Old timer told me to never use particle board for shelving, I learned why the hard way

I built a bookshelf for a client with high-end particle board and it sagged within three months under maybe 40 pounds of books. He was not happy, and I had to tear it out and redo it with plywood for free. Has anyone else had a customer insist on a material that you knew would fail?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherw3413d ago

That particle board is JUST sawdust and glue pressed together. It has no real structure to hold weight over time, especially in a long span. The glue breaks down with humidity and the whole thing droops like a wet noodle. Even the "high end" stuff is just fancier sawdust with a pretty facing. Plywood has actual layers of wood going different directions, so it fights sagging way better. Your buddy learned the exact same lesson my client did - particle board is fine for a flat surface that never gets loaded, but books will ALWAYS expose the truth.

logan65815d ago

Plywood's just better for shelves (especially if books are involved).

alicecraig15d ago

Had a buddy try to save money with particle board shelves for his book collection. Within six months the middle shelf was bowing like crazy and all his paperbacks slid to the middle. He stacked them back up but the board just kept sagging till it cracked right down the center. Took him hours to move everything off and replace it with plywood. The plywood hasn't moved an inch in like two years now. Solid lesson learned the hard way.