I am building a built-in painted cabinet for one of our bathrooms (which includes a shower).
I am planning on using poplar for the face frames but was wondering whether it would be OK to use Baltic Birch for the sides.
Specifically, my concern is whether Baltic Birch plywood would be more likely to absorb water and swell/delaminate in a bathroom/shower situation. (Note: there shouldn't be any direct water contact except from steam/humidity and the occassional 'puddling' on the floor that could wick up into the end-grain)
I would not use poplar for face frames if I could help it. "Poplar" ain't what it used to be and is, IME, problematic from a dimensional stability stand point.
Birch, white or red, might be a better choice, IMO.
Nothing wrong with Baltic birch in that environment ...or a good import B2 paint grade birch plywood will do just as well for unseen panel sides for a bit less.
I didn't realize Poplar wasn't stable... Is this just an issue in humid environments like a bathroom or do you not use poplar at all anymore?
Also, Birch seems to be quite pricy - about 3-4 times as expensive as poplar (when bought milled) and almost twice as expensive as oak and more than cherry
Seems almost a crime to pay that much for something that will be painted... Is Poplar really that much of an issue?
Look around you Lew, almost every thing in this country that is tainted by corporate MBAthink is shit, including MOST current products of the lumber industry.
Indigenous new growth and/or plantation grown wood, as poplar is wont to be these days, with an unusually high moisture content for a tree to start with, coupled with the corporate MBAthink, equals wood that is inferior and improperly dried for most uses as cabinet/furniture "lumber" ... although great for pulp.
Poplar has a high ratio of tangential to radial shrinkage, number one cause drying defects, so how is this handled by the corporate mindset?
Ship it over the recommended moisture content and let the consumer worry about it, which means in the end that a high percentage of what is sold and used for cabinets/furniture will eventually exhibit dimensional instability.
Basically, and in a sense, poplar has become the hardwood version of new growth fir and pine ... an unacceptable percentage will turn into a pretzel when it reaches equilibrium and not restrained in some manner.
I decided a few years ago to no longer waste my time on the wood in any cabinet or furniture project. If you see a paint grade wooden door, or a bowed face frame on a painted cabinet, and it is warped, you can bet it is poplar.
Further notable is that not a single door supplier I know will use poplar for paint grade door frames these days, not one! You can't even order it as a door option any longer in this neck of the woods.
It's my understanding that "Finnish Birch" is the same as "Baltic Birch" except the FB uses exterior glue and the BB does not. You might want to consider the FB.
Most folks just look at the upfront costs ... those who do it for a living look at the long term costs of callbacks that come from not using a suitable material in the first place.
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