Kitchen Cabinet doors

[Caponata]

Hi every one

I'need some advise on how to fix my kitchen cabinet doors. Most of my cabinets have no doors any more and not only my kitchen looks disorganised, dust is getting in every where. My cabinets are five years old and plywood and that's the problem the doors have latches screwed in , they becames loose and the screws do not fit any more! I need some practical suggestions to fix the place where the screws fit in. Plywood is difficult to fix and where I live they suggest I should buy a new kitchen! Who would buy a new kitchen every 5 years!
Please help. Thank you.

[Shawn]

It seems that maybe the screws were stripped when being put in the first itme OR they were the wrong type of screws.

Have you tried to replace all the screws with ines a tad bit bigger? Maybe there is something can can be added to the hole before placing new screws in to help.

Also, you should not hang on doors or pull down or up, this can cause distress on the hinges and then doors can become out of line and yes, hinges can start to loosen.


I will look into this more and let you know what I found.

Thanks.

[Caponata]

Hi Shawn,
I've tried to fill in the holes but it doesn't last. Also the cabinets are being opened by lots of hands, a house keeper + 6 children, so I need to find a strong solution. I thank you for helping me on that.

[otheila]

If the holes are not all the way through the wood, just that they have become too big to hold the screws there is a fairly easy, cheap way to fix it. Wooden golf tee's!
Coat the holes with a good quaility wood glue and push the tee in as far as it will go, hammer it a couple times lightly to make sure it's snug. Wait a couple hours and then using a knife cut off the rest of the tee so that it is flush with your cabinets. They might need light sanding.
Then put your doors back up as normal. They will hold now, the holes have been plugged.

[EJaginLa]

Caponata, it's a easy as a wooden golf tee. I did this just last week with some of my lower cabinet doors that the boys always seem to tend to hand on. It works beautifully.

Take some Carpenter's Wood Glue (the yellow king) and squirt a little in the hole. Now squirt some onto the pointed end of the wooden tee. Using a hammer tap the pointed end of the wooden tee into the hole until it is really snug and won't go anymore. Now take the hammer and hit the excess part of the tee and it will just snap right off. Now screw your original screw back into the freshly filled hole. NO NEW HARDWARE AND EASY AS
FORE!!!!

[LILA]

Have you thought of leaving the doors off altogether? Organize the cupboards and use something to make a nice edging. I've seen this in some magazines where open cabinets work well with the decor. You can use a wood putty to cover up the holes in the wood from the screws. You won't need to buy a new kitchen and it could work. Experiement, you may surprise yourself.

[StillNaked]

They sell Dry Wall screws at Home Depot, or anywhere like that. They are made to stay put! A little peice of plastic goes in first, then the screw. Won't crumble the ply wood! Good luck,
Laurie

[Bob]

There is a product on the market for just your problem called Tite'n made by Loctite Corp. You can find it in any hardware store. It's a wood filler that comes in a small squeeze tube a little bit bigger than a tube of super glue. You squeeze it on your screw and also a little bit in the hole and then put in the screw as usual. Let it set and your cabinet should be as good as new. You can remove the screw as usual after the filler is set. By the way, like the golf tee idea. You can also do that by taking a piece of wooden dowel rod and drilling a hole the same diameter as the dowel in the piece of damaged wood. Then put some carpenter's glue on the dowel and press or tap it into the hole until it is flush with the surface. You can get even better adhesion if you make score marks in the length of the hardwood dowel with a sharp file, etc. so that more glue can grip the old surface instead of pushing it off when you try to insert it. Then drill a new hole in the dowel for the screw once the glue is set. Hope these tips help.

[indnan]

If you're like me, I wouldn't have golf tees around. Glue toothpicks (as many as you can squeeze into the hole). It'll work great too. We've made a lot of repairs like that. Be careful that you don't go through the other side of the plywood if you decide to go with a longer screw and careful that you don't split the wood with a larger in diameter screw!

Nan

[Caponata]

Hi every one, Otheila, Ejaginla, Laurie, Bob, Indnan and forgive me if I forget a name, I thank you so much for your suggestions.I'm not sure I'll find golf Ts but toothpicks surely and some other type of wooden piece. I can't wait to get my kitchen looking good again!
As for the suggestion of keeping the doors out, it's a good idea but I live in a very dusty area + I would need a whole new set od crockery or dishware to make the inside of the cabinets attractive!
I guess that would be for much later when the doors fall apart ! But thanks every one