Material for cabinet enclosure in Laundry room

[Philip Florio]

Over this winter I am gutting out my Laundry room and adding a new floor, paint, drop ceiling, sink, light and doors.

The room is attached to the garage so it's colder than the rest of the house and with the dryer warming up the room there's lots of rust on the metal frame on the drop ceiling.

Next to the circuit panel is the central vacuum, both eye sores and too high for the new ceiling. I'm looking to enclose these two partially. I want to have an enclosure that will be basically a front and two sides, the top will rest right against the frame of the drop ceiling. The face will be about 2 1/2 feet high and about 4 wide. Considering the humidity in the room I'm looking for advice for the best material that can be painted with latex paint. I'm guessing that plywood and MDF are out of the question.

Thanks,
Phil

[Duncan Horner]

Check local codes re: Working room around a panel

My guess is, you'll be able to enclose it only to the point where the front of the panel is flush with the enclosure

[Chris Barnett]

If you have rust, strongly suggest adding an exhaust to the dryer discharge, and if already have it ducted, adding a second fan inline to augment the dryer. I realize this does not address your question, but could not help commenting.

[Joe Chritz]

I expect that as long as you have a door to access the box then you should be ok with the codes but I am not an electrician by any stretch.

MDF is fine if you finish all sides. Birch plywood is also a good choice.

You are getting the rust for the same reason bathroom windows get wet. It gets warm in the room and is getting moisture from somewhere (likely the washer) and when the air cools (and holds less moisture) it condenses on the metal object.

I had this problem in my shop in summer time until I started leaving a fan running all the time.

Joe

[Philip Florio]

I'm planning on bringing the face up to the circuit panel door. This way the conduit and the top pf the vacuum will be concealed. The vacuum was installed to high to the ceiling and there's really no way to cut ceiling tile to fit the 90 angle large conduit.

The dryer is vented, I'm wondering if there is a fan for the duct?

I have 3/4" Birch ply.

Phil

[Matt Meiser]

You could use that tile board sold in 4x8 sheets which is supposed to be moisture resistant. The trick might be finding a look you like. Could you just build a closet around both? Not sure if that would meet code, you'd have to check, but with bifold doors it would look nice, but allow easy access for servicing both.

MDO board would take paint nicely and stand up to moisture. Besides the dryer, the moisture problem could be from the temperature swings. If the room gets cold, then you run the dryer and warm the air up quick, the moisture is going to condense on the cold surfaces in the room. You might consider adding heat--maybe an electric baseboard strip or something like that.

Also, with that rust, you might want to inspect the panelboard for corrosion. My parents just had to have theirs replaced due to rust. It started when I found a circuit breaker buzzing when I went down to turn off a breaker to replace a light switch. My dad later replaced the breaker and discovered the panel was heavily rusted and their appeared to be corrosion on the aluminum incoming service conductors, many of the screws, etc. Then he had trouble getting the main to turn back on and had to make several tries before it held. A friend of mine did the replacement and told me that he had to clip off many of the conductors because the screws were frozen. From the outside, the panel didn't look too much different than yours.

[Tom Godley]

If you want to do it correctly you will need to check into the codes to get the free area needed in front. I had one boxed out in a basement redo many years ago and I remember some discussion regarding the size of the door in relation to the panel size.

You should look into the moisture issue -- need to fix that especially in a cold room. I also would look at the panel and breakers --- they do corrode!

Also the Vac inlet looks like it needs some work -- why not lower it and fix the pipe. Just make sure to use the correct fittings so you do not cause any restrictions -- vac fittings have longer sweeps so as to be less restrictive. Don't use plumbing fittings!

[Pete Kurki]

No advice for the material, just thought would add to the code requirements:

The NEC2005 110.26 makes the following two statements:
"The width of the working space in front of the electric equipment shall be the width of the equipment or 750 mm (30 in.), whichever is greater. In all cases the work space shall permit at least a 90 degree opening of equipment doors of hinged panels."
"The minimum headroom of working spaces about service equipment, switchboards, panelboards, or motor control centers shall be 2.0 m (6 1/2 ft)."

Your locality may have different or additional code requirements. One thing you can be sure about: the inspector will look through your panel board installation and surroundings very carefully.

Pete

Disclaimer: I have no training as an electrician. I am just capable of reading and copying sentences from NEC literature, and have a history of passing state inspections on all electrical work I have done in my house and shop.

[Philip Florio]

I went to Lowe's today and asked a lumber associate if they had MDO board, he didn't know what it was. Is this a hard to find item or sold under another name?

Phil

[Kevin Stricker]

For starters I would check to make sure your drier vent is not clogged....happens all the time and would explain the condensation.

I think that some birch ply properly sealed with a few coats of a good primer should hold up fine for an enclosure. You could also save a bunch of money and use drywall.

If it was me I would just build a simple frame and use some bifold doors. You will be able to get the doors up right against the vaccuum and subpanel. If you frame this area off and put up a partition wall you are going to take up a lot more space for access, plus you will need to run a new light.

[Matt Meiser]

I went to Lowe's today and asked a lumber associate if they had MDO board, he didn't know what it was. Is this a hard to find item or sold under another name?

You probably won't find it at a big box. Try a plywood supplier.

[Rob Cooper]

You could use Hardi board. It is sold in 4x8 sheets with no wood grain pattern. Local blue borg has it in 1/2" thickness. The joints would have to be covered with Hardi or PVC trim. Moisture proof, cheap and paintable.