What Is a Plywood Weight Chart?

A plywood weight chart displays the weights for different thicknesses of plywood. Such charts also give weights for plywood made from different materials and grades of material.

To find the weight of a piece of plywood, builders use a plywood weight chart. For instance, if a builder needs to know the weight of a standard 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood, he can measure its thickness and consult the plywood weight chart. A standard sheet of 1/2-inch softwood plywood weighs 40.6 pounds. The same size sheet of hardwood plywood weighs 45 pounds, while a sheet of particle board weighs 61 pounds.

Plywood weight charts help builders compare the weights of different grades of plywood, calculate shipping weights and specify costs in building estimates. Even more practical for DIY projects, the charts tell the builder how much weight he may have to move around when building a deck or shed, as the weights of different grades of plywood can vary plus or minus 15 percent.

A builder who needs to calculate the weight of plywood that is not a standard size should add up the square footage, use a plywood weight chart to find the weight of a whole sheet the same grade and thickness, and divide by 32, the number of square feet in a standard sheet, to get the weight per square foot. For example, one square foot of 3/4-inch plywood weighs about 2.5 pounds.