Linear Expansion of Particleboard Decking Under Site-Built Exposure Conditions

Two floors were made of structural, phenolic-bonded particleboard decking (single-floor sheathing). One floor, made with 3/4-inch (19-mm) board installed with 1/8-inch (3-mm) expansion gaps between panels, was exposed to Vancouver, British Columbia, winter weather conditions. The second floor, made with 5/8-inch (16-mm) board installed without expansion gaps, was exposed to continuous surface wetting to simulate extreme site-built exposure conditions. The decking, held under partial restraint by the framing, underwent only 38 percent of the linear expansion of unrestrained samples subjected to a vacuum-pressure impregnation technique. No significant buckling or distortion of either floor system was observed, even in the floor system in which the MC of the decking was raised above the fiber saturation point. The study provided a clear example that the linear expansion of a particleboard in a floor system could not be accurately predicted from measurements on small unrestrained particleboard specimens.

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