Learned the hard way why you should never skip acclimating hardwood before cutting

Had a job in Portland last month where I ignored 3 days of humid weather and ended up with 12 warped cabinet doors that I had to scrap and recut from scratch, anyone else run into this issue with seasonal wood movement?

2 comments

2 Comments

hannah38512d agoMost Upvoted

Moisture meters are cheap compared to scrapping 12 doors. I keep one in my truck and check every board before I cut, not just the room air.

jamiekim12d ago

That moisture meters are cheap compared to scrapping 12 doors" - man that hits close to home. My buddy Dave tried to save time on a kitchen reno in the PNW. He figured the wood felt dry enough. Cut all the cabinet fronts over two days. Then came the rain. Three weeks later, every single door had a gap you could stick a finger through. He had to rip out the whole set and start over. His client was not happy. That job ended up costing him more than twice what he quoted.