My neighbor in apartment 3B said my new shelves looked 'tense'

I was showing off the floating shelves I built with 3/4 inch plywood, and she pointed out how the brackets were pulled so tight against the wall they looked stressed. She said, 'Wood needs to breathe a little, you know?' I always cranked everything down thinking tighter was better, but now I'm wondering if I've been over-torquing my projects for years. Has anyone else had a simple comment make you rethink a basic building habit?

2 comments

2 Comments

sethanderson5d ago

Your neighbor's onto something. I've seen plywood split from being fastened too tight, especially when the humidity changes. Letting things move a bit prevents a lot of headaches later.

xenar145d ago

Yeah my buddy learned that the hard way. He built a whole shed floor and nailed it down super tight. Next summer half the sheets had huge cracks right along the seams. Had to replace three sheets before he got it right.