How Much Does Plywood Weigh?

A stack of plywood sheets at a lumber yard

The actual weight of plywood varies by product and manufacturer, which can make it challenging to predict the weight perfectly. On average, a 4′ x 8′ sheet of 3/4″ softwood plywood weighs about 61 pounds, but some sheets can weigh well over 80 pounds.

There are various factors that affect the weight of a sheet of plywood and other sheet goods.

What Affects the Weight of Plywood

A few factors impact the weight of plywood. The precise thickness of the panel is a major factor in the weight. The actual thickness of plywood is almost always thinner than the advertised nominal thickness and varies from product to product.

In addition to thickness, the type of plywood is a major factor in how much it weighs. Different species of wood have varying densities. For example, hardwood lumber weighs more than softwood lumber due to higher densities.

You can calculate the weight of different species of lumber using our lumber weight calculator to get an idea of how much different lumber species might impact the weight. With that said, most hardwood plywoods use softwood layers for the inner plies and hardwood veneers only for the outer surfaces.

The number of plies can also play a role. Plywood comes in three, five, and multi-ply varieties. The more plies the material has, the thicker and stronger it will be. It will also weigh more compared to a material that has fewer plies.

Different types of plywood also contain varying amounts of glues and resins, which affect the weight significantly. Products such as medium-density fiberboard (MDF) are composed of more glue and resin than veneer core plywood, which will impact the weight.

In addition to using different amounts of glues and resins, different types of resin vary in weight. There are some varieties of plywood that use special resin to reduce the weight, for instance, lightweight plywood products.

Different grades of plywood may also have more or fewer voids than others, which might slightly impact the weight.

For example, marine-grade plywood is much heavier since it is composed of more than five veneers that are each treated for moisture resistance and have been infused with chemical treatments for durability. These high-grade products are often much heavier than a typical piece of plywood.

Exterior-grade pressure-treated plywood that has been infused with chemicals to resist rot and insect damage will also be heavier than an interior-grade untreated variety.

On the other hand, aircraft-grade and ultra-light plywood products will be significantly lighter than their standard counterparts since they use special lightweight glues and wood cores.

Plywood Weight Charts

The charts below show the weight of plywood panels at different thicknesses. Weight may vary slightly by manufacturer and product.

Standard Plywood Weights

Weight of 4′ x 8′ sheets of various types and thicknesses of plywood measured in pounds.
Plywood Type Plywood Thickness
1/4″ 3/8″ 1/2″ 5/8″ 3/4″ 1-1/8″
Softwood Plywood 22 lbs 28.5 lbs 40.5 lbs 48 lbs 61 lbs 84.5 lbs
Hardwood Plywood 24.5 lbs 31.5 lbs 45 lbs 53 lbs 67.5 lbs 94 lbs
Marine Plywood 27 lbs 35 lbs 50 lbs 59 lbs 75 lbs 104 lbs
Baltic Birch 26 lbs 33.5 lbs 48 lbs 56.5 lbs 71.5 lbs 99.5 lbs
Particle Board 33 lbs 43 lbs 61 lbs 72 lbs 91 lbs 127 lbs
MDF 36 lbs 46.5 lbs 66.7 lbs 78.5 lbs 99.5 lbs 138.5 lbs
MDO 20 lbs 26 lbs 37.5 lbs 44 lbs 56 lbs 77.5 lbs
OSB 25.5 lbs 33 lbs 47 lbs 55.5 lbs 70.5 lbs 98 lbs

Metric Plywood Weights

Approximate metric weight of 1220mm x 2440mm sheets of various types and thicknesses of plywood measured in kilograms.
Plywood Type Plywood Thickness
6mm 9.5mm 12.5mm 15.5mm 18.5mm 28.5mm
Softwood Plywood 9.98 kg 12.93 kg 18.37 kg 21.77 kg 27.67 kg 38.33 kg
Hardwood Plywood 11.11 kg 14.29 kg 20.41 kg 24.04 kg 30.62 kg 42.64 kg
Marine Plywood 12.25 kg 15.88 kg 22.68 kg 26.76 kg 34.02 kg 47.17 kg
Baltic Birch 11.79 kg 15.2 kg 21.77 kg 25.63 kg 32.43 kg 45.13 kg
Particle Board 14.97 kg 19.5 kg 27.67 kg 32.66 kg 41.28 kg 57.61 kg
MDF 16.33 kg 21.09 kg 30.25 kg 35.61 kg 45.13 kg 62.82 kg
MDO 9.07 kg 11.79 kg 17.01 kg 19.96 kg 25.4 kg 35.15 kg
OSB 11.57 kg 14.97 kg 21.32 kg 25.17 kg 31.98 kg 44.45 kg

Hardboard Panel Weights

Approximate weight of hardboard panels.
Panel Thickness Weight
1/8″ 21 lbs
3/16″ 28 lbs
1/4″ 32 lbs

Use our plywood calculator to find how many sheets of plywood you need for your project.

Tips to Reduce Plywood Weight

There are a few things you can do to reduce the weight of plywood.

When you’re purchasing or moving plywood, it’s easiest to cut the sheets down to manageable pieces as early as possible, particularly if you will need smaller pieces later on. This way, each piece weighs much less and is easy to handle. Lumber distributors and home improvement stores can often cut the material for you.

This won’t necessarily work, however, if you need the panels at full size for the project you are undertaking.

To reduce the weight of plywood in a cabinet or structure, you can drill holes or cut out sections strategically in places that are not visible or critical for structural integrity.

You can also use the thinnest sheet of plywood that is still strong enough for the project at hand. Since a sheet of 3/4″ plywood weighs 50% more than a sheet of 1/2″, using the thinner sheet where possible can reduce a ton of weight in the overall project.