Furniture and a Dry Climate

People moving to St. George from a wetter part of the country notice it in their furniture within a few months. Drawers that stick or run loose, joints that creak, a table top that develops a hairline gap, leather that feels different.

None of that is damage from the move. It is wood and hide responding to a change in environment, and knowing that in advance saves a good deal of unnecessary alarm.

Just-In-Time Moving works throughout St. George and Washington County.

What dryness does to wood

Wood is hygroscopic: it takes up and gives off moisture with the air around it, and it changes dimension as it does. In a dry climate it loses moisture and shrinks slightly across the grain.

The visible results are consistent. Solid wood table tops can open a fine gap between boards. Panels shrink within their frames, showing an unfinished line at the edge. Joints loosen. Veneer occasionally lifts at the edges. Drawers that were tight run easily, and some run too easily.

Most of this settles once the piece reaches equilibrium, which takes a few months. Some of it does not, and a loose joint is worth re-gluing rather than leaving.

Give it time before you judge

Do not tighten, re-glue or adjust anything for the first several months. A piece still acclimatising will move again, and work done too early has to be redone.

The exception is anything structurally loose enough to be unsafe, which should be dealt with.

Leather and upholstery

Leather dries out here, and dried leather cracks. If you have good leather furniture, condition it, and rather more often than the instructions written for a humid climate suggest.

Fabric is less affected by dryness and much more affected by sun.

Sun is the bigger enemy

Genuinely the larger issue in this part of the world, and faster than people expect.

Direct sun fades fabric, bleaches wood finishes unevenly and hardens leather. A sofa in front of a west-facing window will show a difference within a single summer.

Window coverings are not a decorating decision here so much as furniture protection. Rotate rugs and cushions, and keep good pieces out of the direct path of afternoon light.

Where to place things

Away from vents, fireplaces and direct sun. If you have a genuinely valuable piece or an instrument, a humidifier in that room is worth considering.

Say when you book if anything is antique or valuable, and we will handle and place it accordingly.

Call (435) 862-3080 or email office@movingjustintime.com.