# Thickness for Tongue & Groove Boards



## mattfranck (Oct 23, 2009)

I'm in the design stage to build a couple of pieces of outdoor furniture for my pool deck:


A storage bench approximately 21"H x 21"D x 96"W
A hutch approximately 96"H x 13"D x 84"W

I intend to make both from Florida Cypress with consistent dimensioning where possible in the design. I will use frame and panel construction for all walls, doors and lids. The rails and styles will be 2" x 3/4".

My question is related to the panel construction. My preference is for a tongue & groove panel. I see most of the T&G cypress at 3/4". This seems wastefully thick for my purposes, as well as unnecessarily heavy.

*How thin can I make T&G cypress?*

Alternatively, I could make it look like T&G with butt joined chamfered edges. That would result in less rigidity in the panels and this is an outdoor project in North Florida humidity.

I'd appreciate any other ideas or consideration I haven't taken into the design.

Thanks all.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I've never used cypress but have used cedar for similar projects and 1/2" worked fine.


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## davidpettinger (Aug 21, 2009)

Like A1Jim said, plane abunch down to half inch. Aromatic cedar is like 3/8" T&G and works fine.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

What is more wasteful, a 3/4" panel, or 1/4" worth of sawdust from planing it down to 1/2"? The thin panels in my dresser rattle a little when I close the door. As long as the panel is as thick as the dado in the rails & stiles, I think it's just a matter of design. If you were going to do raised panels, then you'd definitely need 3/4". Resawing might be an option if you don't mind panels under 3/8". You can put the tongue & groove look onto the front using various methods.


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## rwyoung (Nov 22, 2008)

+1 @ CaptainSkully

Don't plane down 3/4" T&G material, just resaw from thicker (say 5/4) and make your own T&G with a router, tablesaw, Stanley 49, whatever.

1/2" should be fine for vertical panels. For a large horizontal panel I'd be a little worried about it sagging with time but just speculating. Probably have to be a much longer run than your stated above for sag to become an issue at 1/2" thickness. Heck, 3/8" is probably fine for vertical panels but then the T&G get a little delicate at 1/8". At 1/2" the T&G would be around 3/16".


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