Interior Wood Paneling vs Humidity: How Does it Perform?

Every room in your home maintains a different level of humidity, and some are more prone to moisture buildup than others. This can make some homeowners hesitant to use materials like wood. However, with the right protection and quality composition, wood paneling can thrive in any environment, offering both beauty and durability.

Bathrooms

Shower steam can significantly increase humidity in any bathroom, especially in those without a vent—or for those who forget to turn it on. Without proper ventilation, the moisture can linger, leading to potential issues like mold or mildew, particularly for wood paneling. However, this shouldn’t deter you from achieving the cozy bathroom look you’re trying to achieve. We kept this occurrence in mind as we developed our drying process. To combat this issue, we decided to dry our wood paneling at a lower moisture level for a longer period, leading to very few, if any, problems down the road.

Kitchens

The moisture from cooking can easily make it one of the more humid rooms in your house. Whether you’re steaming vegetables, boiling water, or cleaning dishes, everyday activities can quickly raise humidity levels. Your refrigerator is also a cause for moisture due to its coolant system which produces a small amount of moisture that disperses throughout the room.

Wood is naturally known to expand, warp, or crack due to changes in moisture levels. It’s simply a physical property of wood that causes it to react to its environment. Nevertheless, we’ve taken extra steps to minimize these reactions. Our specialized drying process allows the wood paneling to withstand the humidity levels in your home by creating more stable and durable paneling.

Basements

Another naturally humid environment is your basement. Due to their underground location, basements are surrounded by moisture in the soil. This means water vapors are constantly infiltrating the walls and floor into the cooler, drier basement. Many basements do not have enough airflow or ventilation either, trapping moisture and humidity.

To better protect against these conditions, our prefinished interior tongue-and-groove paneling features a clear coat that seals the wood’s surface, making it less absorbent to moisture in the air. Since the paneling is coated in a controlled environment, it achieves better adhesion and enhanced durability, without picking up extra moisture or contaminants during the finishing process.

Garage

From porous concrete floors to poor insulation, garages tend to have higher humidity levels. Most garages aren’t as well-insulated as the rest of the house, and they pick up moisture from the air outside. Concrete floors are also commonly found in garages which absorb moisture from the ground underneath. The moisture brought in from cars, especially when they come in and out of the garage after being exposed to rain, snow, or wet roads, contributes to the overall humidity in the space, too. As the water evaporates from the vehicle, it raises the moisture levels in the garage. Despite this, you can still style the garage as the functional workspace or cozy hang-out spot you’ve always wanted with our wood paneling options that were crafted to perform in even the toughest environments.

Whether it’s your bathroom, kitchen, basement, or garage, you can rest assured that WoodHaven’s paneling offers the best in durability and performance, even in the most humid environments. While no material is 100% resistant to moisture, WoodHaven’s paneling has been designed to withstand humidity with minimal issues. Discover wood that’s true to the grain and built to last, only at WoodHaven.