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Furniture Essentials
Solid Wood
As a rule of thumb, a board can
expand about 1% from summer to
winter. That means a 12-inch wide
board can expand 1/8 inch in the
summer and contract 1/8 inch in the
winter.
In addition, any deviation from a
true or plane surface is warp. The
quick answer to why wood warps
is simple: There’s a gain or loss of
moisture content (water).Various
degrees of warp have no effect on
strength, but do limit usability. Types
of warp include: bow, crook, cup and
twist.