The building: 2×4 walls with gyp board inside, 3½” fiberglass insulation, blackboard on exterior with brick veneer. Building approx 25 years old.
The job: Built and installed white oak raised panel wainscoting 36″ high on inside of two exterior walls and two interior walls over gyp board. Wainscoting finished both sides with conversion varnish. Individual raised panels stained and sealed on edges before panels assembled in stiles/rails. Job completed in February 2004. Moisture content in lumber OK.
The problem: About 10 of the raised panels on the EXTERIOR walls have split. No problem with interior wall panels. Problem became evident this summer. Customer reported some panels split and sounded like a rifle shot.
My proposed action: Remove panels and replace split raised panels with new ones. Install Tyvek house wrap on gyp board behind wainscot location. Apply 2″ wide by approx 1/8″ thick russian birch furring strips at stud locations. Reinstall wainscoting and trim.
I’m thinking this will allow the conditioned air to flow behind the panels and keep them the same temp/humidity on both sides like the panels on the interior walls have.
Will this work? Any better ideas for my part? Or will the building owner need to take more drastic steps to stop air/moisture infiltration?
Job location: Mississippi. Temp from 25° to 105°. Humidity up to 95% rh.
Thanks for any help.
Replies
I assume the panels float in the frame. Did you use "speedballs" in the rail/stile groove? Is something pulling this panel apart? Or is the panel forcing itself apart?
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Thanx Cal..I fergot about them ballz..never used them. Have you?
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
We use them all the time.
But their not called speedbalz, they are called Spaceballs, http://www.blackbridgeonline.com, this is the web site for tech support, found it on the back of the package.
They realy do keep the panel from rattling.
Doug
Wish I'd had them 20 yrs ago..made a Beech Corner unit..talk about shinkage..them panels almost fell out...live and learn. Beech sucks.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Speed Kills.
Have used them, and have dumped the can over b/4 too. You've never seen fun till you've chased those spaceballs around the room.
Hope your stomach can handle dinner.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
<<Hope your stomach can handle dinner>>Huh? ok, I cooked it...still kicking..loldid you know them birds come with directions?Wife was away, me and dog had pizza first, THEN made the bird..stuffing was kinda "hot" pepper-wise, but all in all..edible.I love alum. foil for the last third of cooking..never woulda thunk that up..Be good Cal..(how's the leg coming along?)oh,,can't pizz ya off w/o a hug to Joyce..happy, happy.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
We did use Space Balls. And we made sure we had no glue contact on the panels. I've been doing raised panels for 17 years and when we done this job I wanted to do everything possible to keep them looking right. That is what has me so stumped on the problem. We center the panel in the opening that is about 1/4" larger and shoot one staple in the top and bottom center of panel edge to hold the panel in place.
The walls are on the west and north side of building. The drywall does have numerous openings for electrical, CAT5 and such in it.
Thanks for the responses
How wide are the panels, and are they glued up or one piece?
If the back side of the panels were exposed to the outside humidity fluctuations the panels might have cracked from bowing, not expanding. Although trapped in the grooves like that will be the same net effect. You know what happens if you soak one side of a board, it cups.
I made a solid ash table for myself with a top that measures 3' w x 70" L x 1 3/4" T. Had it sprayed with 3 coats of catalyzed lacquer all around. A few years back I had it in a storage facility (no heat). When I set it up at home the top wouldn't lay flat. The whole top had cupped bought 1/2" up on the sides (yes I alternated the growth rings). Took bought a month in a stable environment for it to relax back to flat. And that's coated all around like your panels. Suspect your panels on the outside walls are being slamed with those temp and humidity swings, and they can't keep up.
Tho' I respect your posts , I must disagree with your scenario..cupping is a result of expansion, not contraction. An example as you descibed is swelling. His/her cracking/ splitting is from constraint across the grain.A slab o' wood always moves, as you have noted, splitting or cracking is due to restiction of that movement..most of the time swelling is what you have described..(side note, NO finish, I repeat, NO FINISH, is impervious to the hydroscopic nature of wood, )
I am not picking nits here,,,(ok, I am) but your results are not the same as the poster's.what has happened is the tangential or radial shrinkage has exceeded the restraints imposed by faulty construction.I will stand by that, and be assured that I coud remidie the problem without tearing into the wall structure of the dwelling.Go lightly, here..I don't need a pizzing contest, and refuse to engage.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
I can easily believe that the panels picked up moisture before losing it and splitting. And yes, they do show some cupping. The panels were a snug fit in the stiles/rails.
The panel strips were 3" or less in width with grain direction reversed when glued up. Finished size of panels is 16" - 18" wide, about 20" high
Edited 11/25/2004 10:09 pm ET by RandyNight
Randy, I'd personally be inclined to toss some more layers of finish on the backside of those panels only ......as well as install the "air-flow spacers" strips you spoke of.....when you proceed with repairs. If the panels are cupping, it's definitely a sign that the moisture exposure is unequal on the face and back and anything you can do to mitigate that will be beneficial.This is all a bummer I'm sure. Tough situation with solid-wood raised panels on the wall construction you describe....in that type of environment.I suppose to make matters worse for the wood panels, the interior is ACed to boot. Arrgh.Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Randy, Here's what I think has happened to you, 'er I should say… your panels.You said the MC of the wood was "okay" at the time of construction and assembly. But…….the best/safest way to produce raised panels for frames in this situation would've been to have that wood at the highest MC anticipated throughout the year. Since I suspect that yours was not, I'm gonna guess that what has happened is that the panels swelled in width as a result of long-term exposure to high humidity levels……and the tongues of those raised panels managed to wedge themselves tightly in the frame dadoes. When the time came for the panels to shrink back down with the drop in RH, less force was required for the panels to relieve themselves via splitting than was required for the panel tongues to free themselves from their wedged position. End result is a split panel.The straighter the grain of the panel, the more apt it is to split in this scenario than to break free again at the edge joint. Consequently, I'll also suspect that the panels on the exterior wall, which didn't split, had an internal graining strong enough to break free at their edges instead.
The panels on the interior walls weren't presented with the same amount of free moisture to absorb and so didn't create the same problem.From what I can tell, you did everything just fine except you fit the panel edges just a tad too tight for the situation at hand. It's a touchy business most of the time trying to get a nice looking fit and still allow for some seasonal swelling. Sometimes a guy doesn't leave quite enough room and then there's trouble. Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Back up...if the panels split, they were NOT floating in the frames. Either ya nailed them so they couldnot shrink, or glued them in tite.
Any raised panel needs to float in the grooves..esp the top and bottom grooves (assuming the panels have grain oriented vertically)
Check that b4 ya go tearing up the whole place.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Sphere is correct, a raised panel must float in the grooves all the way around. Panels WILL shrink, and the smart money is on staining around the edge prior to assembly, so that the inevitable shrinkage will not reveal an unstained line as the panel pulls out of the frame slightly. If solid wood panels are nailed from the back into the frame, or glued into their dado, it's a problem.
I wouldn't bother with putting a moisture barrier behind the panels. Some air space would be a good idea. Convincing the HO to add a humidifer to their scorched air heating system would also help a lot.