BradHend Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I’ve had my coach for three full springs now, always stored in the same not ideal area which is an older municipal building with a leaking roof, no heat, hydro etc. Very moist environment and I’ve often wondered if it would better to just leave it outside over the winter until I build a proper house for it in the near future. Either way, this year about 8 of my cabinet doors have had the joint fail on the rail/stiles. Just wondering what others have done to repair in this situation, but I opted to just glue the joint and clamp it together. Didn’t fire a nail or anything into it, counting on the glue to hold. I purchased a cover for the coach for the winter we just had and I wonder if it trapped in too much moisture or if this is something that eventually happens. I do put about 4 pails of that moisture wicking stuff in over the winter and the cover was described as being breathable. Not sure. Either way that was part of my weekend - glueing all the doors back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 Brad, What kind of glue did you use. Did you take the joint completely apart? I've had one door come apart like that but we were on the road. I opted to glue it together and improvised a clamping method, that was ~14 years ago and still holding. You'll probably be OK with what your doing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 Those little moisture pellet buckets are a joke compared to a real household dehumidifier! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I have never had any cabinet in either my 02 Windsor or my 06 Dynasty come apart in those corners/areas. I guess I have been lucky or possibly the climate areas where we spend our time throughout the year is different than yours. I do keep the AC running when needed to prevent the inside from becoming too hot. However, I don't run the heat unless I need to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 (edited) That style of door doesn't stand a chance with high humidity. The swelling is way more than the glue will hold. The coach needs to be sealed up much better and/or more desiccant, or a real dehumidifier if you have power available. Edited June 2 by Benjamin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wallis Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I live in Nevada (fairly dry) and my coach is always in a carport when not in use. I don't do anything for humidity. In the last 3 or 4 years I've had to re-glue most of my cupboard doors. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradHend Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 Appreciate everyone’s feedback. Seems like I’m not alone but also sounds like it’s not a common issue. I’ll take my chances and see what just the wood glue will do. In my woodworking experiences and especially in joints like that, the wood will break before the glue does. If anything comes up, I’ll report back. On a side note, while re-installing one of the glued cabinet doors I thought I’d fire up the inverter - just to make sure everything’s working. As soon as I pressed the button everything in the coach went dead. 🤬 Ended up being a not bad fix, and possibly may have prevented a fire in the near future. My house battery disconnect switch was all cracked up and the connection was loose. Luckily I had come across some cheap imitation Chinese ones at one of those Amazon Bin stores and I picked up 2 for $5.00 to have as emergency spares. They are absolutely identical to the original and I was even able to re-use the “House” battery labeled switch for it. I will be ordering an actual OEM replacement, but this will work for now. Always something… Thanks again, 24 minutes ago, Tom Wallis said: I live in Nevada (fairly dry) and my coach is always in a carport when not in use. I don't do anything for humidity. In the last 3 or 4 years I've had to re-glue most of my cupboard doors. When you say re-glue, are you saying they were already glued, split like mine and you then had to re-glue it? The joints on my cabinets were not glued to begin with, just pinned with finish nails. 2 hours ago, jacwjames said: Brad, What kind of glue did you use. Did you take the joint completely apart? I've had one door come apart like that but we were on the road. I opted to glue it together and improvised a clamping method, that was ~14 years ago and still holding. You'll probably be OK with what your doing. I used Titebond 3 Ultimate Wood Glue. My goto for all my wood projects. I do a bit of cabinet making as a hobby and it hasn’t done me wrong yet. I didn’t take the joint completely apart, I was able to get enough glue in the tongue/groove joint that glue was squeezing out the whole joint when clamped. 🤷♂️ See what happens. Not an ideal Issue, but it’s nice to know I’m not alone here. 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 On new project I also use Titebond and it does a great job. Sometimes when doing repair work I'll use a polyurethane glue, it expands and gets into cracks crevices and I sticks to any thing. Old joints that you can't get in and clean completely it does a good job. It can make a mess though, I found it better to let it cure and scrape off the excess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 I guess our coach is used to the TX humidity because I only have slight problem when we get into dry West. Some of the cabinet door fillers start moving inside their frame so when we get home I have to center them and they stay that way until next time. Only had to reglue one louvered wing of washer/dryer doors once and that was fun getting them louvers all in their place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 My wood swelling issue is my bathroom door wont close if I go any length of time without running the dehumidifier in the early spring / fall! No issues with cabinets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 AIN’T but ONE FIX for that. Plane the door. Mine was the bottom section. Had a Buddy, a master wood worker, come over. He popped it off. Took off maybe 3/16 at bottom….and tapered to nothing at the middle or striker. Took him 10 minutes from starting to pop the hinge pins to take it outside and put on the saw horses….plane and then take back in and reset the hinge pins. OF COURSE I HELPED… LOL! DW color matched the stain. Then I taped the edges on both sides. She put 2 coats of semi gloss polyurethane on the edge. You can’t tell it was planed. A common occurrence with the Camelot’s. Walls be a moving…. Maybe keep fighting it with dehumidifier…but the real fix is to plane the door and never worry about it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 It's like probably 1/4" gap down there when I'm down south, or summertime here! Amazing how much wood can swell!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wallis Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 3 hours ago, BradHend said: When you say re-glue, are you saying they were already glued, split like mine and you then had to re-glue it? The joints on my cabinets were not glued to begin with, just pinned with finish nails. There were no nails in mine. They were just glued originally. They come apart at the joint. I re-glue and clamp them then replace them. I have yet to have a problem with one that I've fixed. I'd like to do the rest of them but of course I can't do anything until they come apart which is when we're using the coach and not home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradHend Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 Anyone else able to chime in if their cabinet doors were glued or just nailed? I’m sure this has something to do with my entry level coach, but I also find it odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 The one door I had to fix had no nails or pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsorbill06 Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 (edited) As mentioned, normally no pins or nails on stiles with real wood. Occasionally a guy will pin the panel on the rails only, from the back. But very rare. You don't want to glue the inside panel to rails or stiles. That should float. Some cabinet guys will use 'space balls' to help keep center panel from moving. Edited June 3 by windsorbill06 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 1 minute ago, windsorbill06 said: As mentioned, normally no pins or nails on stiles. Occasionally a guy will pin the panel on the rails only, from the back. But very rare. You don't want to glue the inside panel to rails or stiles. That should float. Some cabinet guys will use 'space balls' to help keep center panel from moving. 100% on the LET IT FLOAT. Our church has a "ReTable" of the table behind the altar where the sacraments (clothes) and also flowers and such are placed. That puppy was "pinned....as in finishing nailed TIGHT". I and a carpenter buddy took the table totally apart. We had to REGLUE the split panels. THEN after they were solid...we went in and removed all the PINS. That let the panels float. Even with good Temp and Humidity control in the Sanctuary, 2 of the 5 panels had split. This is a 7 or 8 ft wide unit... Think a LONG base cabinet....solid front....panels are where doors would be. That fixed it. Never cracked again...and I did that in 2011. Same for the Pulpit. I glued the main panel back together and then floated it. GREAT. I was NOT all that convinced that the panels had to float...but read a lot and talked to a buddy that made furniture....in a factory and helped design. FLOAT is the only way. USUALLY, the frame will be tight enough so the panel doesn't slide too far...one way or the other. IF it does move where there is a gap...then you can slide it over and CENTER it...then put a finishing nail on each end of the top and bottom pieces....just to limit its travel. That should work...just make sure that you have it maybe 1/8" inside one frame...then measure and see where to put the finishing nail on the opposite end....shift the other way and repeat. That should be MORE than enough float or travel room...and solve the problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsorbill06 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 (edited) On 6/2/2024 at 6:08 PM, 96 EVO said: My wood swelling issue is my bathroom door wont close if I go any length of time without running the dehumidifier in the early spring / fall! No issues with cabinets. Ben @96 EVO, Does your bathroom door get wider and bind on the side, or does it get taller and bind from the top? Edited June 4 by windsorbill06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 1 minute ago, windsorbill06 said: Ben @96 EVO, Does your bathroom door get wider and bind on the side, or does it get taller and bind from the top? Wider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windsorbill06 Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 5 minutes ago, 96 EVO said: Wider. We don't have a problem here at all with that issue unless someone is running evaporative coolers in their home. Then it's very noticeable. Have you looked at the top of your door? Often when they finish it (varnish, poly, lacquer), they don't do the top or bottom of the doors. Many door manufactures for residential will void the warranty if all edges (6 sides) are not properly sealed. You might check the top and see if it's bare wood. if so, seal it, but after it's dried out for quite a while and door is functioning properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 I'll check it out today Bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddie4ne Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 To do a proper job one needs to disassemble any joint that is loose and remove old glue and then all dissambled joints need to be reglued and clamped. We have had three doors that have received this treatment. BTW, our bedroom door was not secured and slammed open and also broke apart. Not having clamps with us , we improvised with ratchet straps and reglued it the same way. The bed was our work table. We always carry wood glue usually Elmers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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