Particle board in kitchen cabinet will not dry

[taviaromescu]

I recently had a handyman unclog a kitchen pipe, and he failed to use a any kind of bucket while doing so. He got both water and chemicals all over the particle board. He cleaned it up, but one particular spot got really damaged. It became discolored and swelled. I don't think mold is a problem, it smells acidic. But it won't dry. I found a nice article about repairing particle board, if you can dry it, but it won't dry. What can I do?

 

[bud16415]

All I can suggest is keep the doors open, place a fan in there and wait. Possibly a small electric heater with a fan if you can do that safely.


If the spill was something with an oil base it might take a very long time.

 

[taviaromescu]

Ah, the clog was caused by chicken grease from an upstairs condo. I'll try that, thanks.

 

[pjones]

When we had our sink flood we had to cut holes into our cabinets to allow airflow under them in order to dry. We then used space heaters to dry them out. Let them run for about a month before we closed it back up again.

Warm airflow plus time are what you need to work with here. That wood absorbs water like cardboard. It likes to hold onto it and it takes a long time for it to get removed from the middle.

 

[Jeff Handy]

If grease got absorbed, hot soapy water might dissolve it.
Then you can blot that up.
Or you could try laying a thin dry towel over the greasy area, and heating with a hair dryer, while blotting with the towel.

So you might actually have to get everything wet again, if you ever want the cabinet to dry.

You could also just lower down the swollen area with a belt sander, then cover the cabinet base with a nice piece of bath paneling cut to fit, or something else, like 1/8 inch tempered paneling.

Sometimes you need to make the new bottom liner in two pieces, to get it into the cabinet.

 

[pjones]

I recently had a handyman unclog a kitchen pipe, and he failed to use a any kind of bucket while doing so. He got both water and chemicals all over the particle board. He cleaned it up, but one particular spot got really damaged. It became discolored and swelled. I don't think mold is a problem, it smells acidic. But it won't dry. I found a nice article about repairing particle board, if you can dry it, but it won't dry. What can I do?

How long have you been trying to dry it for?

 

[taviaromescu]

I've been trying to get it dry for 1.5 weeks. I think I will just put down vinyl tile flooring. Thank you everyone!

 

[pjones]

I've been trying to get it dry for 1.5 weeks. I think I will just put down vinyl tile flooring. Thank you everyone!

I don’t recommend covering wet wood if that is what you are thinking of doing. You need to dry it out first. It could take a month if you have no airflow and little heat to it. If you use a heater and box it it to warm the area up lots, and get the air circulating inside then it could dry in the next week.

 

[taviaromescu]

Thank you, I'll make sure to give it time to dry.