cabinet doors swell during winter storage

chris60 · Feb 2, 2010

Well, I thought this year would be different, 3 Dry-zee airs in our 09-3055 BH. but sadly, no .The doors that touch each other in the kitchen & bedroom swell during the damp winter months. Then they bind. I have to tap the hinges out to fix the problem. The previous 5th's I had used a vertical piece of oak between all the cabinet doors. I think it's called a style, but it would allow the doors to be 1-2 " apart, so if they swelled, one would not notice. I have tried a dehumidifier, but the temp is about 6 Deg Cel, & with out heat, it ices up.
Any one else going through this? Last spring I ended up clamping & glueing a few doors as the outer frame separated at the finger joints. I hope I do not have to repeat this process. If there are any wood working RV'ers out there, do you have any suggestions? ( besides moving to Arizona!!)

Thanks, Chris

sdgrossman1994 · Feb 3, 2010

Adjustable hinges

Sorry to hear about your cabinet door issues. Storage always makes for new adventures, although yours sounds like you have been down this road before.

One thought is that you could try to replace the hinges on the cabinets with adjustable ones. That way you can create the gap you need when you store it and just adjust them close when you are taking it out of storage.

I hope the idea helps. Perhaps you can take the doors off and bring them to your house and let them warm up and shrink back as well and just put them on when you use the RV.

Good Luck!

aatauses · Feb 3, 2010

We have a BH 3670 and the doors would bind when it was new. I waited until we had some really dry days (indicating the doors should be "shrunk") and I took them off the hinges. Then filled the holes with glue and wooded match sticks. I then remounted the doors, but put a dime inbetween them to use as a spacer. Yes, there is a small gap between the doors, but it is straight and really not noticable. We have had no problems since I did this.
al

SilverRhino · Feb 3, 2010

Another trick similar to using a dime...use the promo "credit" cards that come in the mail all the time. Most of these are a thin plastic material, they are worthless, so this is a way to re-cycle them.

I keep a stack in my wood shop to use as shims / spacers in numerous projects...cheaper than replacing all the hinges.

Just an Idea!

Good Luck!

cookie · Feb 3, 2010

Actually, these hinges are adjustable. Tools required.....hammer and brass or aluminum bar. I found this out when some dumb a** opened the slides and hooked a cabinet door that was open. Didn't rip it off, but bent the hinges. After the straightening job, I had a nice little gap between the doors. I have since realligned the rest of them. They bend pretty easy.

Peace
Dave

boatto5er · Feb 3, 2010

cookie said:
Actually, these hinges are adjustable. Tools required.....hammer and brass or aluminum bar. I found this out when some dumb a** opened the slides and hooked a cabinet door that was open. Didn't rip it off, but bent the hinges. After the straightening job, I had a nice little gap between the doors. I have since realligned the rest of them. They bend pretty easy.

Peace
Dave

Dave,

I would have laughed if I hadn't done exactly the same thing!

Gus

Ray LeTourneau · Feb 3, 2010

I DID laugh because I HAVE done the same thing.

But only twice in two different rigs.

boatto5er · Feb 3, 2010

Ray LeTourneau said:
I DID laugh because I HAVE done the same thing. But only twice in two different rigs.

Actually, I did laugh

. I just didn't want Dave to think I was laughing at him

. It was more like laughing at myself

.

JohnDar · Feb 3, 2010

chris60 said:
Well, I thought this year would be different, 3 Dry-zee airs in our 09-3055 BH. but sadly, no .The doors that touch each other in the kitchen & bedroom swell during the damp winter months. Then they bind. I have to tap the hinges out to fix the problem. The previous 5th's I had used a vertical piece of oak between all the cabinet doors. I think it's called a style, but it would allow the doors to be 1-2 " apart, so if they swelled, one would not notice. I have tried a dehumidifier, but the temp is about 6 Deg Cel, & with out heat, it ices up.
Any one else going through this? Last spring I ended up clamping & glueing a few doors as the outer frame separated at the finger joints. I hope I do not have to repeat this process. If there are any wood working RV'ers out there, do you have any suggestions? ( besides moving to Arizona!!)

Thanks, Chris

When we did our PDI, I noticed some rubbing of cabinet doors. I had the dealer make the adjustments and they seem to be OK. An alternative to replacing the hinges, if they won't adjust, is to lightly sand or plane the mating surfaces between the two doors until you get clearance, then restain and finish the edges. Removing 1/32" to 1/16" from each one should not be a big deal. Do this when they're obviously sticking and swollen.

If you do replace the hinges, take a look at the Euro-style, or Blum, hinges. A little pricey, but they are nice.

chris60 · Feb 3, 2010

boat to 5er said:
Dave,

I would have laughed if I hadn't done exactly the same thing!

Gus

That's exactly what I did last year, tapped them over, & then in the summer, I tapped them back as I thought the gap was to much. I will probably do it again & leave it alone. I did not think about taking them inside, but that's an neat idea. 10 minutes with my screw gun & I would mark the offending doors so that they would go back in the same order. Then I would not have to worry about the outer frame separating either. Its just so damp in the northwest ( Vancouver BC ) during the winter.

pickuphunt · Feb 3, 2010

Our unit had the doors touching when closed and then binding when opening and closing. I do have a wood shop with a jointer - that tool that has a bed and rotating knifes that allows a small amount of wood to be shaved from the edge of the door where the doors meet. You do have to remove the doors, the handles and the locking hasp. Any carpenter can do the job for you. Don't remove the hinges - keeps someone from taking wood off the wrong side of door. It has happened. A friend had a door sticking at the top. to it to a friend (NOT ME) to remove 1/4 inch for the top of the door. You guessed it, took it off the bottom. WFM (Works For Me)

JohnDar · Feb 3, 2010

pickuphunt said:
Our unit had the doors touching when closed and then binding when opening and closing. I do have a wood shop with a jointer - that tool that has a bed and rotating knifes that allows a small amount of wood to be shaved from the edge of the door where the doors meet. You do have to remove the doors, the handles and the locking hasp. Any carpenter can do the job for you. Don't remove the hinges - keeps someone from taking wood off the wrong side of door. It has happened. A friend had a door sticking at the top. to it to a friend (NOT ME) to remove 1/4 inch for the top of the door. You guessed it, took it off the bottom. WFM (Works For Me)

And there's that technique, as well. I have an 8" jointer, but it's unlikely most others do. Taking it to a cabinet shop would be an alternative, though.

desert rat · Feb 3, 2010

I had to pull off the cabinet doors above the TV slot in my '08 Sundance. A friend filled the screw holes with a putty that hardened and he replaced the hinges and doors. Now, there is an obvious gap between the closed doors, but they work!!

cabinet doors swell during winter storage

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