Why does nobody talk about how bad particle board drawers sag after 2 years
I pulled apart a kitchen I built in 2019 out in Beaverton and the drawer boxes looked like hammocks. The bottoms were bowing a good half inch and the slides were grinding because the box had warped. Swapped every one to 1/2 inch ply with a dado bottom and the difference after 6 months is night and day. So what gets you to stop using particle board, a callback like mine or do you just price it in from the start?
Switched to ply on all my boxes after a similar mess, and the fix is cheaper than people think. Use 1/2 inch for the sides and back, then cut a 1/4 inch ply bottom and drop it in a dado about a half inch up from the edge. Glue and pin it, and that box will stay square forever. The trick is cutting the dado before assembly so the bottom actually holds the box, not just sits under it like cardboard. Particle board only sags when the bottom is stapled flat and nothing is keeping the sides from spreading.