what size does plywood come in in Europe, Japan and

[Squidly-Diddly]

other non-American metric nations? Is it the Imperial standard 4' x 8'(or 10' or 12')sheets? What about thickness? I saw one site the says the thicknesses are Imperial, but I'm not sure if they were selling American product in Europe or European products in Europe.

What about lumber and other building materials like sheetrock(not that I'm planning on using sheetrock on a boat)?

Do they have 2x4s over there, and are they 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" like ours?

What about their metal studs?

I've been told they don't do near as much "stick and sheet" building over there and that is considered 2nd rate and old fashioned.

[pistnbroke]

Speaking for the UK ...8x4 never seen any 10 or 12 sheets but may be at a specialist ..unsully metric thickness 3 4 6 9 12 19 are the normal ones ..quality is poor usually internal ..pine ...marine at a specialist...
2 x 4 is 50 x 100 no problem or 35 x 70 for internal walls
As housed are all double brick ..well in the uk anyway no metal studs .
spain is all breeze block
Europe is a big place with wide temp variations so what country are you going to ?? you need to consider planning regualions/permission and in the uk have proper incorruptable council building inspectors

[Squidly-Diddly]

It relies on using a standard easily replaceable (and hopefully available) size of plywood (or other suitable material) for decking, so I was just making sure that 4x8' was the world standard.

Most of my concept is a "system", and not just one optimized boat or even one optimized design.

I've worked in construction in USA, and 4x10' sheets of plywood and sheetrock are pretty common, especially for houses with 10' ceilings or for plywood sheathing the outside of houses were you want to span 8' studs and approx 1' joists.

12' sheetrock is normal on anything but private houses. Less joints means less labor.

[CDK]

Plywood in Europe can be 4'x8' as well, but the majority is 125x250 cm.
There is also 150x300 cm from Eastern European sources.
Thickness is always metrical, starting at 3 mm.

[Herman]

Netherlands: Either 4x8' or 125x250cm, which does not differ too much. (keep the skill saw ready!)

Housing: About all double wall, usually 32cm thick. Bricks on the outside, sandstone system blocks on the inside. No plywood, no metalstud. Concrete castings are big here as well.

Metalstud is used in renovation of old houses. 45, 50, 75 and 100 mm thickness. Gyprock sheets are 9,5 or 12mm thick, in various lengths, and 2 widths: 60 and 120cm (120cm only in 12mm thickness)

[Squidly-Diddly]

Only 'sandstone' in USA is for outside pavers for a rough-cut look.

Do you mean what we call 'cinderblocks' which are these (14"X6"X6"?)

http://www.reallyreallygoodthings.co...rBlockPile.jpg

[Herman]

No, but on the picture below they are glueing the blocks:

http://www.timmer.nl/timmer.nsf/(Images)/00D2CF43D49536C6C12571950054EE7E/$FILE/TenBoerKalkzandsteen.jpg

http://www.bricklijmwerken.nl/images...kzandsteen.jpg