The kitchen is a place in the house where furniture is constantly in contact with water to a greater or lesser extent. Based on this fact, the question will be completely obvious: how to protect your favorite furniture set from moisture. After all, everyone knows the sad consequences of contact between water and chipboard (even waterproof): lumps, swelling, mold, and with a long “union” all this beauty, on which so much effort and money was spent, will simply rot.
So, let's identify the places most at risk:
- washing
- wardrobe with built-in drying
- plinth
- furniture above the stove and located in close proximity to it
- table top edges
Now let’s decide what measures need to be taken to protect your kitchen and enjoy its “marketable” appearance for many years.
Correct installation of sink and faucet
As for the sink, I would recommend not cutting the faucet directly into the countertop, as the faucet may start to leak. An exception, perhaps, can be made for small taps from filters with drinking water, since they are used less often, and the water pressure is not so powerful, the gasket will last much longer. However, if you decide to ignore my advice (there are different situations; IKEA, for example, sells sinks without holes for a faucet), be sure to treat the cut of the countertop! First, all dust must be thoroughly removed from the cut, and then it must be dried well with a hairdryer. Then apply a layer of diluted PVA glue, and after it dries, silicone. If it is possible for it to protrude, then it is better to choose transparent.
It is especially worthwhile to pay attention to the processing of the cut of the countertop when installing the sink. It also needs to be protected as much as possible from water. I must say that this is one of the weakest points of any kitchen, unless, of course, your countertop is made of of stainless steel. So, just like when installing the faucet, you need to remove all dust from the cut, then dry it thoroughly with a hairdryer. Then apply a sealant; it is better to choose a silicone construction sealant, which is designed specifically for waterproofing seams. It is a waterproof, non-aging silicone mass. It is used to seal seams, cracks, seal windows and doors. It colors well. Such sealants can be white, gray or transparent. And here the most important rule comes in: DO NOT skimp on the sealant, this directly determines how long the countertop will last you. The inner radius of the seal, which is attached to the sink, should also be treated with silicone. Yes, and don’t forget to degrease the surface of the sink before gluing the seal.
People have several other ways to process sections: apply several layers of paraffin, PVA glue or varnish - until the tabletop stops absorbing more and more layers of the substance you have chosen. Some “craftsmen” cover the cut with self-adhesive film or wide tape. In any case, it’s up to you to decide which method to choose, but I would focus on progress.
If the countertop is swollen, then there is only one way to get rid of this flaw: replace it with a new one under warranty. That's why if you bought ready-made kitchen, use the service assembly. Otherwise, the company will disclaim all warranty liability.
Drying installation
To avoid water droplets getting on the chipboard in a drying cabinet, when purchasing the latter, you need to pay attention to whether a special tray is attached to it. If this is not observed, then it is better to refuse to purchase such drying, since water, draining from the plates and falling to the bottom of the cabinet, will inevitably cause its damage. In addition, it is necessary here good ventilation. This can be achieved either by installing “holey” facades, or by making a small through hole at the top of the cabinet, which can be given a noble appearance using a socket for wires (these are often used in the manufacture of computer desks).
Kitchen plinth protection
Use a plastic kitchen plinth. This element performs the function decorative design lower part kitchen furniture, closing the gap between the cabinet and the floor. Plastic plinths have a groove for fastening to the supports and a seal that protects against the ingress of water and dirt. The base has a number of advantageous characteristics: a light weight, ease of installation, wide range of colors, aesthetic appearance, heights 100, 120 and 150 mm, and is also completely resistant to moisture.
Site search:Due to its ease of processing and excellent consumer qualities, today it is one of the most widely used in furniture production. Modern technological processes make it possible to obtain sufficiently high-quality and easy-to-use material from chips and composite resin.
However, chipboard also has its own specific use, which dictates some conditions for its processing. For example, this board can crumble and split under strong physical impact, and to a much greater extent than ordinary wood. The fact is that the wood fibers present in an array of natural solid wood are like a connecting element that gives additional strength to the entire board.
In chipboard, these fibers are destroyed, so such a board requires slightly different conditions of use and handling.
How to cut chipboard correctly
If you don’t have any power tools at hand, almost any saw will do for sawing chipboard. The only thing that should be observed when sawing is to try to guide the saw almost flat in relation to the surface of the slab. This way the slab will crumble less when sawing, and the cut will be more accurate.
Circular saw or electric jigsaw, of course, will prove to be more productive tools in this matter. The only wish for this is to not move the instrument too quickly, only applying light pressure. However, the rotation speed circular saw and it is better to keep the stroke of the jigsaw at a high level. A saw blade or blade with small tooth, this way you can avoid coloring the material and the appearance of uneven edges.
It is clear that the sharper the mil, the cleaner the cut. You can additionally protect the edge from coloring if you use masking tape, glued to the cutting line. This is especially true when sawing chipboard with a decorative coating.
When processing chipboard with a decorative (for example, laminated) coating, you should also not rush; it is better to saw slowly, avoiding chipping. Another way to protect the coating from chipping is to cut it first with a sharp knife.
We drill, plan and process with a rasp
With drilling and planing chipboard, everything is exactly the same as with sawing - a blunt or slowly moving tool will split and crumble the material. So, a dull drill will chip the edges of the hole; in order to get smooth, high-quality holes, you should approach the choice of drilling tool with all responsibility. When working, you need to feed the drill smoothly and not too quickly, this way you can improve the quality of drilling.
Small irregularities resulting from cutting the slab can be eliminated using a plane or rasp. The tool is blown in along the edge smoothly and carefully, making sure that there are no chips or tears in the material.
If the chipboard you are processing has a coating in the form of a film, it is better to plan its edge with a plane. If you do not have the skills to work with this tool, you can use a file.
Treating the chipboard surface
For this operation, you can use two methods - covering the surface with some decorative material or varnishing. It must be said that due to the specifics and texture of this chipboard material They are rarely varnished; it is very difficult to achieve any impressive results in terms of beauty. Therefore, this is most often done in order to protect the outer layer of the slab from moisture.
Before you start varnishing the surface of the slab, it should be carefully leveled using putty and sanded. The fact is that a layer of varnish will reveal all the smallest surface irregularities, which will greatly spoil the impression of the result of your work.
The putty must be applied using a spatula, it must be allowed to dry thoroughly, and then the surface must be treated with sandpaper. This preparation will help to obtain a completely flat and smooth surface, ready for applying varnish.
If you have thoroughly filled and sanded the surface of the slab, you will likely only need to apply one coat of varnish. If, during varnishing, flaws and irregularities are discovered, you can repeat the procedure - before reapplying the varnish, thoroughly dry the first layer and walk over it a little with fine sandpaper.
Regarding application decorative covering, then for this purpose it is better to choose decorative self-adhesive film - it is convenient to work with, and a wide selection of colors and textures will allow you to choose exactly what you need. This film has an adhesive layer, which facilitates and speeds up its application. Before applying such a film, the slab must also be thoroughly sanded - the fact is that the thickness of the film is small, so all the unevenness of the slab will appear through it. With due diligence you will get a beautiful and smooth surface.
As an option, instead of film, you can use sheet plastic - it is more durable and provides better protection for the slab surface. To apply it, you will need a special glue, which is applied to the surface and ensures strong adhesion of the plastic to the chipboard.
How to protect the surface and edges of chipboard
We have already mentioned above that chipboard furniture has some peculiarities of storage and use - for example, it does not tolerate excessive humidity very well (strictly speaking, no furniture tolerates dampness well, but this is most noticeable on chipboard furniture).
Therefore, if you have made any piece of furniture from this material, it would be useful to protect the edges and surface of the slab. In addition to protecting against moisture, this measure will also help reduce the release of harmful substances, which may be contained in chipboard.
An excellent measure in this regard would be to apply additional layers of varnish - this will help avoid the release of formaldehyde. The varnish layer must be thick enough; the furniture must be varnished at least twice.
You can also protect the surface of the chipboard using laminated plastic or self-adhesive film, we have already written above how this is done. The only thing that can be added here is that the joints protective material should be as dense as possible to prevent moisture penetration.
You can also protect the surface of chipboard using plywood; the only point here is that the plywood itself can be made using formaldehyde. If you know or suspect that your plywood may contain formaldehyde, coat the plywood with a varnish to reduce the release.
Fabric or wallpaper are not very good for this purpose - the porous structure of these materials will not be able to reduce the amount of formaldehyde released from plywood, although the quality decorative material they will do just fine. A separate topic is the edges of chipboards.
Their protection is no less important than for the surface of the slab; with prolonged exposure to moisture, the edge swells greatly and loses strength and integrity. The edge also requires protection from mechanical impact; with a strong impact, it can crumble. In addition, the chipboard cut is not very aesthetically pleasing, so furniture manufacturers strive to further decorate it.
For this purpose, many manufacturers produce special edges for decorating chipboard cuts; the market today offers a huge variety of products, differing in thickness, material, color and texture.
Using this material is quite easy - usually such a strip already has a layer of glue applied to it; using a not very heated iron or hair dryer, the glue is heated and the strip is applied to the edge. Afterwards, in order to secure the edge in place, you can iron it again.
If the edges of your chipboard board are subject to high loads, it makes sense to protect them with thin wooden strips - such cladding will not only protect them from impacts, but will also harmonize perfectly with the color of the surface itself. It is better to install such planks with glue, but if there are no other options, you can use small nails, but it is better to bite off their caps so as not to spoil them appearance.
After wooden plank installed in place, it is cleaned and, together with the surface of the plate, covered with a layer of varnish or other protective compound.
Low cost chipboard, high performance characteristics, versatility of use have made them a very popular material. The most common areas of application are furniture production and construction. The main enemy of these slabs is water - the chips increase in volume, the slab swells, warps and crumbles.
Even at the very beginning of production, sawdust and shavings, after drying, are impregnated with formaldehyde resins. After pressing, the surface of the boards is laminated, sometimes even varnished.
But protecting the surface does not prevent the penetration of moisture from the ends through which it enters. Accumulating inside, water gradually begins to penetrate the wood fibers, which leads to the destruction of the slab. Consequently, the ends must first be saved from liquid penetration during operation. If they are tightly sealed, the service life of the slabs will be much longer.
Why are the ends the starting point for destruction? Yes, because the production of slabs is necessary standard sizes, as well as preparing pieces of material of different sizes, requires cutting. In this case, the integrity of the wood fibers is compromised.
Thus, chipboard protection from moisture is carried out in three directions:
- impregnation wood fibers resins;
- special surface treatment;
- end sealing.
The first step towards moisture resistance
Already at the beginning chipboard production a process is carried out designed to protect them from water penetration - the so-called resinization of chips. Thanks to this operation, two goals are achieved - saturation of the fibers with resins and their gluing. For most of the manufactured boards, formaldehyde resins are used, which by definition are a hydrophobic component of the product.
In cases where even greater moisture resistance is required from the boards, another binder is used, that is, the formaldehyde resin is replaced with urea-melamine resin. It glues the chips together much more firmly, thereby being a stronger barrier to moisture. With the additional introduction of molten paraffin or its emulsion into the chip carpet, the moisture resistance of the chipboard further increases.
Surface treatment of plates
The front and back surfaces of the slab, as the largest contact areas, without any protection, can pass through and absorb, accordingly, the largest amount of liquid. It would be a good idea to cover these surfaces with something moisture-proof. Some of the methods of such coating are possible only in factory conditions, some are also possible at home.
One of the main methods of protection is lamination. With it on sanded chipboard with high blood pressure and at high temperatures the melamine film is laid. The essence of this process is not pressing, but the fact that under these conditions the film polymerizes the surface of the slab, becoming one with it.
There is another method that is performed in the factory - laminating. Pressure and heat are also used here, but more gentle. The already hardened film is pressed against the glue-coated slab. If lamination - chemical process, then laminating is mechanical.
At home, non-laminated chipboard is often coated with several layers of paint for protection. Before painting, pre-treat the surface:
- dust is carefully swept away and washed off the surface;
- for the first time, the plate is coated with hot drying oil;
- then this is done with cold drying oil until an outer crust forms;
- the top is painted. With any painting method, you must remember that each subsequent layer of paint is applied to the already dried previous one.
There are several other ways to protect yourself from getting wet. For example, a surface that will not be exposed mechanical impact, you can protect it this way: rub it with stearin, then heat it with a hairdryer. Let cool and repeat this a couple more times. Or: one part of bitumen varnish is mixed with five parts of drying oil. Coating is carried out twice.
Processing joints and edges
Water always looks for the lowest place, the depression. And what, if not a recess, are joints on horizontal planes? There are especially many such joints in cabinet furniture, which is made from chipboard. Kitchen furniture in general is like on the front line: there is plenty of water and enough evaporation. The most susceptible to moisture are the sink, cabinet with dryer, countertop, and furniture near and above the stove.
The taps all start to leak at some point. So, the most potentially dangerous place in the sink is where the faucet crashes into the countertop. This is the point of contact between metal and wood. It is possible not only for the faucet to leak, but also for water to condense at the contact point. Therefore, this place is cleaned and dried with a hairdryer. Next, a layer of PVA glue is applied, after which it dries - silicone. You can use construction sealant, this is also a silicone mass, it even prevents leakage window frames sealed.
In the dish cabinet, you should check the presence or absence of a tray: if it is not there, the liquid, flowing to the bottom of the cabinet, will ruin it. For all kitchen furniture where it is possible to get wet, you need to make it a rule: degrease this area and then do not skimp on the sealant.
To seal the seams, it is better to use sanitary silicone of a suitable shade: dark mold spots will not appear on the surface.
Non-laminated tabletop edges are covered with connecting or end strips. They come in metal or plastic. The protection is not so great, so the end of the tabletop should first be treated with silicone. Another method of protection is to apply furniture varnish or PVA glue to the cut area. Offered by the construction market self-adhesive films or tape reliable protection cannot be named.
Sealing chipboard joints on the floor
The difficulty is that on the floor the slabs are constantly exposed to significant physical activity, they “play” relative to each other. For this reason, the putty does not want to stick. There are several folk ways sealing such seams.
The seams are covered with epoxy mixed with sawdust. The sawdust is first finely sifted. The composition sets very quickly, so it is not worth preparing a large volume of such putty at once. Such protection serves for a long time and reliably. But the price of epoxy is high, and sealing joints is expensive.
You can replace the epoxy with hot wood glue. You need to mix sawdust in it and go through the seams.
The effect is achieved even greater than with epoxy, since hot glue penetrates deep inside. This method also saves from moisture, and the joint stops “playing”. True, it is advisable not to walk on such a floor for several days, since wood glue takes a long time to dry.
This method is much cheaper. And if the floor is covered with linoleum on top, then you can completely forget about damage to the chipboards.
Today, the use of recycling waste to make secondary materials is very popular. Such products include chipboard, which today is used as a basis for the construction of various types of products.
This substance has good technical indicators, which allowed them to replace, to some extent, even wood. Chipboard is processed with special tools that make it possible to obtain parts of certain sizes and shapes. You can find out more about where you can also purchase these mechanisms.
We use solutions
Chipboard is trimmed very often, since in production it is made in sheets of a certain length. Many types of different products are subsequently made from them, ranging from ordinary partitions to complex furniture. This material It is often coated (laminated) with special paint.
The end can be treated with several substances:
- 1. Waterproof glue. This is done primarily to protect it from moisture.
- 2. Special sealants. These substances have the same purpose as the previous type.
- 3. Paint. If you need to give beautiful view product, then the end can be coated with any paint, matching it to the color of the item.
We use a special tape
All factory products made from chipboard always have an attractive appearance, but even they have ends. To hide them, use a special edge tape. It is attached to the edge with a special tool.
Such products can also be installed at home. This material sticks to the end of the chipboard when heated. This property is used in technological processes.
This can be done at home using an iron, which is used to heat this product and attach it to the edge of the workpiece.
To give the product an aesthetic shape, the end can be sanded with a special tool and coated with special paint and varnish. In such cases, you can use different types putties that are designed to work with this type of material.
Edge processing is a very important process, since in most cases not only the appearance, but also the service life of the entire product depends on it. To obtain high-quality chipboard products, you should only use special tools, which will greatly facilitate your work and allow you to create modern, beautiful products.
Video instructions for gluing an edge to the end of a chipboard to help you:
This material is devoted to waterproofing the ends of laminated chipboards. To a greater extent, it is relevant for protecting the countertop from water, but when assembling furniture for the bathroom or kitchen, it would also be useful to treat the ends of the parts that make up the box.
As can be seen from laminated chipboard structures The part most exposed to moisture is the saw cut unprotected by the laminate. When water gets on it, sawdust swells and the part becomes deformed. I will say right away that moisture-resistant laminated chipboard (green polymer sawdust is visible on the cut) is not a panacea - for an experiment, throw a piece of such chipboard into a bucket of water... So for it, waterproofing issues are just as relevant, although to a lesser extent.
So, let's look at various protective techniques - their advantages and disadvantages.
1. Edge banding(often kitchen countertops the edges are sealed with simple PVC or melamine). To be honest, this technique does not greatly protect the chipboard from swelling - water penetrates into the joint between the edge and the laminate and does its dirty work. Not suitable as a waterproofing agent(see photo 1).
2. -
due to the fact that the edging has overhangs that extend slightly onto the surface of the laminate, the joints, which were so defenseless in the previous version, become more closed, therefore provides better waterproofing. But isolated, that is, without the use of sealing compounds, its effectiveness is clearly insufficient.
3. Silicone sealant - can be used both in isolation and in
in combination with other techniques (processing the ends under edging or decorative end strips).
In addition, you can coat the ends of the laminated chipboard in the boxes with sealant in the places of the ties (those that are not covered with an edge); after tightening the joint, it is necessary to remove the squeezed out excess sealant with a rag - after the silicone dries, the box will be more airtight. Silicone should be used sanitary, that is, with protection against fungus. A “sausage” of sealant is squeezed out of the tube onto the end, and then smeared with a spatula or finger.
I would also like to note that the edge does not stick to silicone, and if it does, it doesn’t stick for long!
4. Treatment with Aquastop - An excellent alternative to sealant. Apply with a brush twice. After complete drying, it forms a layer on which you can even glue the edge (according to furniture makers - I haven’t tried it myself).
5. Paraffin treatment - this is old-fashioned, but nevertheless, extremely effective method waterproofing. The method looks like this: we put the part on the end, masking tape is glued to both sides of the laminate (so that the end looks like it has sides), then we take a candle and use a hairdryer to melt the paraffin, pouring it into the resulting groove so that it spreads in an even layer over the surface of the end ). And we continue to warm it up. In this case, paraffin will be absorbed into the chipboard like water. Processing is carried out at least twice. After this, we pour paraffin on the end, but do not fry it, so that it hardens, forming a protective layer. Excess is removed with a knife. A cross-section of the laminate shows that paraffin penetrates into the material to a depth of at least 3-4 mm, which provides excellent, but again not 100% waterproofing.
The main disadvantages of this technique are the labor intensity and, again, the impossibility of gluing the edges.
