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We had a farmhouse pine table made by a company. It’s beautiful and we love it. However, two of the planks have developed some cracks. We’ve only had the table 2 or 3 weeks. We were warned that it needed to acclimatise and to keep the heat off for a few days. We’ve now started using our fire (log burner) in the same room and it appears that the wood has shrank and is splitting/cracking. Is this normal? Will the cracks close up if I increase the moisture in the room (leave the fire off, run the humidifier)? I really don’t want it to split to the ends and leave big cracks.

I’ve attached some photos.

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Mama6
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    At this point, it’s normal checking and probably won’t get worse (though this depends entirely on the initial moisture content of the wood). Keep your receipt, just in case. – Aloysius Defenestrate Nov 03 '22 at 22:21
  • Thank you. That’s good to know. I’m praying it doesn’t get worse. – Mama6 Nov 03 '22 at 22:37
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    "warned that it needed to acclimatise and to keep the heat off for a few days" Hah! This, frankly, is pie-in-the-sky advice and indicates they're either not very professional or don't really care. Acclimation to the local environment takes weeks ..... at minimum; obviously this doesn't fit in with modern living and expectations etc. but just like with new plasterwork the reality is what the reality is. Now that said, see my Answer under this similar Question. – Graphus Nov 04 '22 at 07:57
  • There was an option of pine or oak. We chose the pine but the stain they used was cold old oak. Maybe that’s why the grain colour looks different? – Mama6 Nov 05 '22 at 16:26
  • Looks like "classic" construction-grade SPF with some stain applied. Clearly not oak. Light checking wouldn't be unusual. – gnicko Nov 06 '22 at 13:32
  • @gnicko, I feel like such a rube, I was thrown by the stain! I am totally deleting that Comment haha. When stain causes grain reversal the fast-growth summer wood usually has become so much darker than the latewood you can spot it literally from across the room. Here they did a creditable job of making the stained colouring look quite natural (mimicking something like what you see in e.g. birch). – Graphus Nov 06 '22 at 18:45
  • Since the only Answer was edited to include an incorrect answer to this specific query I must add something. "Is this normal?" No, very much not, as I refer to in the similar Q I linked to on Nov. 4th. Think about it this way — have you noticed cracks in other people's furniture? Cast your mind back..... there's a reasonable chance you might never have seen cracks of this sort in furniture, it's that uncommon. – Graphus Nov 07 '22 at 18:40
  • Mama6 are you still monitoring your Question or did you seek and get input on this elsewhere? – Graphus Nov 14 '22 at 19:00

2 Answers2

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The main problem is the way the wood is cut ("flat-sawn"). If you look at the tree rings in the end grain for that particular board, they probably look like a "U", in which case the bottom part of the U contracts/expands more than the top part as moisture decreases/increases. This is because wood moves most across the grain within each ring (as opposed to along the grain), and the outer rings have more surface area. It's this difference that causes a crack to form, and this is why it's a good idea to alternate the directions of the U's when gluing up flat-sawn boards for a panel. Increasing the moisture in the room might help close up the crack temporarily, but unless you're able to completely seal the board from moisture, especially the end-grain, you'll have a recurring problem any time the moisture in the room changes. If the crack gets larger, you could try to fill it with a mix of sawdust and wood glue and then sand down. Once it's filled in, you can stain or oil the table to help seal it. Or if you like the unfinished look, at least seal the end grain of the boards with some oil or wax.

Edit: To answer your questions, "Is this normal?" Yes and No. Yes, it is normal in wood if the end-grain of the wood is not properly sealed, and the piece of lumber has strong curvature in the rings, it is normal and to be expected if the environment undergoes changes in moisture. No, it is not normal in inside furniture kept in a reasonably stable environment, since most furniture will reach an approximate moisture equilibrium where changing internal stresses are not enough to cause checking. "Will the cracks close up if I increase the moisture in the room (leave the fire off, run the humidifier)?" Possibly, but this would not be a permanent or long-term solution to getting rid of the cracks, as future changes in moisture can cause them to open up again. Also, if you overdo the moisture, then you could have cracks open up on the opposite side of the board as it warps the other way.

Edit 2: I took a few pictures of plain-sawn wood in my shop from reclaimed furniture that show similar cracks, just to refute the notion that what is not normal for some might be normal for another. I only have a few examples right now because I avoid stripping/refinishing plain-sawn wood pieces exactly for this reason---once the finish is stripped, they tend to warp and crack as they adjust to the moisture. Happy to post if there's interest and someone can walk me through how to upload them to this site.

Woodchuck would chuck wood
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  • So, having the fire on in that room is not a good idea? Is it possible more splitting will occur? Will the cracks as they are potentially cause a structural concern in the future?

    I think sealing the ends is a good idea but do you all think I should contact the company?

    I feel as though maybe it was our fault for not leaving it longer or burning the fire too hot. But from what you’re saying above, no properly dried wood should ever crack like this. Am I understanding that correctly?

     – Mama6 Nov 05 '22 at 16:34
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    Refinishing the table isn't a very practical fix for what looks to be normal checking. You won't be able to refinish just part of the tabletop without the work being obvious. You'll have to sand and refinish the whole top...and then you'll still have the original checking. Contact the company that made the table or accept the fine checking as part of the "farmhouse" charm. The wood looks like it was originally construction-grade SPF so it would be prone to such. The checks are not of structural significance. – gnicko Nov 06 '22 at 13:29
  • Being plain-sawn wouldn't in any way explain/justify the cracking, since wood cut this way is used extensively (boy is that an understatement!) in furniture work. And of course most furniture doesn't have cracks in any of the boards. If @gnicko is correct that this is 2x material if it were somehow made from QS or RS boards while they would certainly be more stable in other ways they would not be particularly less prone to checking like this. – Graphus Nov 06 '22 at 18:53
  • "this is why it's a good idea to alternate the directions of the U's when gluing up flat-sawn boards for a panel" Er, not so much. This old, old advice certainly has some merit, but as many guides point out other considerations have to take precedence over it, #1 of which is of course which face of the boards you want to see in the finished piece. A top where the rings are all oriented the same way is therefore possible, with the inherent tendency to bow or cup depending on final orientation, but this is easily tackled by correct positioning of tabletop fasteners, or screws thru the apron. – Graphus Nov 06 '22 at 18:59
  • "Being plain-sawn wouldn't in any way explain/justify the cracking, since wood cut this way is used extensively (boy is that an understatement!) in furniture work. And of course most furniture doesn't have cracks in any of the boards". Yes, but most furniture is sealed of moisture or has stabilized in moisture content. Based on the pic above, it doesn't look like there is much (if any) finish used on the tabletop, and the OP admitted that the moisture content in the room has changed. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:07
  • I used plain-sawn as an example, only because certain cuts of plain-sawn wood can have a U-shaped orientation of the rings. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:09
  • "Refinishing the table isn't a very practical fix for what looks to be normal checking. You won't be able to refinish just part of the tabletop without the work being obvious." I never suggested refinishing part of the tabletop... I meant the entire table top. However, part of the table top could work depending on the original finish (if any). If it has a simple wax finish (which would explain moisture changes in the wood as wax is not as good at sealing out moisture), then applying new wax to the filled-in/sanded portion would be less noticeable than oil or lacquer-based finishes. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:13
  • ""this is why it's a good idea to alternate the directions of the U's when gluing up flat-sawn boards for a panel" Er, not so much. This old, old advice certainly has some merit, but as many guides point out other considerations have to take precedence over it...". True, absolutely agreed. I meant my original statement in the context of wood stability and minimizing warping. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:15
  • @Graphus Just trying to understand your argument... are you saying that my claim is wrong? I.e., that the outside rings don't usually expand/contract more than the inside rings with changes in moisture, and that these differences in movement don't cause internal stresses that can cause cracks? – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:20
  • @gnicko "You'll have to sand and refinish the whole top...and then you'll still have the original checking". No, I suggested that any refinishing should happen after the cracks are filled in. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:26
  • It is possible more splitting will occur, at least until the moisture content of the wood has reached equilibrium with the surrounding environment. Like @gnicko said, the cracks probably will have negligible structural impact, unless they go deep into the wood and you happen to apply a lot of force along the edge of the table along the grain. You have nothing to lose by contacting the company, they will at least be aware of similar issues that other customers may have faced. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:35
  • Properly kiln-dried wood can still experience cracking. For example, if it goes into a more humid environment after the kiln, the moisture absorbed can cause cracks to appear on the outer rings instead of the inner rings. You don't have this issue as much with rift-sawn or quarter-sawn lumber, since these boards tend to have less ring curvature. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 06:41
  • Comments are not for extended discussion so I'm going to have to leave it at this, "Yes, but most furniture is sealed of moisture or has stabilized in moisture content." Both of those statements are wholly false. A) most furniture (almost all) is not sealed off from moisture; we may colloquially refer to 'sealing' but the reality is something completely different, as I think you know as you refer to this obliquely in your Answer. B) No wood anywhere has stabilised in moisture content! The max/min response may reduce over decades but, as I'm sure you know, antiques still swell and contract! – Graphus Nov 07 '22 at 18:34
  • Sorry, I'm still learning proper commenting etiquette. Just a quick response to your A) and B): Yes, exactly, I meant this in the colloquial sense, not the absolute/literal. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 21:26
  • I don't have enough rep to move this to chat... @Graphus From what I've seen of your other answers, it seems like you speak from experience when you say this cracking isn't "normal" in kiln-dried wood used in finished (and even unfinished) furniture. I'm not questioning your experience. My experience mainly comes from upcycling old solid wood furniture where I see this cracking and warping often, and it's almost always in plain-sawn boards for the reasons I already described. So "normal" is entirely subjective, but I thought I qualified my definition sufficiently. – Woodchuck would chuck wood Nov 07 '22 at 22:43
  • FWIW I wasn't suggesting moving it to chat since I have never visited it. If I did I deffo wouldn't use it when the site auto-prompts from an extended back-and-forth similar to this, which usually results from a strong disagreement or clash of personalities. In either case there's nothing to be gained from going any further because it'll basically consist of both parties repeating what's already been said :-/ – Graphus Nov 08 '22 at 04:00
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Sir, where I come from your farmhouse pine table is called a picnic table.{ VT} Picnic tables are relatively cheap because of the materials their made from. I suggest the back lawn is a more appropriate location. When wood is 'kiln ' dried the moisture content is taken down to under 7 % and when removed from the kiln the content goes up . Green wood is never cured and is used for picnic tables because it splits.....is what it is.

Geoff Dixon
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  • Wood, all wood is always alive. WOOD loves WATER ! Think of a farmhouse screen door. About 10 coats of oil paint over the years. When the weather gets humid the door swells and starts sticking. All that paint and the wood finds water....For the most part, correctly kilned wood that was cured properly, which is 98% of mills, won't have moisture problems. I've seen kiln dried over dried and that causes splitting but very rare. – Geoff Dixon Nov 14 '22 at 05:01
  • no comment, not getting format here. – Geoff Dixon Nov 14 '22 at 05:04
  • "Farmhouse" is a style that's been quite popular over the last several years. Many people have a wide variety of "farmhouse" style furniture elements in their houses from chairs to kitchen tables to beds. Just because you don't have "farmhouse" style pine furniture in your house doesn't automatically make it "suitable for outdoor use only". Also, if you're struggling to "get" the format here, take the [tour]. 2 minutes of reading should explain it to you. – FreeMan Nov 15 '22 at 17:10