Ordinary backing boards are typically made from basic materials. Common examples include plywood, which is a three- or multi-layered sheet material made by rotary cutting logs into veneers or slicing timber into thin sheets, then gluing them together with adhesives. It generally uses an odd number of veneer layers, with the fiber directions of adjacent veneers glued perpendicular to each other. Another example is fiberboard, a engineered wood product made from wood fibers or other plant fibers bonded together with urea-formaldehyde resin or other suitable adhesives. These materials are relatively inexpensive, widely available, and meet basic usage requirements.
Multi-functional backing boards, on the other hand, utilize special materials or modifications of ordinary materials. For instance, some multi-functional backing boards use new composite materials that combine the advantages of multiple materials. These materials may incorporate glass fibers, carbon fibers, or other reinforcing materials into a plastic matrix to improve performance. Others may have special coatings applied to the surface of ordinary boards, giving the backing board additional functionality.