Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

[Bluebell]

Just opened out the wood I bought for pelmet shelves and one piece is split (a bit).

There's a crack down the centre of the plank that travels from one end down to about half the total length of 1.8m. The crack goes almost right through at the end but appears to become less deep towards the middle of the plank before it stops. It doesn't flex when I twist it slightly, although there was a very quiet noise. There's no visible crack on the opposite side, which is why I didn't spot it as they were packed together in plastic film with the crack on the inside.

The pelmet's 4m long but the shelf's in two parts to make transporting it easier, so there will be one perfect side anyway. I'm covering the wood with lining so it won't be visible, but my main concern is safety - don't want it falling on anyone's head.....

Would this be usable (ie safe), do you think, or should I dump it and get a new piece?

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

Where did you get the board Bluebell -- Was it one of these super dried pack products from B&Q or Homebase ????????

[Bluebell]

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

No, from a local woodmerchant - should have taken it back within 3 days and it's over a week I've had it now, so I'll not get a refund. Oh well, taht'll teach me - learning a lot of lessons today, me!

My gut's telling me not to use it, so I'll palm it off to hubby as I'm sure he'll find a use for it somewhere. Off to shop for more tomorrow.

[Jules]

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

Surely, the three day bit only matters if you change your mind, but this is faulty. Why not ring them to explain. If they want to keep you as a customer for the next time you need a pelmet board, they really should exchange it. It isn't as though you want your money back, just a decent piece of board.

[Bluebell]

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

I'll take it back and see if they'll swop it. If not hubby can use it somehow for his gardening business. Or I could cut off the offending end and have a shorter pelmet shelf ready just in case someone wants a wee one. It's only a few quid anyway. My main concern was if it'd be dodgy to use or not. I'm a wimp so have decided to play it safe and replace it.

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

This is not really a problem Bluebell - - If they won't replace it cut 4 x 1 inch strips of thin plywood the width of the pelmet board and screw or glue and staple one on each end of each pelmet board This will stop the wood opening up and splitting any further. Just make sure that you cramp the split tight before you fix the strip. The fact that you have done the same on the end that is not split can be explained by saying that this is done by you to prevent the wood splitting. By the time you have prepared the wood and painted the pelmet board you will not see the split and all will be well. I tend to do this as a matter of course on all my pelmet boards because I don't want problems at a later date with splitting and curling.

You could try buying the super kiln dried boards which are shrink wrapped and sold at places like B&Q or Homebase for use as shelves. The best are the strip jointed ones as they hardly move at all and they are dirt cheap in comparison to prepared deal from timber merchants. You will find that you can buy then up to to 500 mm wide and 2.4 metres long. Boards from timber merchants will have a very high moisture content and can curl and split quite quickly in centrally heated houses. You will find that the ultra dry boards are much cheaper than from your local merchant but you may not be able to get the length you require without adding a joining strip. If you need to join do so half and half on the top of a central bracket then the joining is never seen

[Mairi]

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

Thanks for the info about B&Q & Homebase boards. I have bought from Homebase & Timber merchants before but only as loose wood & it was often difficult to find pieces straight enough.The last one I bought from Price & co... it was an absolute treat. Comes ready painted, perfectly straight & flat, Velcro already attached complete with brackets, srews etc. So what's the problem u may ask...Cost me £53.39! RRP is £75.38.

This was for an insurance job so obviously client wasn't bothered but I don't think I could quote using these boards on a regular basis..in fact I wouldn't have used it this time either but I misheard what Price & co quoted (I confused them by only wanting a board with no track attached. )

Anyway, thought I'd share that option with u all

[Bluebell]

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

Thanks for all the info. You're right about the wood curling - I've just taken a proper look at all 3 pieces and all of them are bowed down the length. They were perfectly flat to start with and we don't live in that warm a house, whereas the house they're going to is brand new and very warm, so they'll probably get worse there. I'll pop up to B & Q this morning and get kiln dried lengths to replace them all. Thank you

Re: Pelmet shelf wood - expert opinions please

If you have unpainted pelmet boards that have started to curl, one way to make them more Serviceable is to pour water onto the inside, concave, face of the board. Make sure it is quite wet and that no water goes onto the back, convex, side. Place the board concave side down on a flat bench on top of a polythene sheet and weight the board down along its centre, bricks are quite good for this. The water in the curved face will expand and the board will flatten out if left overnight without touching it. This will not work on painted boards as the water will not penetrate the surface of the wood.

When the board is flat screw a few of your L shape mounting brackets onto the back about 1 every metre and allow to dry out completely. The brackets will hold the board straight until you want tu use the board. These brackets will be repositioned when you mount your board on the wall and the pelmet board will always stay reasonably flat. Always try to fix pelmet boards with brackets that span the whole width of the board with the short leg of the bracket. This will ensure that they are more likely stay flat after fixing.

Before fixing your pelmet boards always put a straight edge across the grain and see which way the board is likely to curl. You will always detect a little bit of a curve and this is completely normal. Fix the board such that any residual curling will be in an upward direction (concave side to the top). If you fix the board curling down the weight of whatever is fixed to that edge will exacerbate any curling that may occur in the future.