We all have cabinets in our homes and offices in wardrobes, kitchens, washrooms, and storage spaces that are used countless times. Due to the high frequency of their usage, cabinet doors tend to wear out after some time. As a result, you will notice that they won’t close or keep opening up after a few seconds. Even if they do close, you may notice that they won’t close as tightly as they used to. The cabinet door could also make a lot of noise when closing or opening and may swing at an odd angle.
It is quite a frustrating situation as an open cabinet door in your kitchen is like a welcome party for insects and critters. Moreover, if you are a perfectionist like us, you would not like the sight of an open cabinet door. So if a cabinet door in your house won’t close properly and you are looking for a solution, you can try out the following tips for fixing a cabinet door that won't stay closed.
Tips For Fixing A Cabinet Door That Won't Stay Closed
The first step to fixing a cabinet door that won’t close is to diagnose what the problem is. There can be various reasons why your cabinet door may not stay closed. For instance, the cabinet hinges could be rusty, the wood in your cabinet door may have swollen due to water damage, or the wood on the cabinet door may have been damaged.
Once you have figured out what’s causing the cabinet doors to stay open, you can take the right steps to fix the issue. Depending on the cause of the issue, here are a few tips that you can try to keep your cabinet doors closed.
1. Tighten Your Cabinet Hinges
The first hack that you can try to make your cabinet doors stay closed is to tighten their hinges. That’s because the screws in your door hinges can loosen up after years of use. Assess the cabinet door hinges by opening the cabinet doors. Now put some force on the bottom of the cabinet door. If it lifts up even a little bit, then it means that your cabinet door hinges are loose.
Grab a screwdriver and start tightening all the screws on the hinges. Make sure that the cabinet door is in place when you are doing this. If you feel like the screw is moving too freely, then the hinge’s hole may be damaged and you may need to install new hinges.
2. Adjust Your Cabinet Hinges
There are two reasons why you would need to adjust your cabinet hinges to keep the cabinet doors shut: A) there is an overlap in your cabinet doors, and B) There is a gap between the cabinet door and the closing edge.
Today, most homes have European hinges installed in cabinets that are concealed on the inside of the cabinets. These hinges are easily adjustable. If you feel like the two cabinet doors are overlapping or are edged forward, then you would need to adjust your hinges to fix the overlap.
To fix the alignment of European hinges, you would need to adjust the screw that is the closest to where the cabinet door opens. Use the screwdriver to turn this screw counter-clockwise so that the cabinet door moves away from the side and does not overlap where it closes.
To fix a gap between your cabinet door and the closing edge, you will again need to adjust the hinges. However, this time you will need to do so in a clockwise direction. Use the screwdriver on these hinges to turn the screw clockwise so that the door comes nearer to the closing edge. Keep trying until the gap is filled and your door closes perfectly.
3. Relocated the Stripped Screws
If you have tried tightening the cabinet hinges and adjusting them, you will need to relocate the stripped screws. There are two ways you can fix the location of these screws: you can either simply change the location of the hinge and end up damaging your cabinet door, or you can remove the cabinet framing from there with the stripped screw.
A temporary solution to reinforce the stripped screw hole would be to use wood glue. Make sure you take all the safety measures when working with wood glue and wear gloves and a mask. You should also ensure that the room is well-ventilated.
4. Replace the Cabinet Door Hinges
Your last resort is to replace the cabinet door hinges if the screw holes are perfectly fine but the hinges are damaged. To do so, pull out the cabinet door and keep it somewhere safe. Now unscrew the hinges and see what type they are so you can buy similar sized hinges for your cabinet.
You can go to your local hardware store or simply order your hinges at the Hinge Outlet. Once you receive your hinges, you attach them using new screws and reattach the door. You would notice that your cabinet doors would stay perfectly closed now.
Final Thoughts
If you have tried all these tips for fixing a cabinet door that won't stay closed and you are still unable to fix it, you have three options: you can either choose to live with them, you can replace the cabinet entirely, or you can replace the cabinet doors. While replacing the cabinets entirely would be an investment worth making as it would prolong the life of your cabinets, it can be really expensive and time consuming.
Instead, you can just try replacing the cabinet doors which would cost you much less than replacing the cabinets entirely. Moreover, you won’t even need to hire a carpenter for this as replacing the cabinet doors is pretty easy. Replacing your cabinet doors would change the entire appearance of your cabinets and would make it look as if you have redone the entire cabinetry. It is an ideal solution if you are looking for a cheap and quick fix.