Particle Board vs. Plywood
Who says younger is better?
With all the pre-built products out there constructed with particle board, (a material “…substituted for conventional wood or plywood when appearance and strength are less important than cost“) like cabinetry from the big box stores or even furniture from major retailers, it’s tempting to use it and even difficult to find manufactured quality items made from something more substantial. Well, anything on my budget. 
File this evidence under ‘extreme testing’ if you will, and like drug testing on lab rats exposed to quantities many times that which would be experienced by humans, the cabinets and furniture inside your conversion would never be exposed to this kind of harshness, but thought you’d like to take a look at this nevertheless.
This photograph shows a few-year-old drafting table which I have been keeping outside as a rough work-surface. I purposely didn’t want anything of quality out there because something with quality would surely disappear into the night. It was in very good condition when I placed it in this location about a year ago.
The plywood piece laying on the table is the top part of the former restroom wall from my bus. You can see the curve at the top where the wall joined the ceiling. I needed a quick piece of plywood and this was heading for the dumpster anyway so I thought I’d see if I could use a piece of it.
Outdoor conditions, yes. Not relevant to items bound for interior use, maybe. The table is two years old. The plywood is 24 years old. They have both been outside, side-by-side, exposed to exactly the same elements for the exact same length of time.
How well do you want your bus constructed?
I should add that I don’t know much about plywood grades. It clearly is a better grade than the cheepest stuff from youknowwhere, but I don’t know if it’s marine grade or whatever. I’m just sayin’…
