Menard's 1/2" ACX Half-Sheets suck

[Radian]

For those building cabs in WI. Be extra cautious when picking through their ACX. This stuff should be culled. My recent project has ground to a halt as I've discovered several delaminations in some of my cosmetic panels. The ACX from the local lumber yard is amazing compared to this junk.

Their 9 ply Baltic Birch is fine (and comes 4x8), but they won't rip it for you.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

For those building cabs in WI. Be extra cautious when picking through their ACX. This stuff should be culled. My recent project has ground to a halt as I've discovered several delaminations in some of my cosmetic panels. The ACX from the local lumber yard is amazing compared to this junk.

Their 9 ply Baltic Birch is fine (and comes 4x8), but they won't rip it for you.

The X in a plywood rating is euphemistic for crap. Some might be better/worse than others, but none is all that great.

[jswingchun]

Curious why you are using that plywood instead of Arauco? Arauco's a bit more expensive, but not that much.

[dave d]

Curious why you are using that plywood instead of Arauco? Arauco's a bit more expensive, but not that much.

From what I've seen in the Menards ads, the ACX stuff is made by Arauco. I'm glad this was posted because I was thinking of going to Menards to buy the ACX stuff too as I thought it was the same. But now I'll stick to going to Lowes.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Curious why you are using that plywood instead of Arauco? Arauco's a bit more expensive, but not that much.

From what I've seen in the Menards ads, the ACX stuff is made by Arauco. I'm glad this was posted because I was thinking of going to Menards to buy the ACX stuff too as I thought it was the same. But now I'll stick to going to Lowes.

Arauco is a brand name. On the Lowes site it seems that they're now calling it Arauco ACX, though in store the tags called it something else that escapes me right now.

[jswingchun]

From what I've seen in the Menards ads, the ACX stuff is made by Arauco. I'm glad this was posted because I was thinking of going to Menards to buy the ACX stuff too as I thought it was the same. But now I'll stick to going to Lowes.

I don't know what ACX is, but my local Menards has Arauco, 15/32" with five even plies. I built an XF212 from stock I bought at Menards. It was the same as the stuff from Lowes, at that time it was a bit cheaper at Menards than it was at Lowes. Lowes recently dropped the price of Arauco, I think it's $23 a sheet right now, I think I paid $30 last time. If you want you can be safe and buy the Arauco at Lowes or go to Menards, look it over and see if it is the five even plies.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

From what I've seen in the Menards ads, the ACX stuff is made by Arauco. I'm glad this was posted because I was thinking of going to Menards to buy the ACX stuff too as I thought it was the same. But now I'll stick to going to Lowes.

I don't know what ACX is, but my local Menards has Arauco, 15/32" with five even plies. I built an XF212 from stock I bought at Menards. It was the same as the stuff from Lowes, at that time it was a bit cheaper at Menards than it was at Lowes. Lowes recently dropped the price of Arauco, I think it's $23 a sheet right now, I think I paid $30 last time. If you want you can be safe and buy the Arauco at Lowes or go to Menards, look it over and see if it is the five even plies.

'ACX' is a newcomer to me, CDX is what I'm used to seeing, it's 3 ply construction grade, good for sheathing only. Maybe the X stands for exterior glue? Plywood prices fluctuate with demand. It typically shoots up in hurricane season, hits a low mid winter.

[Radian]

#1- Void, one of several. Not too problematic if small and in a non-cosmetic area
#2- ACX, 5 ply, no veneer
#3- More voids
#4- Crap ply
#5- Delamination
#6- ACX from the local lumber yard, no voids (went there after I had to scrap two sheets...should've visited them first! )

My lesson has been learned. Be extra-critical when choosing your material. It'll save you hassle later on in the project. Had I the pick-up truck with me that day, I would've gone straight for the full sheets of Baltic Birch.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I just noticed that you said they were half-sheets. Those are usually created from full sheets that were damaged or defective, with the worst of it cut off and tossed.

[bzb]

#1- Void, one of several. Not too problematic if small and in a non-cosmetic area
#2- ACX, 5 ply, no veneer
#3- More voids
#4- Crap ply
#5- Delamination
#6- ACX from the local lumber yard, no voids (went there after I had to scrap two sheets...should've visited them first! )

My lesson has been learned. Be extra-critical when choosing your material. It'll save you hassle later on in the project. Had I the pick-up truck with me that day, I would've gone straight for the full sheets of Baltic Birch.

Hey, those void spots are perfect places for biscuits

If you don't have a pickup, a cordless circular saw is a necessity. I picked up my last sheets of BB in the rain. Just used the circular to rip a ~12" strip off each panel and tossed em all in the back of the Tahoe. I prefer to keep them intact in order to minimize waste, but in a pinch the 12" strips can be used for bracing or guide boards.

[chenry78]

Ok so I know this threads old but I stumbled across it and I wanna see about the difference between the acx and the acx premium.

acx: http://www.menards.com/main/building-ma ... c-5698.htm

acx premium: http://www.menards.com/main/building-ma ... 508795.htm

Cruising to Menards today and gonna check it out, Im thinking that if the acx is full of voids and has five plys that ill go with it. Affordable and decent quality so it seems.

[el_ingeniero]

I guess $25 bucks or so a sheet is a consideration.

So is the time you'll be spending wrestling ACX into submission.

Do yourself a favor and order 1/2" BB at $50 per 4x8 sheet. It might cost more but your build will be far easier.

[Harley]

Arauco is a brand name. .

It's also a name of a Chilean city and region/province, hence the brand name I would guess seeing the pine for the ply comes from there ( and other regions of Chile )

[Grant Bunter]

Arauco is a brand name. .

It's also a name of a Chilean city and region/province, hence the brand name I would guess seeing the pine for the ply comes from there ( and other regions of Chile )

Quite apart from a location:

Araucaria species
Hoop Pine (Aus.): Araucaria cunninghamii
Parana Pine (Brazil): Araucaria angustifolia
Pehuén or Chile Pine: Araucaria araucana

[Harley]

Gee wizz, we seem to have got a fair bit of mileage out of just one name - brand, location, species...anything else?