Melamine-faced particleboard weight calculator
A full 4x8 sheet of 3/4" melamine-faced particleboard weighs about 94 lb. Change the dimensions below for your own pieces.
- Density
- 47 lb/ft³
- 3/4" 4x8 sheet
- 94 lb
- 1/2" 4x8 sheet
- 63 lb
= 0.75"
2 × Melamine-faced particleboard
188lb
Each piece
94.0 lb
In kilograms
85 kg
Per sq ft of face
2.9 lb
Melamine-faced particleboard at 47.0 lb/ft³ as supplied. Each piece is 96" × 48" × 3/4", so 2.00 ft³ of material.
Before you pick it up
Two people per piece. 94 lb each. Awkward as well as heavy: a wide panel has no good handhold, so it is heavier to carry than the number suggests.
The whole load. All 188 lb of it. Worth checking against what the car is rated to carry before you drive to the yard, and worth knowing before a freight quote.
Before you drill. The shelf itself is 94 lb before anything goes on it. Size the hardware for the shelf plus its load, fix into framing rather than drywall anchors wherever the two disagree, and remember that a floating shelf loads its bracket as a lever — the further out the weight sits, the harder it pulls at the wall.
Melamine-faced particleboard
Particleboard with a fused plastic skin. Nearly as heavy as MDF and much less forgiving to cut cleanly — score the cut line or use a blade made for it. The face is tough and the core is not; it fails at the edges and at fastener holes.
Melamine-faced particleboard questions
- How much does melamine-faced particleboard weigh?
- About 47 lb per cubic foot as supplied. That makes a full 4x8 sheet roughly 94 lb at 3/4", 63 lb at 1/2" and 31 lb at 1/4". Panel densities are nominal and vary a few pounds between mills.
- What should I know about working melamine-faced particleboard?
- Particleboard with a fused plastic skin. Nearly as heavy as MDF and much less forgiving to cut cleanly — score the cut line or use a blade made for it. The face is tough and the core is not; it fails at the edges and at fastener holes.
- How much weight can a floating shelf hold?
- That depends entirely on the bracket and what it is fixed into, not on the shelf. What this calculator tells you is the part people forget: what the shelf weighs before anything goes on it. A 48" × 10" × 2" solid oak shelf is around 23 lb empty. Size the hardware for the shelf plus its load, fix into framing rather than drywall anchors, and remember that a floating shelf loads its bracket as a lever — weight at the front edge pulls far harder than weight at the wall.
- What's the difference between board feet and weight?
- Board feet measure volume and are what you are charged for; weight is what you have to carry and ship. They are related by the density of the species, which varies by more than two to one across common woods — a board foot of white pine is about 2 lb and a board foot of hickory is about 4. Two orders of identical board footage can differ by a hundred pounds.
- How do I estimate freight for furniture?
- Start with the weight of the wood, then add the joinery hardware, the finish, and the crate — a plywood crate with bracing often adds 30% to 50% to the shipping weight of a table. Freight is usually billed on the greater of actual weight and dimensional weight, so a large light piece can be charged as though it were much heavier. Get the number here, then ask the carrier what they will actually bill.