Kitchen Cupboard Door Water Damage

If your cabinet has black spots the water damage has permeated the protective layer and has damaged the veneer and stained the area.

Kitchen cupboard door water damage.

This is what happens when you hang wet rags from the cabinet doors. This exposes a consistent weakness in the finishing process of many manufacturers. When particleboard gets wet it can swell or even disintegrate. The cabinets in these two pictures are more than the usual damage we see from the water.

This can happen if the piece was washed with water rather than using a tack cloth for surface preparation. If it has sustained long term damage from a persistent leak or high humidity however the glue joints may be loose and the plywood warped. While most companies use very high quality varnishes or lacquers the problem is they do not apply a thick enough coat to protect the wood. Electric or air sanders can even out raised particleboard from water damage.

Over time water can destroy the outer shell of your kitchen cabinets damaging the finishing and darkening the wood. Once the water makes its way down the cabinet door it settles either in the cabinet panel seams or in this case between the base trim and the base of the cabinets. The wood is made from sawdust or wood chips and glue. Blushing is common in older pieces as condensation permeates the lacquer or shellac finish.

In some cases water damage can also render your cabinets useless especially in cases where you re dealing with a water leak in the cabinets under your kitchen sink or a similar issue. Particleboard is a composite wood that is used to construct furniture door cores floors and cabinets. Water caused the cabinet to swell and the glue broke open at the seams.