What wood holds up best in weather?

While redwood or teak certainly qualify, five more common lumber species that also stand up well to sunlight, moisture and wood-boring insects are Western red cedar, Spanish cedar, cypress, white oak and mahogany. Red cedar tends to be knotty, but it's affordable and widely available.

rockler.com - Choosing Wood for Outdoor Projects: Five Fast Facts - Rockler

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Now that it's high summer, you might have an outdoor project or two on your "short list" of things to make before the temps start to chill down again. But, whether it's a picnic table, garden bench or lounger, it pays to give some careful thought to what wood you build it from. That can make the difference between your outdoor project lasting one year or ten. Here are some things to keep in mind. 1. Let's cut right to the chase! While redwood or teak certainly qualify, five more common lumber species that also stand up well to sunlight, moisture and wood-boring insects are Western red cedar, Spanish cedar, cypress, white oak and mahogany. Red cedar tends to be knotty, but it's affordable and widely available. Cypress is easy to find in the South and works beautifully. So do mahogany and Spanish cedar, but you'll dig deeper in your wallet for them. Good old white oak is also yard-tough. 2. Oaks aren't created equal. So, what about red oak — is it an outdoor champ? Not really. Here's the skinny: white oak contains tyloses, which plug up its vessels to prevent it from wicking in water and rotting. Red oak has little to no tyloses and it sucks up water like a straw. So, a red oak kitchen table? Yes. Picnic table or planter? No. 3. If it's gotta be pine, think paint. Other common woodworking lumber species just won't stand up to wetness and ground contact like the outdoor-suitable woods mentioned above. However, one way to help "indoor" woods stand up to outdoor living is to prime and paint them, then stay on top of that paint job as soon as it starts to crack, chalk or peel. Or, shelter your pine lounger under a covered porch where it's nice and dry. 4. Treated lumber: if it's good enough for my deck, why not my porch swing? Well, the chemicals that are infused into treated lumber help it stand up to just about anything Mother Nature can dish out. But those preservatives aren’t intended for regular skin contact and definitely not for food-serving surfaces. Treated wood also causes painful, burning splinters. Enough said. 5. Don’t skimp on the screws. Black-oxide wood screws are going to rust outside. Even zinc coating won't give your hinges and bolts that much insurance against corrosion. So, for outdoor projects, think like boat and deck builders do: choose brass or stainless steel hardware, screws and fasteners. Quality outdoor lumber deserves quality metal, too.

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Is plywood easy to break?

Plywood is among the strongest of all building materials. The strength is a result of individual grain layers placed perpendicular to each other bonded with glue under high pressure in the manufacturing process. This makes plywood virtually split-proof.

homeguides.sfgate.com - Plywood Strengths - Home Guides

Plywood is layered. The number of layers in plywood relates directly to strength. Individual layers can be counted by looking at the edge of any piece of plywood. If there are fewer than four layers in typical 3/4-inch-thick plywood, the plywood has the minimum amount of strength. This is often referred to as shop-grade plywood, the most affordable plywood. It will bend or break easier than almost any other type of plywood. If the plywood has between four and seven layers, the plywood has a moderate amount of strength and can be used for cabinets or almost any other project. If the plywood has more than seven layers, it is the strongest and can be used for special projects such as guitar bodies or router patterns.