Is There Water Damage to Your Cabinets? -Frederick, MD

Every home's beating heart is the kitchen. Your bathroom is a haven for you. There are several plumbing connections as well as built-in cabinets in each room. They can be painted, stained, or have open shelves and are made of wood or composite. You'll need to repair or replace your cabinets if they've been harmed by a leak.

It's also a significant financial commitment. The price of a kitchen cabinet per linear foot can range from $100 to over $500. Repairing or installing cabinetry in a normal 10-by-10-foot kitchen might cost anywhere between $5,000 and $6,000.

MDF and solid wood cabinets will swell, splinter, or be damaged by even a little amount of water. Determine the extent of the damage, remove the water, and completely dry the cabinets are the keys to restoring water-damaged cabinets. But what precisely are you looking for?

Visible Signs Of Water Damage

Experts advise that you learn to recognize the indicators of water damage. Even a stray dribble on the cabinet top will quickly disappear. When moisture collects owing to a lack of sunshine or ventilation over a long period of time, the problem occurs. Water damage can manifest in a variety of ways depending on the cabinet material. MDF cabinets, for example, will absorb moisture and expand. The material becomes unstable as a result of this. Your kitchen cabinets may bubble, and the veneer may peel away if this happens. Alternatively, the exposed edge might entirely disintegrate into dust.

Dark stains appear on wood cabinets as a result of water damage. But keep an eye on it; if the luster or brilliance is fading, investigate more. Moisture will destroy the paint, veneer, and metal handles on a flooded wood cabinet.

Is There A Mold Smell?

There may be a strong "mildew" odor, especially in the cabinets behind your sink. It has a taste that is mushroomy, earthy, odorous, or sour (like wet laundry). Look for gray, white, or orange discoloration that is occasionally fuzzy and speckled with your nose.

Can I Just Paint Over The Damage?

Wood cabinets are no different than any other wood surface when it comes to painting. Installing laminate kitchen cabinets, on the other hand, is more complicated. Melamine is a smooth, scuff-resistant surface made by bonding a thin polymeric substance to particleboard. As long as the water does not delaminate the melamine from its base material, you can leave the cabinets as-is before painting. The coverup, on the other hand, is only a band-aid if the foundation is shattered.

Professional Cabinet Refacing

Between total cabinet replacement and a high-end paint job, refacing cabinets is a good compromise. Professional refacing can replace cabinet doors and drawer fronts, as well as repair veneer on box fronts and sides. Replacing the front of a cabinet that has been harmed by water, on the other hand, will not solve the problem. Before you spend money on new fronts, you should address the causes of water damage.

If your kitchen or bathroom has been flooded, your cabinets will almost certainly need to be fixed or replaced. Restoration 1 of Frederick's professional water damage restoration specialists have through extensive water damage training and have years of experience. They'll use top-of-the-line equipment and tried-and-true procedures to restore and repair water damage to your property in a methodical manner.