I was going to make a wooden teardrop and paint it, but since I've managed to get my hands on some red oak, I've been thinking that I should make a woodie to let that beauty show through. I wasn't happy with the appearance of the plywood I've been seeing at the local "orange box", so I checked out one of the specialty wood shops in the area. When I mentioned what I wanted to use it for, he steered me away from the interesting assortment of "interior grade" plywoods toward the two "exterior" plywoods which he had: Marine Fir and Marine Okoume. The less expensive of the two is the fir. Still, it's more than twice the cost of the same size board of the "orange box" stuff and I'm still suffering from sticker shock.
So, my first question is whether it's a good idea to stick with exterior grade plywood.
My second question is whether the kind of "regular" plywood which you get at Home Depot is typically exterior grade.
The fir is fairly nice stuff and looks nice on both sides. I've been going back and forth as to whether I should use thinner plywood and have framed and insulated sides, or whether I should stick with 3/4" plywood only sides. I'm thinking that since the fir is good on both sides that it might be enough to tip the scale for me so that I'll use the thicker plywood but no framing. My estimate -- assuming I can use the framing boards I already own - is that an insulated or an uninsulated wall will cost the same to build - as far as materials go, so I'm still not sure.
Another thought I had was to buy cheaper wood and paint it with epoxy paint, and still trim it out with the red oak, which I'd have to finish another way. Is there such a thing as clear epoxy varnish which would look good next to white epoxy paint?