Gallivantes
Member
Plaiecivile":24dhwaiv said:The only thing I would like to ask is, is your storage lead rot proof? Melamine/hard wood and high humidity are pretty rough at triggering this plague.
As long as your shelf is open in front to allow good air circulation it should not be an issue.
Ooh very good question. Thanks Plaicievile. To be honest I actually don't have much of a clue. My knowledge of lead rot is so-so and I've never had to tackle an outbreak of it. Here's what I can say about this setup:
Experience: I've only stored things like this for about a year so that's probably not enough time to draw any conclusions from.
Hard Wood: I don't know at which rate hard wood is present here. Spruce, pine and elm are supposed to be the kinder "soft woods" (it's down to acetic levels, apparently) but all I've found about IKEAs builds is that they're basically MDF, and all I know about MDF is that it's a mix of wood fibre. What kind of wood fibre I can't say.
High Humidity: I don't think so. There's nothing around that would introduce alarming degrees of moisture. Say, a shower. Or a monsoon period. Then again how much is considered too much?
Melamine: I just looked up that IKEA uses melamine in their laminate. I didn't know this affected lead rot until you mentioned it (thanks!). Out of everything this worries me the most, so I will be keeping a regular eye on them from now on.
Ventilation: It's a closed cabinet but not hermetically sealed. There are gaps of millimeters when the doors are closed. There is no ventilation unit installed. I often open the doors, sometimes daily but if not then at the very least I'd say they get a weekly airing out so I'm hoping that mitigates some of what moisture/melamine fume buildup there might be. But again, I confess I don't know anything about the tolerances here and what's considered "enough" ventilation.
So, how do the levels of melamine, hard wood and moisture fare against this level of ventilation? Not a clue! And it's probably too early to tell. Anybody out there with more experience than I have, speak up as I'm sure everyone is as interested in hearing that as I am.
I can see why you're going for a glass/steel build Plaicievile. Probably more expensive but you can't put a price on sleeping well at night so I really see where you're coming from.