The effects of Water on MDF Timber

With our experience in the timber industry, we see time and time again customers who come to us to replace rotten or thickened and bubbled skirting. This is almost always MDF which has absorbed water over time.

We thought we would run some tests ourselves as to the effects of water on raw moisture resistant MDF and we must say even we were shocked!

The rate of absorption was much faster than we anticipated and now you can see for yourself through our time lapse video just what can happen in just 24 hours of contact with water.

We understand that you’re rarely going to be in the situation where your floor will be covered with water, but think about the amount of water that may run under your skirting boards from your mop or steamer over the course of a year, how much water gets splashed over the floor in a bathroom (if you have skirting in your wet areas). The effects won’t happen as quickly as in our video, but over time the result will be the same.

Paint will protect your MDF and significantly reduce the incident of moisture absorption, but this needs to be on all surfaces, including the ones you can’t see! This is why we ALWAYS recommend having your MDF mouldings primed to protect all surfaces from water absorption and humidity, or offer FJ pine timber as the ultimate protection against moisture damage to your mouldings.