Thread: Small panel in liftwell, what to use

Hi. We are putting a lift in the house we are building. So far I have built the lift shaft, added the structural elements that support the lift, and lined the shaft with plywood. I used 6mm ply to line the lift - perhaps some what thinner then I would have preferred but weight was an issue as getting full sheets to the top of the liftwell is no easy task and the lighter they are the easier it is.

In the main, the lining of the lift shaft is never actually seen by us humans (except perhaps when the lift is being serviced). There is one small bit which is an exception, however. It’s a piece about 1000mm x 400mm - and it’s the bit between the upper and lower doors. As the lift goes up or down, the occupant can see this bit as they travel past. I want to do this out of something attractive and very durable, as it won’t be easy to replace it. I really can’t fighure out what to make it out of, however.

The key constraint is that you cannot have a ‘lip” inside a lift shaft for safety reasons. So having used 6mm ply I am limited to about 8 or maybe 9mm maximum thickness.

I am also pretty fussy about appearances - so I want it to be flush, smooth, opaque white with finished edges.

I don’t want it to look like painted timber or ply.

I thought of getting some 9mm mdf, rounding over the edges, and getting it sprayed with two-pack poly. I think that would be suitable aesthetically but I’m not confident mdf will be sufficiently long lasting. Then I ran out of ideas.

Can anyone suggest something.

Cheers
Arron