Which wood for wooden shelf in showercorner
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- This topic has 14 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 5 months ago by Keith Walton.
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7 October 2018 at 10:07 am #552544
Hi,
I’ve got this metal shelf in the corner of my shower. It rusts VERY fast. Couple of weeks and first rusted spots have shown up in the metal shelves.
I thought I could make wooden shelves for it, but what kind of wood I should use there? The shelf will get wet EVERY DAY, but it will have time to dry daily too.
Here is a pic of what I have in mind:
Teak (like in that pic) is out of question. I’d like to use some local woods (I live in Finland, northern woods would ideal). What could handle getting wet daily. It doesn’t have to last forever, I can always make a new shelf when needed, but if it would last for a few years, that would be enough.
-Jukka
- This topic was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Jukka Huuskonen.
Hello Jukka,
Stayed at a lakeside resort in Norway, thirty years ago, and recall that the shower was lined with wood. At the time, I thought it was some kind of cedar. It did not appear to be varnished, but was finished with something. Wax? Thinned shellac? An oil finish? And I have no idea how it was maintained.
You could try a northern white cedar and finish with shellac and see how it holds up.
P McC
7 October 2018 at 7:35 pm #552564Thanks for the answers.
I prefer not to use exotic woods for a couple of reasons:
1. Ethical reasons/ecological reasons: possible abuse of woods local residents/ecosystem
2. Exotic wood tends to behave erratically when taken out of its natural climate.I’ll look into that northern cedar. Although I don’t know about its availability here.
I might just go for local pine and make new shelves every once in a while…
7 October 2018 at 8:17 pm #552565You might try looking for red alder or aspen. Either of those I think are pretty good for wet environments. As far as a finish goes, I would suggest a marine grade spar varnish.
7 October 2018 at 8:48 pm #552567Thanks Harry,
Red alder is probably hard to come by here, but some type of aspen should be available. It is actually used quite often in Finnish saunas.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Jukka Huuskonen. Reason: typo fix: had -> hard
7 October 2018 at 11:06 pm #552572There’s of course always the possibility of using some form of coating: polyurethane varnish on birch perhaps? Birch is in my experience a delight to work with – as long as planing is not against grain. Varnishing also mitigates the greying that usually occurs with wood that is repeatedly exposed to water.
Alternatively, north Finnish knot-free heartwood pine – the richer in resin the better – has been the traditional wood for moisture exposed items like window frames (particularly after there was death penalty associated if caught cutting down an oak).
Then, there is larch. It’s not very different from pine, but might not be domestic.
I dream of one day having some of the primeval birch and pine from Far Karelia, but I suppose by now IKEA is finished with its abomination of turning those virgin forests into chip boards.
(Well oiled beech – particularly American – is a very good alternative.)
/Sven-Olof
8 October 2018 at 5:54 am #552574Thanks Sven-Olof,
Now that you mentioned larch, I do remember reading about it handling moist conditions pretty well. I definetly have to look into it. At least heat treated larch is readily available around here.
-Jukka
ps. I just noticed the reply-button on desktop version here. It seems to be missing on mobile interface…
8 October 2018 at 8:37 am #552580You have black locust?
Robinia Pseudoacacia. It is native the Appalachians and Ozarks in the USA, but it was introduced to Europe where it is considered an invasive species, so you might find it inexpensively.
In tidewater areas it was grown for ship masts.
Absolutely rot proof, hard as iron but turns well and can be worked with sharp tools (you will do a lot of sharpening)
It has a nice orangish-brown color. Farmers plant it for fence posts. A post will outlive the guy who put it in the ground.
More recently, it is being sold for decks and such.8 October 2018 at 9:56 am #552582[quote quote=552580]You have black locust?
…[/quote]That sounds like a good choice for bathroom, but from what i gathered Finland has too short summer and too cold winter for black locust. It usually may survive, but grows as bushes instead of trees, with a few known exceptions in southern Finland.
Good suggestion though 🙂
8 October 2018 at 11:43 am #552587I made a mallet out of black locust, but it came from a neighbors tree so i didn’t have to look for it. Cypress is another rot-proof wood but I doubt you’ll find that either. Aspen may be the easiest for you to source and it should fare pretty well.
8 October 2018 at 12:00 pm #552588[quote quote=552587]…Cypress is another rot-proof wood but I doubt you’ll find that either…[/quote]
Yes, cypress is hard to find here, as far as I know…
[quote quote=552587]…Aspen may be the easiest for you to source and it should fare pretty well…[/quote]
Aspen is readily available as heat-treated aspen. I hope that works. I’ll probably try that or maybe larch.
Oh well, I gotta finish my workbench first though…
-Jukka
As a test for something similar I have had a stick of white oak on the shelf in my shower for about three months now and it still looks a good as new. Might be worth a look if you can find a local source. I think mine is American white oak but I would think any native European one should do. ( I think red oak is not so good but not sure of the difference ) If it’s good enough for ships it should work in your bathroom 🙂
8 November 2018 at 1:25 am #553093Wow I feel privelaged to have so much timber available. I made bathroom shelves from cypress and it is perfect
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