The Framers Forum

My shop and workshop are in an 18th century premises and we have a cellar beneath which I have my saw in and also store offcuts and box quantities of mouldings. In the past this has been a very damp large space but the landlord has been very helpful with drainage digs around the property to get on top of leaking gulleys and pipes and I’m happy that there is no water ingress however as most old cellars it remains a damp space and any mdf or similar gets furry before too long. We have installed an extractor fan to get the air moving and next purchase will be a dehumidifier. There is no drainage down there so I will need to manually empty a container. Can anyone recommend a unit they use in a similar environment? We do have extraction down there for the saws but this isn’t perfect so its a little dusty. I guess in an ideal world this could also empty into a separate container so I wouldn’t need to empty it every day. Cheers

I would not recommend keeping your MDF down there as any surface dampness on the MDF will also imply the the dampness will extend into the material inside the MDF sheets. If the MDF is getting furry on the outside, then the sructural qualities of the whole sheet will be compromised and will affect how cleanly it will cut and how well it will stand uo to the effects of time. When using back tape is is best to have a nice smooth surface, as this will help the tape to remain stuck during the long term and will not start pealling away.

I understand your difficulties as my shop is from the 15th century or earlier and consequently has no damp proof course and from time to time the inside of the wall need repairs as the damp means that bit of plaster fall out of the walls. I've even got wood beams in the walls and the ceilling in the shop!

Haha I definitely do not store MDF down there! This just occurs on the offcuts that pile up! My double mitre saw is upstairs anyway, this is just the table saw and cheaper mitre saw for rougher cuts. My main concern is the boxed quantities of moulding. I keep off the floor and go through it reasonably quickly so its only down there for a few weeks. We used to have an Ebac dehumidifier in our old shop with a similar cellar but had countless problems with it, and im betting it was the dusty environment that caused them. Just wondered if anyone had similar experiences and a unit they were happy with. Thanks

My previous shop has a worse prolem with damp walls than my present one, Old rural Devonshire towns are like this. You don't only use a heater, when it gets cold, but sometimes also to control the damp as well. I used to use MDF many years ago by it only has to get very slightly damp and it starts to get a bit wavey.

Yes, MDF if pretty nasty for most picture framing requirements but we do a fair bit outside of framing where MDF is a great economical choice.

We have ours drain into a large builders bucket with a bilge pump in it, once the bucket fills to a certain level the pump kicks in and empties the bucket into the outside drain.

We have ours drain into a large builders bucket with a bilge pump in it, once the bucket fills to a certain level the pump kicks in and empties the bucket into the outside drain.

That sounds like a great idea! There is no drainage that I know of down there so would have to get the water up to ground level and I’d rather not have to do it manually. What model unit do you use? Are you happy with it?

I use the Mitsubishi MJ-E16V. Had it for over 10 years and it has never failed. It has a 4 litre reservoir with a simple cut-off switch when full. Just empty the collected water, replace the reservoir and off it goes again. Very quiet and efficient.