The reason I hate particle board is that it fails in a non-graceful and completely unrepairable manner.<p>I went to lecture one time and the speaker needed to move the podium which consisted of 3 sides, a top and 2 internal shelves all made of particle board. He must have stressed the structure in <i>just</i> the wrong way because the entire thing fell apart like a house of cards. Funniest thing I've seen in a long while.