the weather. I did make some nice box cut jigs with it, so it was good for that. Oh well, I am going to seal the edge and put on many coats of paint. I am pretty sure it will last. If I see any peeling down the road, I will just scrape and repaint.


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## Scitfrostbite (Aug 15, 2015)

All my bottom board bottoms are either MDO plywood which is really waterproof or two 1x12' pine boards half lap or dado joined.


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## n5odj (Mar 22, 2006)

No useful comments regarding the plywood, but I slather on shellac on the board end-grain & then paint. I don't know if it helps, but it can't hurt.

Robert in TN


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## birddog (May 10, 2016)

Resorcinol marine glue to paint the edges and exterior surfaces


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## Jim_in_PA (May 17, 2016)

n5odj said:


> No useful comments regarding the plywood, but I slather on shellac on the board end-grain & then paint. I don't know if it helps, but it can't hurt.
> 
> Robert in TN


You're correct, it can't hurt. That said, shellac isn't a particularly "weatherproof" finish. It's indeed hard and it will absorb into the end
grain a bit, but it's not all that water resistant. An exterior varnish might do a better job for this purpose.


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

Nabber86 said:


> Well I went to the habitat for humanity store and found a wide selection of exterior paint for $9 a can. It looks pretty old so I am going over to the hardware store to have them shake it up for me.
> 
> Regarding the birch plywood. When I found a $50 piece of plywood for $20 I had to have it because it looked so darn nice and I didnt think about it not holding up in the weather. I did make some nice box cut jigs with it, so it was good for that. Oh well, I am going to seal the edge and put on many coats of paint. I am pretty sure it will last. If I see any peeling down the road, I will just scrape and repaint.


IMO, it's a 'what the heck, let's see what happens' scenario. IF the BB you make from birch plywood lasts 3 - 5 years (sealed and well painted), or even longer, before you have to replace it, is it worth your effort? Only you can decide that. You already got some good jigs out of the piece, so your $20 was well spent. What's to lose? The largest portion of the BB is ket out of the weather by the hive boxes.

I'm not going shopping for birch plywood, but if some fell into my lap, I'd sure consider using it.


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## Bowfinger (Apr 17, 2015)

I tried CPES epoxy by west systems. It is very smelly. use gloves, mask, etc. It soaks into the wood to keep water out. And it is expensive. I just had some for a boat project. I also tried the Titebond III. It seems just about as good. I mean it is just plywood.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

When I looked into rough lumber issues, I found references to Anchorseal as a coating to put on the ends of tree trunks to keep them from drying out and suffering severe checking. The other options listed were wax dipping (!), paint, and glue. These things are not meant only for service while the tree awaits the saw. but for the boards after sawing and stickering for drying out. You may find that Anchorseal is a good alternative for edge sealing. It may not be as cost-effective as a great mis-tint paint. What others are saying about titebond sounds quite plausible. Do you have personal memories of scraping spills and smears of it from a wood surface? If it peels up and de-laminates, that may be relevant. If it doesn't, that's probably also relevant.

I bought some famous brand (Cabot) opaque stain (mis-tint) and plan to give that a test run to check its performance prior to buying some to paint my deck. Double purpose test. Do not forget: you have other painting projects and you may simply want to test the paint on your beehives, where the exact color is not quite critical (My bees are very forgiving about that). See how well it goes on, covers, and so forth. Our fence replacement gave me a great opportunity to test Sherwin-WIlliams exterior alkyd primer (store had limited stock) against latex primer (didn't buy enough) and against the local hdw store's house brand (close to my house). Apart from brush/roller clean-up, given that I didn't need to clean and re-use every brush or roller, give me the Sherwin-Williams alkyd paint on wood every time. Then their latex paint. The hdw store latex paint was thin and didn't load up the brush well or give great coverage. Can't say how it compares with two coats vs. S-W one-coat quite yet. But it was gobs easier doing the paint job with S-W paint. I look forward to the upcoming forcast warm weekend for painting the hive bodies I have been assmbling.

Michael


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