Water Damaged Cabinet Repair

How I repaired a water damaged cabinet. Let me know in the comments if you know of a better way to repair this type of damage without just replacing the whole piece.

[DeanneMariaCreates]

1) Using a heat gun (use a moderate setting, so that you do not melt the edging) and a chisel, carefully remove the cabinet edging, it should come away in one piece. 3) Next remove the damaged/swollen area of chipboard shelf and fill with epoxy. 3) Once dry, sand, then seal the edge with OSB/chipboard waterproof sealant - ensure to use a good quality sealant, it must not be silicone. 4) clean up the original edging and reapply/ or purchase a similar type of strip.

Tip, if kitchen sink cabinet shelf, it is a good idea to seal the joins to prevent any further/or future water damage.

[timhartsough]

Just because you asked I thought I'd let you know that I do not have a better way to do it

[oseifo]

I would recommend to put a resin coating on the top of surfaces that might have water leakage to protect the woods

[natecus]

This just happened to me, got a new vanity, installed it and plumbed it, checked for leaks, ran the water for a while to make sure nothing was leaking, there was no water. I went in the next morning and there was a small puddle, right along the front edge of the cabinet and the mdf had puffed up really bad, it is so frustrating! I think the right fix would probably be replacing the shelf but that would involve a lot of disassembly, so I’ll give this a shot, at this point it can’t make it any worse…

[awretchlikemac]

Another way I’ve seen water damage repaired is cutting out the damage, replacing with new piece, smooth out with some type of filler, repaint or cover with vinyl flooring/wallpaper.

[letscook]

Thank you - I need to repair the bottom of the kitchen unit door ( chipboard )

[danielkuo]

I have a similar problem with my cabinet. What is the glue that you use?

[leezalee]

Can somebody tell me the name of that first (electric) tool he used to sand down the interior?

[GentsConstruction]

Would do the same. Scrape and sand it down and maybe edge band it again. Won’t be factory finish. But again. If the owner or contractor bought a cheap compressed wood cabinet they shouldn’t expect great quality after all lol

[missbee]

Heyy..i have a question!
When the swollen area dries up, does it shrink back to original size? How can we be sure its dried up inside

[philsinfield]

should not have let it happen in the first place,
leaving a piece of paper under the pipes for a while to see if they leak helps

[angeloc]

It might have been better to first dry the damp wood with heat, and then saturate the particle board with resin and then clamp with high pressure. Good attempt though and I’m sure no one will notice!

[heyitsbroski]

How about stop using MDF for cabinets?

[successfulMillennial]

Lord...the voice was hard to listen to

[michaelisbill]

How about not using particle board and used recycled plastic boards that can be made from melted empty milk jugs, same dimensions as the cabinet and waterproof

[kinga]

He sounds a bit like Kumar from Harold & Kumar 😂