Just noticed my plywood edges were swelling after only 4 months in a bathroom job in St. Louis

I installed some custom vanity cabinets with prefinished birch plywood and they looked perfect when I left. But the client just sent me photos showing raised grain and swelling along every cut edge. Has anyone else had this problem with standard plywood in high humidity rooms?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthony_wells7d ago

Has anyone else had their cabinet faces swell up like that? I used to think all birch ply was basically the same, but after a kitchen remodel in a lake house I saw the same thing happen on every exposed edge. Now I always seal the cut ends with two coats of shellac before install and haven't had the problem since.

betty1447d ago

You think shellac works better than poly for that, or just what you had on hand?