Swollen, water-damaged cabinet under the sink — repair or replace?
The cabinet under my kitchen sink got wet from a slow leak and the bottom panel has swollen up and gone soft. Can this be dried out and repaired, or does the whole unit need replacing?
2 answers
Once MDF or chipboard has swollen and gone soft, it's structurally done — you can't dry it back to strength, because the fibres have expanded permanently. But you almost never need a whole new cabinet:
- Fix the leak first and let everything dry fully — otherwise the new panel swells too.
- Replace only the damaged panel. Under-sink damage is usually the base/kickboard; a carpenter cuts a new panel to size and swaps it. The carcass sides and door are often fine.
- Seal and protect the new panel — edge-seal it and add a cheap under-sink drip tray so a future leak doesn't repeat the damage.
If you're replacing anyway, use a moisture-resistant board under the sink. Repairing one panel is a fraction of the cost of a new unit. If the carcass is sound and only the panel or door swelled, a handyman in Dubai can replace it and reseal the leak point.
Had the swollen base-panel thing — the carpenter swapped just the bottom board and added a drip tray. Way cheaper than a new cabinet.
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