Pieces of wood fiber glued together create a cheap material known as particleboard. The amount of moisture from the glue adds to the weight of this product when compared with lumber. You can determine the weight of particleboard in order to find out the shipping costs or whether your truck can support the weight of the sheets. To prevent accidents, have an assistant with you to carry this heavy building material, as the boards look deceptively lightweight.
Step 1
Measure the length, width and thickness of the particleboard sheet in inches. For instance, you might have a 1/2-inch sheet measuring 48 inches wide by 96 inches long.
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Step 2
Multiply the dimensions together. In the example, you would multiply 48 by 96 by 1/2 to get 2,304 cubic inches. This is your volume.
Step 3
Divide the product from Step 2 by 1,728 to convert your volume to cubic feet. In the example, you divide 2,304 by 1,728 to get 1.33 cubic feet.
Step 4
Look for a written indication of the density of your particleboard on the board itself. If that's not available, use the following median standard values for density, depending on your board: Use 31 pounds per cubic foot for low-density board; 43.5 pounds per cubic foot for medium-density and 58.5 pounds per cubic foot for high density.
Step 5
Multiply the density of the board by the volume in cubic feet to determine the weight in pounds. For the example, assume a low-density board: 1.33 cubic feet x 31 pounds/cubic foot = 41.23 pounds per sheet of low-density, 1/2-inch particleboard measuring 4 feet by 8 feet.
Step 6
Multiply the weight per sheet by the number of sheets you have to get the total weight of your load of particleboard. For instance, 100 sheets of particleboard from the example would weigh a total of 41.23 pounds x 100 = 4,123 pounds.
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