Despite their reputation as dining room fixtures, sideboards are popular pieces of furniture that can be used in almost any room in your home.
Because it is a piece of utility furniture, which means you use it to store and keep items on and in it, knowing how much weight it can hold is critical.
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How Much Weight Can a Sideboard Hold?
The structure and material of the sideboard determine how much weight it can support. A wooden sideboard can hold up to 70 kg on average. The weight a sideboard can hold is also determined by the thickness of the material, so it can be significantly more or less depending on it.
As previously stated, the weight it can support is limited by the material, thickness, and structure it is made of. However, there are always exceptions where the combination of two will triumph over the third.
A table made of balsa wood, for example, will support less weight than a table made of mahogany of the same thickness. Even a lightwood honeycomb panel with a stronger structure can support far more weight than a plywood panel with a weaker assembly.
What is the significance of the term “sideboard”?
Sideboards are pieces of furniture that have been used to warm our homes for a very long time. Historically, they were long tables used for smorgasbords, but they are now used for storage or as narrow side table pieces.
Sideboards were created primarily as utility pieces, to maximize storage and make it easy to serve food from them.
Traditionally, it is intended to hold plates, side dishes, decanters, and any other meal-related accessories. They may occasionally include cupboards and drawers for easier access.
This piece of furniture, known as an alternative to a “side table,” has been around since the Middle Ages.
That name evolved, matured, and became the sideboard, which makes sense given that it is a piece of stepped furniture kept at the side that was used for display and valuable eating utensils.
The weight capacity of different kinds of sideboards varies.
While sideboards were traditionally kept in the dining room, they have evolved to the point where they can now be found almost anywhere in the house.
Low sideboards, high sideboards, and freestanding sideboards are all options. There are also sideboards designed specifically for dining rooms, living rooms, hallways, and even bedrooms. It stands to reason that these various types would have varying weight capacities.
It should be noted that the structure, material, and how the material is used and crafted determine how much weight it can hold before anything else.
Wooden standard sideboard
A standard, basic wooden sideboard weighing around 110 pounds can support heavy glass and brassware without buckling. So, it’s safe to say that a standard sideboard can support half or more of its weight without buckling.
Sideboards for hallways
A 145-pound hallway sideboard can hold more than four racks of wine bottles, as well as other items in its drawers and cupboards. Weight capacity should ideally be between 50 and 80 lbs.
On the other hand, some 70-pound sideboards can support up to 250 pounds.
The sideboard for the living room
A standard pine and plywood living room sideboard weighs about 95 pounds. This type of sideboard, which is usually rectangular, can hold more than their body weight and has a capacity of around 270 pounds.
The sideboard for the bedroom
A typical bedroom sideboard made of engineered wood and steel weighs around 80 pounds.
This rectangle bar cabinet-style sideboard can support 75 pounds on top, 40 pounds in the cabinet, and 5 pounds per cube. As a result, the total weight capacity is likely to be around 130–150 pounds.
As seen by the various types of sideboards, they typically weigh around 100 pounds and can hold at least half of our body weight and up to nearly double our weight. It is always a good idea to check its capacity before putting anything particularly heavy on it.
What is the weight of a sideboard?
Sideboards are available in a variety of styles and designs, which will, understandably, affect their weight. We can, however, look at the average weight to get a sense of what to expect.
A 1.5 x.5 x 1 m wooden sideboard with dimensions of 1.5 x.5 x 1 m should weigh between 90 and 120 kg. It should be noted that the weight of different types of sideboards will vary. Lounge sideboards are known to be lightweight, weighing between 20 and 35 kg.
How do you increase the weight capacity of a sideboard?
There are a few ways to increase the weight capacity of your sideboard. It’s important to note that these methods can only boost capacity by 10 to 20% of what it was before. If you expect more than that, you’re being unrealistic.
It’s called “sag” in architecture, and sagging is when an object bends and gives way to the weight of its weight.
Make the material thicker.
You can try adding a thicker layer of material to the top of the sideboard to distribute the weight more evenly and smoothly. You can also try attaching them to the front edge of the furniture.
Strengthen the joints.
Reinforce the leg joints by adding diagonal braces from the leg to the top, which is also a good way to reduce the span distance and thus increase the sideboard’s ability to handle more weight.
Think about using a stretcher base.
Stretcher bases were once used in taverns and pubs to help stabilize the frame. This can also be applied to sideboards, increasing or even improving the design feature.
Increase the number of legs.
Increase the number of legs on the furniture to improve its weight capacity because each leg helps to disperse the weight, which improves the weight capacity.
These methods are simple enough to do on your own, but if any of them seem too difficult, you can always look up tutorials. And if all else fails, there is no shame in seeking assistance from customer service or professionals who are determined to do a good job.
Why does size matter when it comes to the weight capacity of sideboards?
We only need to look at basic physics to understand why size matters when it comes to how much weight a sideboard can support. Understandably, larger things can hold and handle more weight on them. The same logic applies to sideboards.
As previously stated, the material of an object determines how much weight it can withstand or how much support it can provide. The amount of weight it can support is determined by the material and thickness, as well as the way it is constructed.
What size should a sideboard have?
To understand what can be the limit of something, we must first understand its most common or standard form so that we can expand on it. The standard size dimension for sideboards is as follows:
The front-to-back depth, or width, the furniture, is approximately 20 to 22 inches.
Height can vary because there are high and low models, as well as wall-mounted and free-standing models. However, the height is usually around 36 inches so that it can match the kitchen counter.
It is expected to be 60 inches long, but 48-inch variants are also available.
In centimeters, the width ranges from 50 to 220 cm, the depth ranges from 30 to 90 cm, and the height ranges from 60 to 120 cm.
You can be confident that you will find one that suits you because they are available in a variety of sizes.
Is it possible to put a fish tank on a sideboard?
Because sideboards can support a significant amount of weight, we can assume that a fish tank can be mounted on one. However, it is always a good idea to check the weight capacity before putting anything heavy on it.
If you want to put something heavy on it, it is thought that a flat bottom will distribute the weight better than two or four legs because the weight will be distributed only on them.
Sideboards are a unique and popular type of household fitting that can be both a statement piece and a functional piece. Because objects will be placed on and in them, it is a good idea to know how much weight they can withstand.