Biological and physical properties of phenolic resin-treated particleboards, which were made from fast growing tress and agrowaste as raw materials, were evaluated before and after natural weathering in tropical climate. The particles were sprayed with a mixture of a low molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin (5.0, 7.5 and 10% loading) and the adhesive phenol resin (8% loading). Results with laboratory biological tests revealed that low-molecular weight resin solids worked well to enhance the decay and termite resistance of particleboards in proportional to the resin loading. The physical properties such as IB strength, MOR and MOE also increased with the resin loading. After exposure to natural weathering, these properties decreased gradually due to the effect of sunshine or rain-water, but the treated particleboards with 7.5% and 10% resin loadings still maintained the higher levels of these properties.

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