I finally realized why my miters kept opening up

Was at a kitchen job in Denver last week and the homeowner had a hygrometer sitting on the counter. Watched the humidity jump from 30% to 60% just from boiling pasta, and it clicked why my trim gaps keep changing overnight. Anyone else paying attention to job site humidity before gluing up miters?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowanharris25d ago

Twenty four hours is the magic number I've settled on too.

henderson.oscar15d ago

Wood moves more in the first four hours than it does the rest of the day in my experience.

johnson.faith25d ago

oh man that humidity thing got me good last winter. i did a whole bathroom with poplar and glued everything up in my shop at like 35% humidity. brought it to the jobsite the next day and every single miter opened up by like 1/16th. the homeowner had a space heater going and it was bone dry in there. now i keep a little humidity gauge in my truck and i don't glue anything until i've let it sit in the room for at least 24 hours. saved my butt more than once.