We own a house in snow country near Mt Lassen, CA (4800′), which we rent out occassionally. Each time the house is used during the winter, we must drain the hot and cold water lines, water heater, etc. to prevent freeze damage. Our helpers got it wrong when they drained almost all the lines, removed the water filter and canister, and then drained the upstairs lines later. No freezing took place, but apparently the last pipes drained through the now open filter pipe and flooded with several gallons of water the cabinet under the sink as well as an adjoining cabinet. We discovered this 3-4 months later. The most apparent damage was to the cabinet doors. Each door is edge-rabbeted solid 3/4 plywood, 40’s vintage, and almost every door, even those across the kitchen (4-5 feet,) are now warped. 1/2 inch or so. I know plywood likes to warp. These have some finish on them, and most of them were not touched by the water. We found little water sign other than under the cabinets.
The question: how to straighten these doors. Thanks
Replies
My first thought is just replace them.
I made a ton of rabbeted doors in the mid 70s, and occasionally ran into seasonal changes that caused warping in very large doors. On smaller doors the warp would sometimes straighten itself out as they changed moisture level from season to season, but it was easier to change them out once, than getting a bad reference from a disgruntled client.
You may get lucky as they dry, and some of them flatten out, but you will still have some that won't.
A small cabinet shop can duplicate your existing doors in no time, at a reasonable cost.
Dave