Photo: pigsonthewinguk / Flickr

A common problem with warping in furniture is when one area absorbs more moisture than another area. This is repairable if the warped piece in question is removable. What you have to do is strip the piece completely so that all varnish, oil, paint, wax or other finishes are removed. The reason for this is that the fibres will be able to absorb moisture and then dry in a uniform way, once you’ve moistened the dry side.

Strip it down

In the above situation, you should begin by stripping the piece of furniture down so that you can add moisture to the dry side and slowly let the piece dry again under pressure. By adding moisture to the dry side, you help the wood to stabilise its form as well as its moisture content.

Use moisture

Begin the job of correcting the warp by soaking a few towels in water and wringing them out. Place the squeezed towels on your concrete floor and the separated warped board on top of the towels, concave side down. Now, in order to weight the warped board, place some bricks on its upper side. Leave everything for a couple of days.

If the board has flattened or levelled out, you can lift it and turn it over. Lie it down on the same spot but without the towels as the concrete should have retained some of the moisture. If the concrete is not damp, add some moisture to it and continue weighting the board.

Turn daily

Continue with this turning process for the following few days so that the warped piece gets turned each day. The board or top should be flat by the fourth day and if it is, it will be ready for the final phase of its drying. This entails another turning and weighting process in a warm and dry room over the following few days.

You can then re-glue, re-screw and refinish the formerly warped board or top.

Note: If you don’t have a concrete floor, soak a piece of lawn, lay a sheet down and follow the same procedure.

Tags: furniture