When renovating a house, the question often arises of what to choose to sheathe the floor, walls and ceiling. Some advise using fiberboard, others - hardboard. In the end, you have to decide what is best for you.
What is the difference between hardboard and fiberboard? In fact, it should be remembered that they are one and the same. Although many people still believe that these are completely different materials for finishing work. Hardboard differs from the well-known fibreboard only in increased strength.
Production process
The production process is similar to the production of MDF. Here, too, compressed dust is used, which is obtained during the processing of wood. The difference from MDF lies in the process itself.
For fiberboard, the wet pressing method is used. In other words, the wood fibers are first steamed out. It is due to this technology that the sheets are thin.
For production, waste is used, which is obtained during woodworking. The material is crushed and squeezed with special equipment. After that, it is dried. Special chemical additives are mixed into the mass. The mixture is then sent to a casting machine to create slabs.
The result is pulp with a high moisture content - more than 70%. After that, solid and semi-solid boards are pressed at a temperature of 130 to 180 °C. As for fiberboard of the insulating type, they are only dried in a special chamber with a low level of humidity. No pressing.
Fibreboard can be made from recycled paper. The product is no less high quality and durable. There are such varieties:
- insulating;
- finishing and insulating;
- hard;
- super hard.
As for the dimensions, the length is from 1.2 m to 3.6 m, and the width is from 1 m to 1.8 m. The thickness is sweat 0.3–0.8 cm.
Properties
The properties and reliability of hardboard depend on the surface treatment, production process and varieties of material. Durability in various conditions is determined by the composition of products. For example, the following additional components are used:
- Astringent filler. This is a synthetic resin. Particular care must be taken when handling material containing phenol-formaldehyde.
- Polymer components. Such additives are used to increase mechanical strength. For example, they use pectol.
- Hydrophobes. These are substances that have a water-repellent effect. For example, they use stearin, paravin, cerisin, rosin.
- Antiseptics. These products prevent rotting wood, the development of mold on its surface.
- Fire retardants. This ismeans that are resistant to fire. This allows the material to self-extinguish.
The main component is still wood. The amount of filler and additives is not more than 7%. In particularly hard sheets, approximately 1.3%.
Types of hardboard
Hardboard is still the same fiberboard, only the strength of the material is increased. Sometimes soft fiber boards are also called hardboard, but this is erroneous. The material is divided into several varieties.
Solid boards have the following markings:
- T - no additional processing on both surfaces of the product.
- TP - the outer surface is painted.
- TS - one of the surfaces consists of a mass with fine dispersion.
- TSP - in this case, the 2 previous varieties are combined, that is, the side with fine dispersion is painted.
- TV is a material with a waterproof effect, while the front surface does not have additional finishing.
- TSV is also a waterproof material, but with a fine dispersion finish on one side.
- NT - in this case, the hardness of the material is not high. This is a semi-hard hardboard.
- CT - superhard hardboard.
- STS is also a superhard hardboard, but one of the surfaces has a fine dispersion treatment.
Some types of hardboard are additionally treated with a special film, decorating them with natural materials. Plates can also be coatedvarnished.
What is the difference between hardboard and fiberboard
You can't separate such concepts. Hardboard is a hard and super hard type of fiberboard. But you can oppose soft grades of fiberboard, which are marked "M".
Firstly, they have a different strength index. For soft fiber boards, this is approximately from 100 to 500 kg / m³, and for hardboard - from 550 to 1100. Products marked "M" have a large number of gas pores. Thanks to this, the material has additional thermal insulation properties.
But hardboard has a very dense structure. Because of this, it cannot be used as a heater. But on the other hand, it has a great advantage in terms of mechanical strength.
Fibreboard is used as a substrate for the final coating of walls and ceilings. In this case, such plates are used as heat-insulating and noise-insulating layers. But hardboard is best used for facing the surface of furniture.
What is the result
People who do not understand building materials often do not understand: is hardboard a fiberboard or chipboard? It is worth saying the following: in general, hardboard is a separate type of fiberboard. These are hard and super hard plates. Their production process is slightly different. To obtain hardboard, rosin, antiseptics, paraffin and other substances are added to the composition, which are intended to improve the operational capabilities of the material.
Exactly the same production process have andspecial solid grades of fiberboard. Given the differences in the strength of materials, they are used in different cases.
Conclusion
When choosing fiberboard and hardboard boards, it is necessary to build on the conditions for the use of materials and what is planned to be built. If you have any questions, it is recommended to additionally consult with a specialist. The latter will finally dispel doubts about what is better to choose - fiberboard or hardboard.
