UKC

Thinking about building a wall as part of a wooden climbing frame for the kids in the garden, but what is the best panelling to use?

Is tanalised ply the way forwards?

Or is there a resin type alternative that will be maintenance free?

If you do have to seal/ varnish/ paint is there a preferred option?

Expoxy looks good but very expensive.

In reply to winhill:

wot about using pva to coat it? perhaps with a bit of sand in it???

In reply to winhill:

http://www.southern-timber.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/ply_phenolic.html

This stuff seems to be what's used in commercially built adventure playgrounds. Just re-seal the edges if you cut it I guess. No idea what it costs or what the supplier's like (first hit from google).

Or paint/varnish some good quality outdoor/marine ply. Neither option will be cheap.

Epoxy floor paint probably isn't as expensive as using laminating resin to seal surfaces.
jk

In reply to winhill:

From a boat building perspective, rather than wall building experience...

BS1088 Marine grade ply is best. (It is not just about the glues ability to resist damp but also the quality and strength of the veneers, no voids, thickness of the veneers etc). Exterior grade ply may be ok but will not be so strong and is likely to be poor quality timber, more voids, thicker veneers etc.

Epoxy is great but has is disadvantages - probably a waste of money in this case. Epoxy is reliant total encapsulation to keep the water out, the moment it chips or cracks the moisture gets in it starts to lift the epoxy. Also it is a surprisingly skilled job to use epoxy effectively (mix and to get it to stick to timber well) and epoxy is generally not UV stable, so will degrade quickly in daylight unless coated in paint or varnish. If you're not familiar/experienced with using epoxy it will be a waste of money.

In my opinion wood preservative is better for household protection of timber - as it soaks into the timber, will not flake like other coatings and you can just slap on more easily each year.

In reply to MaxWilliam:

My favourite timber yard doesn't tanalise 8x4 sheets unfortunately but I have seen them elsewhere, so may go for shutter wbp and preservative, perhaps with a bit of silicon on the edges.

If you have built boats have you ever built a ply sailing canoe? I nearly bought one last summer, built 1950s, iroko deck, lovely looking thing and kicking myself now for not buying it. But I've seen a few plans etc, ideally something about 17' long, room for two at least plus kit.