Wood choice for medicine cabinet?

I had an idea the other day to build a new medicine chest for our bathroom, one that can be positioned so that SWMBO can swing the mirrored door such that she see the back of her hair in the main mirror. A simple carcass with through dovetails for the shelves and a mitered frame for the mirrored door. It would give me a chance to learn some techniques I've been wanting to try.

But I'm not sure about good wood choices for such a project. A bathroom goes through a wide swing of temperature and humidity changes everyday with people using the shower. SWMBO, especially, loves to fill the bathroom with steam and keep it locked in after her shower.

One usually considers wood movement due to seasonal changes, but what about daily ones? What would be my best choices in this type of environment? And what finishes would do well in there as well.

As always, TIA, Ian

Reply to
Ian Dodd
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I built ours out of Poplar and painted it the color of the trim in the rest of the bathroom. No humidity problems.

Reply to
Leon

I wouldn't be too concerned about wood movement caused by the temporary high moisture content of the air. The short length of time the moisture content is high will cause little problem for any type of wood with a film finish since the wood would be sealed..

Having three females in the family, I would be more concerned with the solvents to which the finish most likely will be subjected. Hairspray, spray perfumes, nail polish remover, bathroom cleansers, etc. can raise havoc with evaporative type finishes. I'd use a reactive type finish. For ease of application a wipe-on poly should work.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

Reply to
Nova

My bathrooms have oak cabinets and drawers, same style and finish as the kitchen. If you are going to paint it, use popular and a bath/kitchen paint. Most people don't have enough bathroom ventilation, or don't use the fan long enough (20 minutes) after a shower to prevent mold/mildew problems. You could install an auto-off fan switch.

Reply to
Phisherman

Reply to
Lawrence A. Ramsey

I've got oak in 2 bathrooms. Vanities and medicine cabinets. Not a problem with any of them, but we use exhaust fans to reduce moisture (and other airborne "contaminates"...).

I'm guessing CV or poly is your best bets for finishing. I'm still trying to decide if I want the hassle of CV for my oak desk which is nearing completion--tomorrow, actually. The hassle being xylene.

dave

Ian Dodd wrote:

Reply to
Bay Area Dave

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