How To Fix Water Damaged Chipboard: An Easy 5-Step Guide

Do you believe that knowing the steps on how to fix water damaged chipboard can help prolong the life of your chipboard? If you are still unaware of how to do it, we have written this article for you!

Chipboards are pretty popular in constructing homes, cabinets, floors, and doors. However, being one of our biggest enemies, water does a great job of ruining these things.

how to fix water damaged chipboard

Several water leaks, burst pipes, and floods can cause water damages to various furniture made up of chipboard. Nonetheless, worry no more because we can help you with repairing that!

 

What Are The Materials That You Will Need?

Before starting anything, you must ensure that you have the complete list of the materials you need for the repair. Gather all of the tools so that the repairing process will be less hassle for you. Listed here are the things you need:

  • Medium-grit sandpaper
  • Fine-grit sandpaper
  • Waterproof coating (optional)
  • Wood fillers
  • Vacuum or any cleaning material
  • Knife
  • Scraper or putty knife
  • Primer
  • Paint
  • Roller or paintbrush

Once you have collected these materials, you can now start fixing your water damaged chipboard.

 

How Can You Fix Your Water Damaged Chipboard?

Fixing your chipboard may be similar to the ways on how to repair water damaged particle board. You will need to let it dry, remove damaged areas, flatten them, and apply waterproof coating or paint. To further explain that, here are the steps you can follow.

 

Step #1. Dry wet spots in the chipboard

First, you must ensure that your chipboard is completely dry and clean from molds. If it is still wet, let it dry first. However, note that drying out a water damaged chipboard may take too much time, so there should be ample time for it.

Using hair dryers can help if you want to speed the drying process up or are in a hurry. Nonetheless, using too much heat in drying chipboard may cause further damages, so ensure not to use objects that are too hot. Still, letting the chipboard dry up naturally is the best way.

 

Step #2. Flatten raised areas using a sandpaper

Once your chipboard becomes dry, the surface will most likely become uneven. With that, get your medium-grit sandpaper to buff off these parts. Ensure to level out the surface properly to have a smoother finish.

If you buff off the surface, you must expect that the chipboard will expose dried portions. Aside from that, you will be free to choose if you want to apply a waterproof coating or not. If yes, let your chipboard dry up again after putting on the waterproofing.

 

Step #3. Remove damaged areas in the chipboard

Once the waterproof coating becomes dry, use a knife to cut out the damaged areas in the chipboard. Remove the swollen parts carefully. Remember that you must not hurt yourself while doing this process.

Ensure to remove all of the debris and wet or powdery areas of the chipboard. You can use a vacuum or anything that may sweep off the dust. Any residue left in the chipboard may lead to further damages.

 

Step #4. Apply wood fillers

For this step, you need to buy wood fillers in a nearby store. Mix them based on the instructions provided on the label of the product.

After that, get a putty knife or a scraper to apply the wood filler to the holes. Ensure to level it out and remove the excess mixture to have an even surface.

 

Step #5. Sand it and apply the final touches

To finish the repairing process, use fine-grit sandpaper and make your chipboard smoother and more even. If you want to paint your chipboard, you must apply primer first. Let it dry and put on the paint afterward.

 

Can Your Insurance Cover Up Water Damaged Chipboards?

If you have any furniture or house parts made up of chipboard, you can ask your insurance company if their insurance coverage includes those. However, please remember that they cannot cover all water damages, significantly if the water damage is due to your negligence. Otherwise, if it is because of natural disasters, you have the right to claim your insurance.

When buying houses with chipboards, you must ensure that everything in your home is new and undamaged. It is best to inspect if there are water damaged parts or any possible sources of water leaks. Thoroughly looking through it can help reduce the risk of water damages in your place.

If you currently have any questions about “what if I buy water damaged house without knowing,” you can also check our article to answer that.

 

Conclusion

Repairing a water damaged chipboard can be challenging and expensive. It requires cleaning, drying, sanding, applying wood fillers, and painting. It can take too much time but successfully finishing it can bring back the quality and beauty of your chipboard.

Since this article has already discussed how to fix water damaged chipboard, you can now start repairing yours. Ensure to follow the steps correctly without leaving any process out.

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