Unfortunately as with many things during Covid we have had issues with the quality of our ply cores. They should look like the marketing images however they have been delivered with black marks and knots in the core. As such we need to make you aware of this. We have also adjusted our pricing downwards to compensate for the lower quality standard. Below are images of what to expect. You will also see that we fill any open holes as best we can.
Grey Ply is a laminated poplar ply board. More information about the manufacture and background of our ply cored boards can be found by following the link to our Ply Laminate Material page. The board is composed of high pressure laminate sandwiching a poplar ply core. In the case of HPL a very minimal texture is applied to the board during manufacture and so the surface is flat and smooth. We classify the texture of this board as Light meaning you would be be able to easily write on it so it is more than fit for purpose as a desk material.
For the user this means a tough, heat and stain resistant surface which is durable and capable of withstanding an everyday home office or indeed commercial office environment. Laminated ply is widely used in the furniture industry for kitchens, office furniture, cabinetry and restaurant and hotel fit-out so it is a proven and safe material.
Note our HPL ply tops have different colours on each side. One side is grey and one white. Thus if you order a white top the underside will be grey an if you order a grey top the underside will be white.
The edges of this board wil have a variation to them as ply is a natural material. To normalise the appearance as best as possible we fill any holes with plastic wood and then we sand the edges.
We offer two options on our laminated boards. Untreated so it is just the natural finish and also oiled with a low sheen furniture oil which does two things. It helps to seal the edges against the ingress of moisture and dirt and secondly it enhances the tone of the ply edge.
More about this can be found on our Ply Laminate Material page.
High Pressure Laminate desk-tops are easy to maintain. They can be cleaned with normal, everyday detergent sprays you would use in your kitchen. Other than that there is nothing to do. In terms of durability they will not wear through. The only danger is dropping something on the desk-top. The melamine resin is hard and thus the surface can be cracked and penetrated. However it would take a heavy sharp object being dropped for 50cm or so to do damage.
The edges being a live material will allow the ingress of water, dirt or moisture. To inhibit this we will oil the edges if requested by the client.
Again more can be found on our Ply Laminate Material page.
Yes. Ply is a sustainable product and the Poplar ply we use comes from sustainable forestry sources. So the core is ecologically friendly and can be recycled at end of life. The laminate is less ecologically friendly however even here we do our best to ensure it uses recycled materials where possible in the multiple layers. The backing layer specifically lends itself to the use of recycled material.
Both our Poplar core suppliers are members of the Forest Stewardship Council and manage their wood supplies accordingly. Both have ownership of their own forests.
Both our Poplar core suppliers are ISO14001 certified and have complex arrangements for wood sourcing and recycling. Both are acutely environmentally aware and thankfully have the financial resources to put in place world class systems to minimise environmental impact.
