One of the laminated boards pre- prepared for construction, available from builders merchants and DIY stores in standard board sizes. Blockboard is made of real wood rather than the composites that are it’s rivals. We find it the most solid, reliable and the easiest to work with. As with most sheets of any substance it is heavy, which can be a plus or a minus – deepening on the purpose. It’s faces are thin plywood sheets containing a core of squared wood strips( battens) that have been glued together.
We use it any place where we want a solid surface that we can rely on not to bend, and where easy and dependable fixing are pre-requisite – to successfully screw into, or fix into at all for that matter. So for the tops of pelmet boards when they are wider than a standard plank of joinery pine, the tops of testers and canopies – anywhere we need a solid structure that must a) hold itself in place- i.e. without dropping, dipping or bending, b) take some weight – heavy curtains etc. and c) be able to both hold, and fix securely to, the size of brackets that will be needed to hold said weight.
Our workroom table tops are always made from blackboard, as are any portable or false table tops that we supply ( in halves when they have to be carried around), the tops of dressing tables and round tables, bedheads and stools- anything that will be covered by upholstery into which we need to fix screws, nails or staples.
Blockboard is also solid enough for the tops of any upholstered consoles and stools – those cubes and ‘coffee tables, ‘ that also act as planned or involuntary extra seating, given a room full of people.
The standard surfaces aren’t usually smooth enough to take paint, however painting grade boards can be ordered, as can timber or melamine laminates. Pre-formed kitchen worktops are usually have of blockboard.
And it comes into it’s own to make flush doors or jib doors – blockboard fronts set onto a timber frame- especially when the design is for room-high, or at least very tall, doors for dressing rooms, corridors and odd corners where they will be fabric covered or decorated in some manner.