The kitchen is often a busy environment. Families and individuals can sometimes forget how much they open and close drawers and cabinet doors to get the utensils they need to cook their food. Every now and then, your kitchen drawers may need some repair work. Here are a few tips on how to fix common problems.
A dry lubricant isn’t the best way to fix a broken kitchen drawer. Instead, the key is to replace the slide. Over time, many kitchen drawers get weighed down from all the silverware and various kitchen utensils. The key to fixing these drawers is buying new slides that are as similar to the old ones as possible. You can find drawer slides at many of your local home centers in Chicago, but there are also online resources like Amazon available.
You may have noticed that your kitchen drawers can be noisy. This is the sound of wood smacking against wood. Most drawers have “bumpers” near the interior corners to cushion the impact and reduce the noise. However, sometimes the bumpers fall off and need to be replaced. The bumpers at your local store have different thicknesses. Use bumpers that have the same thickness as those on adjacent doors to ensure an even fit.
Here is a few more tips below so you can have your kitchen up and running smoothly and efficiently in no time:
Getting the Sag Out
After years of use, the bottoms of your drawers may begin to sag and bend. The thin plywood used for drawer bottoms can be repaired by cutting the plywood to fit over the drawer bottom, leaving about a 1/4-in. gap on each side. Once you apply wood glue on the drawer bottom and set the plywood over it, weigh it down with a heavy object to hold it in place until the glue dries.
Drawer Box Fix
Some drawers are held together by only a few drops of glue or short nails. The first step towards fixing a drawer corner that might be coming apart is to take the entire drawer out to examine it. Repair all the weak corners now to avoid future problems. Place a piece of scrap wood against a corner and lightly tap with a hammer.
To fix the corner, first remove the drawer front which is usually attached by screws driven from inside the drawer. Remove fasteners from the corner, then carefully remove the old glue with a utility knife. Then all that is left is regluing the corner, putting the sides back together and clamping the drawer until the glue dries.
If your kitchen needs any renovations, we have the recipe to get you cooking again. Give our team at Bauer Construction a call if you are ever in need of kitchen repairs. You can reach us at 847-553-5331 for this and all your home repair and renovation needs.