Given the increase in construction costs, reliable, but fairly cheap materials are becoming increasingly important. One of them is moisture resistant chipboard.
Before we begin to describe it, it would be useful to recall what a simple chipboard is. In fact, it is a mixture of crushed wood chips, branches and fibers, fastened together with synthetic resins.
For this, urea-formaldehyde, urea-formaldehyde, formaldehyde adhesives are used. Plates based on them have good performance, but they are “not indifferent” to water. They quickly soak and collapse, making their further use impossible.
What is the feature of moisture resistant boards?
What is the difference between moisture resistant chipboard? What substance in its composition gives it water-repellent properties? It's simple - the components are held together with resin, which contains ordinary paraffin.
It retains moisture, preventing it from saturating the sheet of material. By the way, it is paraffin that can be used to process household furniture. This needs to be done after you have done some work that required you to make cuts on it. In fact, the same process occurs inproduction.
How to tell?
How to understand what exactly is in front of you when you come to the store? All moisture-resistant chipboard contains a green dye. On the cut of the material you need, you will see a greenish tint. By the way, it is because of this that it is called the "green stove".
Note that even these boards are still subject to swelling. They simply absorb less moisture in percentage terms. So, standard chipboard increases by 22% in just an hour, and its moisture-resistant counterpart - only by 15%.
Yes, you probably already understood: no matter what your furniture is made of, it must be carefully protected from moisture in any case. Even moisture-resistant chipboard cannot guarantee the safety of the same kitchen sink if water constantly oozes from all joints of water pipes.
But still, it is this material that is used to assemble furniture that will be used in conditions of high humidity. When buying such interior items, always ask the sellers for all the necessary certificates. It is not uncommon for ordinary chipboard covered with plastic film to be hidden under a moisture-resistant mask.
In addition, in the bathroom, toilet and kitchen, experienced craftsmen use moisture-resistant chipboard for the floor. This material pairs well with moisture-resistant laminate.
What should I look for when buying furniture?
Inspect all joints and end pieces: if they are badisolated, you should not expect durability from the product. Cunning manufacturers often save on edge processing.
Buying such shelves for the bathroom and other pieces of furniture is not worth it: not only will they soon fall apart, but they will also release a lot of harmful substances into the air.
In any case, high-quality chipboard is moisture resistant, the price of which is 1-1.5 thousand rubles, much more preferable when repairing a toilet or bathroom.
