Warped floor - how to flatten?

The first coffee stirrer floor is done. Stained, polyurethaned, etc.
Looks great. Only problem...it's fairly warped in places, despite
being flattened by books at various points, and the pushpins that held
it flat while being polyurethaned.

I thought about just weighing it down for a week or so, once the
varnish is fully dry. But will that fix it? I thought about dampening
the back side of it slightly then weighing it down.

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?

Any advice?

Cathy Weeks

Cat, I have a large roll (3") of double-sided tape and I bet if you looked
in the hardware store and got one, it would hold the whole floor flat. HD or
Lowes would also carry it.



"Cathy Weeks" wrote in message
om...
The first coffee stirrer floor is done. Stained, polyurethaned, etc.
Looks great. Only problem...it's fairly warped in places, despite
being flattened by books at various points, and the pushpins that held
it flat while being polyurethaned.

I thought about just weighing it down for a week or so, once the
varnish is fully dry. But will that fix it? I thought about dampening
the back side of it slightly then weighing it down.

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?

Any advice?

Cathy Weeks

How far from Jackson do you live?


"Cathy Weeks" wrote in message
om...
The first coffee stirrer floor is done. Stained, polyurethaned, etc.
Looks great. Only problem...it's fairly warped in places, despite
being flattened by books at various points, and the pushpins that held
it flat while being polyurethaned.

I thought about just weighing it down for a week or so, once the
varnish is fully dry. But will that fix it? I thought about dampening
the back side of it slightly then weighing it down.

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?

Any advice?

Cathy Weeks

Cathy Weeks wrote:

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?


I was able to flatten warped plywood by dampening it (wiped a sponge
over it) and weighting it down on the garage floor to dry.

If you used a good polyurethane the water shouldn't do a thing to it.

I'm not sure how the posterboard will hold up.

Do you plan to glue/tack it into the dollhouse? Will that be enough to
hold it flat once it's in?


Dawn

"Dawn" wrote in message
...
Cathy Weeks wrote:

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?


I was able to flatten warped plywood by dampening it (wiped a sponge
over it) and weighting it down on the garage floor to dry.

If you used a good polyurethane the water shouldn't do a thing to it.

I'm not sure how the posterboard will hold up.

Do you plan to glue/tack it into the dollhouse? Will that be enough to
hold it flat once it's in?


Dawn

She can always dampen it, lay a piece of plywood on and park her car there
for a week or so? BIG DARN GRIN

Dawn wrote in message ...
Cathy Weeks wrote:

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?


I was able to flatten warped plywood by dampening it (wiped a sponge
over it) and weighting it down on the garage floor to dry.

If you used a good polyurethane the water shouldn't do a thing to it.

Good to know. Minwax Polyurethane.

I'm not sure how the posterboard will hold up.

Do you plan to glue/tack it into the dollhouse? Will that be enough to
hold it flat once it's in?

The initial plan was to use double-sided tape, so it needs to be
pretty flat. I had planned to make the fixative only semi-permanant so
that I could get underneath it for whatever reason.

I dampened the poster board slightly and then put it under a big box
of books. I'll give it a week or so.

Cathy Weeks

"betsyb" wrote in message ...
How far from Jackson do you live?

Jackson, Mississippi? About 1000 miles ;-)

I live in Central New Jersey.

Cathy

Jackson, NJ? By Great Adventure.
"Dawn" wrote in message
...
Cathy Weeks wrote:

But that seems problematic. The back of it is posterboard, and the
glue is water soluable (Elmer's glue-all). Dampening it is probably
fine, especially if I weigh it down to keep the contact. But will the
water cause problems for the underside of the polyurethane?


I was able to flatten warped plywood by dampening it (wiped a sponge
over it) and weighting it down on the garage floor to dry.

If you used a good polyurethane the water shouldn't do a thing to it.

I'm not sure how the posterboard will hold up.

Do you plan to glue/tack it into the dollhouse? Will that be enough to
hold it flat once it's in?


Dawn

"betsyb" wrote in message ...
How far from Jackson do you live?

Oh, gotcha. Maybe an hour and 10 minutes. I live a little north of
Princeton in a town called Hillsborough.

Cathy Weeks