moister and wood Continued

Continuing with the moister in your cabinets, with summer coming on the wood in your home will begin to adjust to what is normally a more humid time of year. There are a lot of variables to consider. The biggest being the location you live in. Here in Nebraska we have almost brutal swings in temperature and humidity. This constant fluctuation is about as hard on solid wood furniture as you can get. You can think of wood as a sponge. It is constantly seeking to equalize its moisture content with the moister content of the air surrounding it. There is actually a term to describe this, it’s called equilibrium moister content. Wood has a rather predictable response to the relative humidity of the atmosphere surrounding it. Assuming you maintained a 0% relative humidity (RH) in your home the wood in your home would eventually reach 0%, or its Equilibrium moister content (EMC), if the RH is 23% the wood would attain a EMC of around 5%, a RH of 48% would equal a EMC of around 9%., 60%RH would equal 11%. You may or may not know that most furniture grade lumber is considered dry and usable at 6 to 7% moisture content. Any time your wood exceeds that you’re heading for trouble. While the moisture properties are true for all woods remember we are talking about cabinet and furniture grade wood for the most part. In succeeding posts we will address more on how the wood responds to these changes and what you can do to make sure your cabinets and furniture remain stable and in good condition. Please feel free to post your thoughts, comments and such.