Problem with wood warping.

Submitted by kwill on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 06:06

I built a twin farmhouse bed.  We bought the wood and it was straight.  We stored the wood in the house to aclimate to room temp for a few days before i started the build.  I cut all the pieces and put the head board and footboard together and then let it sit for a bout a week or so.  I  finally had a chance to go back and finish it and noticed that the 4x4 posts and the 2x4 side rails had warped....I'm so angry!  Now I have gaps on the headboard and footboard.

 

Anyone have this problem and if so what was your solution?

OkieJoe

Tue, 01/04/2011 - 12:05

Ah the joys of working with wood! Warping is really common, especially as wood is moved into your warm, dry house. My guess is what happened is the wood you bought was either not properly dried when you bought it, or it had reabsorbed some moisture from the environment after drying. Be sure you buy wood marked kiln-dried. I see some green wood, especially fir, here at both Orange and Blue, and even 2x4's will warp some as they dry. Other tips include storing flat, not leaned up against a wall, and letting the wood acclimate for a couple of weeks if you have time. Cutting wood will expose new end grain, which will let the moisture out more rapidly than the 'factory' cut end, which can also contribute to warping/twisting. You might be sure to nip off a bit on each end to help equalize the moisture loss, as well. Don't really know of any solutions to warping, as once wood has warped, generally not possible to straighten.