Best way to fix bowed overhead cabinet in Westie

The overhead cabinet in my Westie has come unstuck and bowed downwards. ...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yjap_PqH2h-WJzsRAvh9yVc6PbCJtuSe/view?usp=sharing


I want to fix it without wrecking it. I can see several methods .. what do you think:

First .. jack it up slowly from below over a few days .. I don't want to just force the gap closed and crack the wood

Once it is flush, fix it by either:

1. Gluing a batton in the inside of the cabinet .. "Sticks like Sh*t" or something?
2. Batton on the inside - screwed from below .. Screws will be ugly and risk pulling through the aged material
3. Metal L-brackets inside or outside .. even more ugly :-( ?
4. Some combination .. glue and screw?

How would you do a nice job of this ?

 

PVA wood glue along the edge and force the gap closed, if necessary, also glue a batten on the inside. And don’t cram so much stuff into the cupboard.

 

Yeh - I know it looks that way .. but I honestly didn't. It has been mostly empty for years. Just a few kids books and pens etc. I think it might have been heat / damp causing warping.

 

If it has warped, PVA will be too feeble. Use stuff like e.g Gorilla Wood glue as that expands slightly to fill gaps and is based on stronger technology.
Glue a batten inside to stiffen it - use screws inside going from the top to pull it into place. Just get the length of the screws right and dont overtighten to stop them poking through.
Its going to be hard to push it back together.

 

As mentioned , glue a batten PVA will be fine and use battens to prop up

Gorilla glue is great stuff but limit yourself as it expanse like foam


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Take it out and fix it on the bench.
PVA, patience and clamps will be your friend I reckon.
They're easy enough to remove.
Bolt through the wardrobe on the right inside, then up the left, looking backwards, there are a couple of bolts that screw into captive spire nuts that are embedded in the upper bed base.

 

I wouldn't batten it, I would disassemble as suggested above and use clamps etc, anything else is just what a "wood butcher" would do, as they say around where I stay

 

The wood version of Gorilla Glue is a much less expanding version - but much stronger than PVA which is a bit dodgy if there is damp around. PVA is for pritt sticks and making plaster stick to walls..Its not a structural wood working glue.

I have made things with the Gorilla wood glue and they are holding together after being left lying around in the garden.

 

i'd unbolt and remove it, leave it in the house for a week or so (or in the lovely sunshine we're having today) to ensure its fully dried out, 100% bone dry, then clamp back together with your chosen glue. much easier to get a few proper clamps around it if its out of the bus.

 

Mike, really!
In a previous life the organisation I worked for made thousands of tonnes of PVA for the woodworking industry.
Or course it's a structural wood adhesive and if specified correctly is typically stronger than the wood itself.
The type of mcpu you describe is also very good for external weather proof bonds, but actually doesn't always wet the substrate adequately and it can end up being more of a chemical bond rather than a physical one. Often mcpu joints will crack after a while.
PVA, perhaps a hybrid single component D4, is more than sufficient.

 

OK! Some great ideas here! I will take a look at removing it to fix. Thanks folks!

 

Gluing on a batten will only be as strong as the glue holding the veneer to the panel. If it's been damp that may be compromised, especially if you're trying to correct a large sag. You may find the veneer splits

 

First job is to get it out of the van and indoors, to let any dampness dry out

 

....and then figure out, if it is damp, where did the water come from.

I've taken my headbanger cupboard out a few times and it is not a hard job...getting it back in is another matter and a friend to help hold it in place as you locate the bolts is very helpful

 

I don't think it is damp. She has been under cover. So maybe condensation .. but not soaking.
But I do like the idea of taking it out
Is 'head-banger cabinet' the correct technical term? I like it! You learn something every day!

 

A helper is indeed a benefit @Chrisd !


And @Rob Oxford if you look closely at the sides of our cabinet you'll see the brackets.
Ours is heavily modified, but you get the drift...

 

Excellent! When do you think she would be able to pop around?

 

I use a PVA designed for engineered flooring


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Rivits and Dexion.

 

How is the original base attached to the sides and central partition? If yours is the same as Busmonkey's and you want to re use it, then I'd be tempted to strengthen/widen that partition with 9mm ply on both sides, front to back (glued & clamped) and for the joint between the base and the widened upright, glue and brad nails or adhesive staples. You can fill and conceal any holes or dents, or even glue a thin piece of veneered make-up over the existing base (in which case you could use screws rather than brads). As suggested above, clamping might take most of it out in combination with decent wood glue, but if the original base is veneered ply, then in my experience, once it's warped it tends to stay warped without mechanical fixings or re soaking it and clamping until it dries out fully. Either way you need to get the unit on the bench. Personally, I'd just make a new base...NLAVW may do a good matching veneered board