Particle board, also known as chipboard, is a common type of wood that is used in many types of furniture and cabinets throughout your home. However, sometimes they can become easily damaged due to a variety of factors, but mainly water damage is what really begins to break the wood down. Let’s discuss how water damage can affect the particle boards in your house and how to repair particle board water damage.
How Did My Particle Boards Get Water Damage In The First Place?
In order to fix particle board water damage, it is important to know where the damage came from. This may seem like a fairly obvious question, but sometimes it can be tricky to find where the source of water damage originated from. There are pipes everywhere throughout your home, especially throughout places where particle boards are most present, such as in your kitchen. These pipes can burst at any moment, especially during the winter seasons. If this is the case, you are likely to experience water damaged particle board, some beyond repair. Or perhaps there was a roof leak, that eventually made its way behind your kitchen cabinets and begun breaking down the wood. You can probably see how complicated any type of water leak can be, no matter where it came from. The most important point to gather here is that finding the damage will better help prevent particle board water damage in the future and help repair particle board water damage that has already occurred.
How to Repair Particle Board Water Damage
Luckily, you can learn how to repair water damaged particle board cabinets and furniture as a fairly simple DIY project! However, it can become expensive fairly quickly, and we do not recommend repairing your particle board if there is water damage to more than one area of your home. For that job, you may want to consider hiring a restoration company to repair water damage throughout your home, including getting all the particle boards repaired fast.
Make Sure All Your Particle Boards Are Dry
Make Sure All Your Particle Boards Are Dry
The essential first step for fixing water damaged particle boards is to make sure that all the boards are dry. If there is still water after the entire repair process, you are going to end up with the same exact problem you started with. Furthermore, any water that still remains on the particle board will not only make it susceptible to future water damage but also can cause long-term problems with mold and mildew. You can speed the drying process up by using a hairdryer, to effectively remove any excess water from the particle boards. Pair a hairdryer up with some towels to soak up the wet area and you are on your way to making sure the damaged parts of your particle board dry properly and are repaired quickly!
Use Sandpaper To Level The Dried Areas Of Your Particle Board
Use Sandpaper To Level The Dried Areas Of Your Particle Board
The next step to repair particle board is to sand down the swollen areas. You are probably thinking, isn’t sandpaper for after removing the damaged areas of my chipboard? For the particle board repair process, it is very important to make sure you sand down and level the damaged areas first before removing the damaged areas themselves.
Once you dry all the areas of your particle board in the previous steps, there will most likely be areas of the board that are swollen. This is due to the drying process and is completely normal. Now it’s time to get rid of those. By using sandpaper you can easily grind out the areas of swollen chipboard. The same process can be applied to fix particle board water damage on furniture and cabinets. However, you may want to apply a finishing coat after the entire particle board repair process is complete in order to make your furniture look brand new again!
Remove Any Damaged Areas Of Your Particle Board And Fill In The Holes
Remove Any Damaged Areas Of Your Particle Board And Fill In The Holes
Nest step in the particle board repair process is to remove all the damaged areas of your chipboard after you finished sanding it down. You can use several tools for this job, but we recommend a knife or some sort of sharp tool to effectively cut out the damaged area. Once this is complete add wood filler in each hole that was created and using a putty knife, smooth out the area with any excess filler. After you fill these holes in the particle board, you will likely notice that the surface is uneven. This is when you can use medium grit sandpaper, or some other fine grit sandpaper to effectively level the area, making sure it is smooth once again. This works especially well on particle board furniture and any water damaged laminate furniture you have.
You Have Fixed Your Particle Board Water Damage!
You Have Fixed Your Particle Board Water Damage!
Congratulations, you just successfully learned how to repair water damaged particle board! If you followed all the steps correctly, you will never have to worry about any water damage affecting your particle boards in the future! If this process was too time-consuming or it didn’t come out the way you had hoped, you can always replace any existing particle board cabinets or furniture in your home.
Need Help With Particle Board Water Damage Repair? Contact Rhode Island Restoration!
If you experience extensive water damage to your home, you are likely to experience more than just particle board damage. There are several issues water can cause, including mold damage, that can worsen as time goes on. Therefore, it’s important to get the repairs done as fast as possible. Allow a restoration company to come in and handle all the repairs for you! Contact us today for a free consultation and allow us to tell you our process of restoring your home back to normal. At the end of the day, we are here to help you, just as we helped many homeowners with similar incidents for over 18+ years. Call us today at 401-414-1111 for a free quote and with any questions, you may have.
