# Wood screws in particle board?



## Stilts (Dec 2, 2010)

I am going to install some pullout drawers for pots and pans and stuff. The drawer slides will be attached to the side of the cabinets which are particle board. Will regular wood screws hold?


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## tvman44 (Dec 8, 2011)

I prefer deck screws for particle board because I find the course thread holds better.


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

Stilts said:


> I am going to install some pullout drawers for pots and pans and stuff. The drawer slides will be attached to the side of the cabinets which are particle board. Will regular wood screws hold?


Hi Stilts - My experiences with particle board and screws have not been very positive, especially if any kind of forces are involved.


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

id put some plywood inside from the floor to the highest slide. mount the slides in that. 
particle board is a good as the dust its made from. i hate it


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would not use wood screws (the tapered kind). Coarse thread screws...like a drywall screw, but not necessarily a drywall screw, work well. I use a combo pilot/countersinking bit, or just a pilot bit for a starter hole. I drive them slow, with a cordless VSR drill. It has more torque and more controllable driven slow than an electric drill. When near tight, just bump the trigger to pull up tight. This prevents over spinning, which can snap off heads, and cause the threads to lose grip.










 







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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

After years of assembling cheap particleboard children’s furniture. I have found that drilling a hole and squirting in a little glue before screwing in the screw works very well.


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## Stilts (Dec 2, 2010)

bob sacamano said:


> id put some plywood inside from the floor to the highest slide. mount the slides in that.
> particle board is a good as the dust its made from. i hate it


I am going to use plywood in order for the slides to get past the door hinges. I was actually wondering if the wood screws would hold the plywood to the cabinet well enough. I would then attach the slides to the ply.


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## egw (Dec 26, 2011)

There are some course screws that are sold that have a wave on the thread that will help hold the boards well. You may want to experiment with them.


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## Wisteria Wood (Apr 3, 2012)

I agree with Sleep. I use poly glue, that foams. But the plywood route is the one I'd take if it was me.


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

You probably know by now - but for the newbies - glue that ply onto the particle board since you're going to be putting pressure on the holding screws.


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## bob sacamano (Jan 24, 2012)

+ 1 on bernie post. glue and screw the plywood. i would make sure the pkywood is sitting on the deck so all the weight is shear and will be on the plywood.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Before you make your pull out shelves make sure the door opens enough that the pull out shelf will clear. It's possible you may have to add plywood to the side of the particle board so the pull out will clear the door, especially if the cabinet has European hinges. If you can mount the pull outs to the particle board sides I use as course a screw as I can find and long enough that it almost goes through the particle board.


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## Stilts (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks for the help guys. This forum is so helpful and has so many people ray know a lot about what is going on. 
I did end up attaching plywood to sides that goes to the ground, which also allowed the drawers to clear the euro hinges. 
The drawers are big but seem to be pretty sturdy. The slides were rated for 100 pounds. 
The only thing I forgot about while trying to use all the space was to leave enough room to get fingers in to pull bottom one out. There is enough room but barely. I guess if it bugs me then I can drill a half hole at top to grab. 
Thanks again.


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