Shera Wood

[Neeranam]

I'm thinking of building a a storage thing in my back garden.

I hear that shera wood might be cheaper than real wood - is this true, is shera wood better?

Also, is shera wood as easy to saw as real wood?

[puuchai299]

Sherawood is pretty easy to work with,best way to cut it is with an angle grinder with a tile/brick cutting disc in.drilling it is easy with Bosch multi purpose drill bits.

I normally use a wooden frame then clad it with sherawood.

Around 250 baht a pack at homepro/homeworks

[sirineou]

Shera wood is brittle and brakes easy, I would not use it instead of wood, I would use it as a cladding agent to cover plywood or other surfaces,

if used as the sole cladding agent with out backing, I would use a a max space of 16 inch on center framing space on studs.

It can safely be used in areas that do not get a lot of handling, such as soffits or roof peaks, but for utility areas such as a shed I would use it in conjunction with backing, such as sheathing plywood or at least closely spaced framing studs.

[Khun Jean]

I have plans to use it. No experience yet but the idea was to first put in a few concrete pillars then attach the sherwood (smartwood) to it. Then use some reinforcing 'mats' with not to much spacing on the inside and apply a mortar.

Should be pretty cheap and strong.

[IMHO]

Shera/Conwood/SmartWood are all fibrous cement products.

Pros are:

* Cheaper than real wood (a fraction of the price)

* Dont' get eaten by termites/white ants

* Consistency of size and finish

* Easy to paint

* Long lifespan

Cons are:

* Not very resistant to impacts (they will crack/break rather easily if struck)

* Cannot bend (will break).

* Cannot support *any* load (will break)

* Don't insulate against sound or heat as good as real wood

Using them for walls is fine, but they need to be supported at no more than 600mm spacing, and absolutely must be painted with acrylic to stop them becoming soaked inside which will make them expand & warp, and become mouldy.

Edited August 26, 2013 by IMHO

[StefanBBK]

I have plans to use it. No experience yet but the idea was to first put in a few concrete pillars then attach the sherwood (smartwood) to it. Then use some reinforcing 'mats' with not to much spacing on the inside and apply a mortar.

Should be pretty cheap and strong.

We did a lot of Shera and conwood construction. Best for us is welded steel frame, conwood attached to it with self tapping screws. Smartboard on the inside. For flooring make sure to use the thickest available and definately keep the support beams at max 50cm (2ft). Best paint in my opinion is TOA roof paint. 2-3 coats.

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[StefanBBK]

Just a couple sample pics.

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[WitawatWatawit]

Hi Stefan. Just curious about your 2nd pix - the awning on that kiosk. I have been searching for someone to do decent awnings for two windows of my house. It's become a bit ridiculous, actually. The awnings are 3 metres wide (looks the same in your pix). I have just had a quote of 14,000 baht per window - I think the guy said 1 inch thick Shera wood. I'm not impressed with that price. Rip off, judging by what I've seen and heard so far.

So, in your pix, any idea what that kiosk awning cost? I would suspect about 7,000 baht max. If you have any idea, I'd be grateful if you would let me know so that I can keep this thing under control. The quotes I've had so far are just insane. They don't bear any resemblance to reality.

All the best, mate

Wit.

[StefanBBK]

Hi Wit, sorry for the late reply, I am travelling.

The awnings on that pic are actually polycarbonate. Price can vary, but a good quality sheet (210 by 580 or so) is about 4k.

1 inch Shera for awnings is overkill.

14 k per window is too much. Price for both together should be 10 to 15 k, if that is the only job. If you bundle a few jobs together , it will drop.

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[WitawatWatawit]

Hi Wit, sorry for the late reply, I am travelling.

The awnings on that pic are actually polycarbonate. Price can vary, but a good quality sheet (210 by 580 or so) is about 4k.

1 inch Shera for awnings is overkill.

14 k per window is too much. Price for both together should be 10 to 15 k, if that is the only job. If you bundle a few jobs together , it will drop.

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Stefan - excellent mate - much appreciate the reply.

The guy who quoted me the 14k per window - well, I've rejected his quote. I had a previous quote (much inflated) using roofing tiles for which the metal framework was listed at 6,000 baht. So on that basis, I could not see how using shera would bring the price up to 14k. So now I'm stuck. I don't want that horrible plastic-type coloured stuff, and there seem to be few other people around who do awnings (other than the plastic, tin etc common style).

Incidentally, just to give you an idea of price overkill for foreigners, I want to build in some shelves. Basically four shelves - 2x100cm and 2x80cm, tapered from 20cm at one end to 12cm at the other (plus special cut brackets, as the smallest store-bought ones are 15cm). Easy enough to cut with a bandsaw - the bevelling and finishing should not be a stretch for an experienced operator. I decided on parawood for the timber. The quote - 10k baht. Parawood is 415 baht for 3 metres at Watsadu. I think you can say I'm not impressed. If I can get someone to cut and bevel the timber, I will do the finishing myself.

Cheers, mate.

[canuckamuck]

Stefan, how are you finishing your corners?

[kokesaat]

We had a 5x4meter gazebo that we converted to a bungalow for our maid.....outside walls are shera. inside walls are gypsum. We did it 2 years ago and have had nothing break or degrade. No need to paint the shera, it's already painted. Looks as good today as it did when we built it.

As for shera breaking easily.....we landscaped a good portion of our back yard with shera wall boards....both six and eight inch widths. Don't know the thickness...but it's what you use on the outside of a house. Our gardener used 4" steel plates to connect them together, and then was able to bend them around a variety of trees, sidewalks, etc. They've been in the ground for just over 2 years as well.......no degradation from moisture or termites etc. We've had a very few chips but nothing that can't easily be repaired with a bit of touchup paint or superglue the chip back on. We walk over them and run our lawn cart over them on a daily basis, no problem.

[Daffy D]

That's interesting - didn't know you could bend that stuff.

Nice garden by the way.

[wayned]

Stefan, how are you finishing your corners?

The easiest and cleanest way to finish the corners is using 1" 1x4 corner boards. Set the window frames overhanging the building frame 1' and they will finish themselves. You can do the same with the doors if they open into the room but will have to finish them with 1' boards if they open out.

I use 50 cm spacing between studs and have no problem.