What wood to use in a 1969 Shasta if going to paint it?

Folks who paint often use luan. It acts like birch, but has little grain, so isn't real pretty and takes paint well. You may want to consider the type of paint. An eggshell or even a semi gloss will reflect light and make the trailer seem larger and brighter. We accomplish something similar when we use a sheen on birch.

I was at home depot today looking at the different woods and was looking at the luan. They don't carry 1/8" luan at my home depot but they had 'almost' 1/4" and I was looking at that. Luan scares me. It seems very week and brittle. Also doesn't look like the glue is very good and I wonder how it will hold up to water.

Is luan really strong enough to use?

Thanks for all the help.

I'm going to call the local lumber center by me and see what they have in 1/8" for different species and pricing. i think i might go with something other than luan. probably cost a little more money but going want to make sure it has strength.

the stuff my home depot had for luan was birch luan Grade C, made in china.

I found this stuff at home depot and was pretty excited about it.
www.homedepot.com/p/Utility-Panel-Common-1-8-In-x-4-Ft-x-8-Ft-Actual-0-106-in-x-48-in-x-96-in-833096/100535208

It has some irregularities to it but they won't show up when painted. I picked up a bunch of sheets the other day and was planning to start and rebuild one wall this week.

But, today I got a little deeper and took apart the first wall that needs to be rebuilt. I noticed that the original material that is on the walls in the trailer is much thicker than 1/8". It is much closer to 1/4" and my guess is 1/4" material which tends to be a little thinner in actuality. The stuff I picked up is actually slightly thinner than 1/8" in that it is .106".

I am not having concern that this might be to thin and won't offer the structural integrity that this framework requires. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? Think I am better off going with 1/4" material even though it will be heavier.

I would say you should consider if you want to see wood grain texture through the paint or have a smooth finish. I'm guessing you want smooth if you are thinking of semi gloss.

Birch and maple will paint the smoothest. Oak and ash will allow you to paint thin and see the texture. I'm not familiar with luan but I believe it is like a cheap mahogany grain, which if it is my guess is it might not paint out as smooth as birch.

Pine or fir plywood will show a lot of texture.