1/2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. PureBond Birch Plywood

I would certainly not buy this again. I only bought 1 sheet and part of it delaminated. See photos. I contacted the manufacturer and they were helpful with good communication, but there was not much they could do about the several hours I spent cutting up drawer pieces only to have pieces ruined by delaminating layers. Pros: Surface was smooth. Painted finish turned out pretty good. Company was helpful when I contacted them about the issue in cons. (would be 1 star review if not for good communication by the company) Cons: The big one, and reason for the low rating is that layers of the plywood delaminated after I had cut it. See the photos. There were not signs of issues before I cut the sheet down to size. All factory edges were well glued together, but a pretty big section in the middle seemed to be missing glue or the glue failed. I only found out after spent a couple hours cutting (and dadoing) pieces for drawers. Those pieces were scrap and needed to be recut. Very frustrating and would keep me away from this product even if everything else was great. Quality was not great even without the delamination issue. True thickness is very low for ½” nominal plywood. Listed at 0.453, and I measured pretty consistently 0.44 with a dial caliper. Only 5 ply and the core felt very soft for hardwood plywood. For comparison, a piece of ½” maple plywood I got from another big box store for the same price was 7 ply, with a harder core, thickener veneer, less voids, and measured 0.490” with calipers (though it wasn’t quite as smooth so it took more sanding). That’s a huge difference in quality when paying the same price. I included a picture showing the item being reviewed and a piece of better quality plywood I got for the same price elsewhere.

How can Home Depot say one can make beautiful furniture or cabinets from this garbage? Wrong! Read the description carefully as this product is less than 1/2" thick. I measured it at 12mm. Now the quality issues: 1. Two of the five plys are veneers 1/42" thick. Purebond glue did not adhere to the veneers in some areas. Had to reglue the veneer in some areas. 2. The three central cores are filled with large knots, voids and possible compressed sawdust. In the sheet that I purchased, the two cores surrounding the central core are comprised of very porous wood. Glue soaks into these plys so much that I had to reglue many of the joints just to get them to bond. 3. Center ply filled with large knots. I had to fill these areas with wooden strips in order to properly secure the sides of the piece I was making. 4. Some areas of the center ply appears to be made of compressed sawdust. Sawdust just poured out of the center ply and it was dark in color. I have spent more of my time fixing the pieces that I cut in order to use them for something other than furniture. I should invoice CFP for my time spent correcting their poor;y made plywood.

Bought several sheets for bar/banquette/bookshelf projects. Found numerous large areas with no glue between plies. What a disappointment to spend this kind of money, wrestle these things home and onto the saw, only to discover these flaws after carefully measuring and cutting complex parts.

Inferior product. Only 3 plys plus 2 very thin veneer outside plys. There were many voids in the plywood sheets. If there is a flaw showing on the outside of the sheet that indicates NO ply behind veneer. You could push your finger through the flaw. Photos of flaw included. Printing on edge of plywood is "Columbia TSCA Title VI 1/2" C3 Birch 751196-017 833-185".

Good product for a quick project.

I made a shiplap accent wall in my daughters room to give it a different look. It turned out great! Really love the look of the birch plywood. I asked Home Depot to cut it down to my desired width and they did. Very grateful for the Home Depot guy that helped me. I am also pleased that the plywood is formaldehyde free, very thankful since it is in my daughters room.

Used it as a counter for laundry room. Stains well

Very thin birch laminated layer. Difficult to cut without chipping/tearing edges. Surface was not as smooth as some regular plywood I have used. Looked great after staining and several coats of polyurethane, but still required much sanding between coats (more than I have needed for oak or maple).

Good value in plywood with smooth surfaces and no voids. The plywood has excellent surface finish and showed no voids during repeated cutting, I cut the samples shown using a stationary table saw spinning a general purpose blade. This is 1/2-inch plywood and the rip cut caused some minor tearing on the inner plies but the cross cut was very smooth -- something to keep in mind when gluing edges. I used this plywood to produce box-jointed drawers and had excellent results (a thin backer board prevented tearing by the dado blades). I gave this plywood five stars without hesitation. Nine-ply Baltic birch from a specialty lumber company would be nicer, but a lot more expensive.

Made two sets of cornhole boards with this. Very little sanding needed for a perfect finish.