Tried prefinished plywood vs raw maple on a built-in and hands down the prefinished won

I spent last Saturday building a home office cabinet setup in Portland and used prefinished maple ply for the shelves and raw maple for the face frames. The prefinished saved me like 3 hours of sanding and sealing, plus the factory coat is way more even than what I can roll on. Has anyone else found a brand of prefinished that holds up better in humid basements?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_murray8810d ago

Hows the humidity level in that basement? Factory finishes can bubble or peel if the moisture content is too high, especially on cheaper prefinished stuff. Columbia brand holds up decent in my damp shop but still gets tacky if the dewpoint spikes. Did you seal the cut edges on the prefinished ply or leave them raw? Those edges suck up moisture like a sponge and can swell fast. Might want to throw a coat of poly on them if you didnt.

leebrown10d ago

Did you check out that one study from the woodworking lab up in Seattle about prefinished ply and moisture? They found the factory coatings actually breathe better than hand-rolled poly in humid environments, less trapping of moisture underneath.