Particleboards were treated with a low molecular-weight phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin and their enhanced properties were evaluated. Besides dipping of particles in aqeous solutions of resin, and spraying of resin solutions before spray of the conventional phenol-formaldehyde resin for adhesive binder, one step treatment by spraying of the mixture of the low molecular-weight resin and the adhesive resin was also employed. After 2-hour boiling, the boards treated at 10% incorporated resin loading (IRL) retained 80% of their strength values in a dry condition. The internal bond strength increased with increasing IRLs, and the boards of 20% IRL showed twice of the value of untreated controls in the same level of board density. Treated particleboards resulted in a more dramatic reduction in the rate of swelling even at low resin loadings. Results obtained from accelerated laboratory tests on biodegradation suggested that incorporated resin-solids worked well to enhance decay and termite resistance of particleboards.

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