MDF vs. Particle Board

[cheeseburger35 10+ year member]

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

around here lowes and hd sell 3/4 mdf for about 30$ a sheet mine costs 40 but like i said it is commercial grade not builder grade.

 

[cheeseburger35 10+ year member]

top pic is some of the same sheet i just accidently left a piece outside when it rained.. the 2nd pic is hdf...

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

that 2nd picture is PB //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif but yes standard builders grade mdf will swell if you soak it like that peice obviously was. I didn't mean it wont swell in standing water lolz any wood will. but on edge in rain ect usually only the edges swell.

 

[cheeseburger35 10+ year member]

wrong dude... i was rained on in a gravel driveway i don't get standing water on the gravel drive at all....

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

that 2nd picture is PB //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif but yes standard builders grade mdf will swell if you soak it like that peice obviously was. I didn't mean it wont swell in standing water lolz any wood will. but on edge in rain ect usually only the edges swell.

So you say that a construction company that your family owns uses MDF for sub-floor, instead of OSB. I know for a fact that the flooring on a job site gets beat to hell and rained on like no other. Very rarely will the floor not get wet by the time construction is finished....and normally it gets soaked(ie: just straight getting rained on after being laid down, getting rained on while it's sitting out being unused, wind blowing rain in through a window hole that hasn't had a window set in yet, or being leaked on from an above floor during rain).

And even if it does just "swell on the edges", then it's inferior to OSB, since OSB does not swell dues to the treatment done around the edges of the panels(which to my knowledge MDF does not have treated edges, at least not that I have seen). I just fail to see how swelled up MDF passes inspection.

 

[mr.michael 10+ year member]

mdf is denser then pb, making it stronger and better imo

 

[snfsh79077 10+ year member]

So you say that a construction company that your family owns uses MDF for sub-floor, instead of OSB. I know for a fact that the flooring on a job site gets beat to hell and rained on like no other. Very rarely will the floor not get wet by the time construction is finished....and normally it gets soaked(ie: just straight getting rained on after being laid down, getting rained on while it's sitting out being unused, wind blowing rain in through a window hole that hasn't had a window set in yet, or being leaked on from an above floor during rain).
And even if it does just "swell on the edges", then it's inferior to OSB, since OSB does not swell dues to the treatment done around the edges of the panels(which to my knowledge MDF does not have treated edges, at least not that I have seen). I just fail to see how swelled up MDF passes inspection.

x2

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

wrong dude... i was rained on in a gravel driveway i don't get standing water on the gravel drive at all....

laying flat on the ground right? so therefore standing water on edge the water mostly runs off.

as far as using mdf in homes ect they only do it in water areas and it is sealed and uses a totally dif type of glue. we are not talking 200k houses here I am talking about 5-800k homes. and they do use osb under it as well. just because you have never seen or used it does not mean it isnt done.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

laying flat on the ground right? so therefore standing water on edge the water mostly runs off.as far as using mdf in homes ect they only do it in water areas and it is sealed and uses a totally dif type of glue. we are not talking 200k houses here I am talking about 5-800k homes. and they do use osb under it as well. just because you have never seen or used it does not mean it isnt done.

I'm just amazed that it is done, especially in "water areas." I could understand it being done in the desert, but not in a humid/wet environment. And it doesn't matter how expensive the house is. Million dollar houses here use OSB/plywood, and you yourself even admitted that it swells on the edges...I just fail to see why they'd use something that's 4x's as expensive and swells, instead of using an already proven method that doesn't swell.

Out of curiosity, what do they use for the exterior of the house, as far as what goes on directly over the outside of the wall?

 

[snfsh79077 10+ year member]

laying flat on the ground right? so therefore standing water on edge the water mostly runs off.as far as using mdf in homes ect they only do it in water areas and it is sealed and uses a totally dif type of glue. we are not talking 200k houses here I am talking about 5-800k homes. and they do use osb under it as well. just because you have never seen or used it does not mean it isnt done.

water area's huh?? I think I can pretty much vouch for some wet areas //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif and I have never seen it used on even million plus homes. Before katrina my dad built his house which was appraised at 750k and osb was used.

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

For boxes mdf of course, The denser box material the better. As far as houses go particle board or mdf is fine on floors...Of cheap trailer houses. I've done a few floor replacements because of washing machine leaks in trailers and PB and mdf ***** for flooring. On all the houses I've built we always use Gold edge. (Tounge & groove1 1/8 Osb) that is both on the starter and luxury homes.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

they use osb and buffalo board over the top of that for exterior. but the mdf they use is not the same as what you use for boxes it has special glues and waterproofers in it and it is an upgrade , not standard building technique. for arguments sake the majority of homes use osb as subflooring.

they also use it alot for tile and linoleum backer.

 

[alvitae 10+ year member]

they use osb and buffalo board over the top of that for exterior. but the mdf they use is not the same as what you use for boxes it has special glues and waterproofers in it and it is an upgrade , not standard building technique. for arguments sake the majority of homes use osb as subflooring.
they also use it alot for tile and linoleum backer.

You could be right. I've never seen it done as you described but it may be better and just not as cost effective perhaps.

 

[drpeeb 10+ year member]

You're a piece of **** drpeeb.
Hardcore necromancy.

What caused that?