Mystery of the wet cupboard doors

[DIY67]

For the life of me I cannot understand how our old cupboard doors seem permanently wet, almost soaked through. We had them dipped and stripped in 2000 and ever since they have had wet patches on them come hot, dry summer or winter. I have a dehumidifier in the room constantly which has made the room completely damp free (old house) but alas the water is still in the wood. I do not understand why this should happen as it doesn't make sense and defies the laws of physics.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Does it dry up if you were to blow gentle warm air at it say from a hair dryer?

 

[DIY67]

I haven't tried that but a dehumidifier should be extracting the moisture.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

doubt it if dehumidifier has penetrating capabilities, it only draws moisture out of air, and dries up air, that in turn may take much longer for wood to dry up, wood is normally dried up in hot kilns, which forces water vapors out of it.

 

[DIY67]

What I don't understand is it's been like this for 17 years. We have wooden pine doors in the house and they are dry as a bone. In fact, putting the dehumidifier on causes them to show cracks so it does draw out water.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

What's in the cupboard?

 

[Mikefromlondon]

What I don't understand is it's been like this for 17 years. We have wooden pine doors in the house and they are dry as a bone. In fact, putting the dehumidifier on causes them to show cracks so it does draw out water.

So does it then dry up often? and if it does, does the dark wet patches disappears altogether? if it does, then may be it reabsorbs moisture again soon afterwards, kitchens are nearly always full of humidity due to cooking, boiling etc. So may be time to seal that wood then with something that makes it less absorbent.

 

[DIY67]

just clothes, it's the original bedroom cupboard. I have never know it to be dry since they were stripped.

 

[JohnD]

unless there is a particular source of water, such as a plumbing or construction leak, it may be that the chemicals used to strip the paint are still present, and are hydroscopic.

Caustic soda used to be popular.

If this is the cause, taking one off and scrubbing it with a hosepipe in the garden would wash away the chemical.

 

[DIY67]

Ok, thanks. I will try that in summer.

 

[conny]

If you have another door of the same size that doesn't suffer with this problem try swapping them over.
If the replacement door starts to suffer the same effects then the problem is in that position, not in the door.
If the original problem door still suffers when moved to a different location then the door is the problem and it is probably best to replace with a new one.

Just managed to load your picture, (PC sometimes won't display attachments), and I have had a thought. Have you tested the damp to see if it is actually water or possibly a chemical residue? A litmus paper test strip, or something similar, should give some indication to its acidity/alkalinity.