Easy home fixes: Why won’t my cabinet doors stay closed
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Kitchen cabinets keep being opened and shut repeatedly, especially if you have a family with kids and pets to feed. As with everything else, with time, cabinet doors also start showing signs of wear and tear. Sometimes, you just can’t get them to stay closed, no matter how hard you try.
There could be multiple reasons why this could be happening, ranging from the wood warping to cabinet hinges being loose or worn out. In this short read, we’re going to take you through these reasons as well as some easy home fixes.
Figure out the cause of the issue
Before you can fix a problem, knowing the root cause is important. A detailed inspection of your cabinet doors should help you arrive at why they don’t close properly. Here’s a systematic approach to help you cover all possible causes.
Check the doors
The first thing you ought to do is open and close the doors a few times while checking the insides and outside of the doors to see if you can spot where they rub against each other or get caught.
If you do see the doors rubbing against each other or getting caught, it is a sign that there may be an overlap. Use a marker to mark the areas where the doors overlap each other.
Check the hinges
Most often, the problem with cabinet doors begins and ends at their hinges. Even there, there could be multiple causes. If your hinge screws are loose, all you’d need to do is tighten them. Other hinge adjustments include replacing worn-out hinge pins, and if the cabinet very holds, replacing the hinges themselves.
Read more: How to cut door hinges
Remove the door
Sometimes, to understand why your door isn’t working properly, or to accurately mark where the doors rub against each other, you may need to remove the doors altogether. This will not only help you diagnose the root cause of why your cabinet doors aren’t closing properly, but it also allows you to take a proper look at the inside of the cabinet boxes for signs of damage or wear and tear as well.
Simple home fixes
Now that you know what the problem is, let’s look at some simple solutions to help you keep the cabinet door closed.
Hinge adjustments
Sometimes, the reason cabinets that have double doors have doors rubbing against each other is because of loose hinges. Adjusting screws can solve this problem for you easily.
Each hinge ought to have two screws on it. By making quarter turns on the screw closest to the cabinet door, you can adjust its position towards the left or right. Once you’ve adjusted the hinges enough to ensure the doors are not rubbing against each other, make sure they’re aligned properly as well.
The above solution is also effective when the wood has expanded due to weather and that causes the doors to rub against each other.
If the hinges need an up/down adjustment and not a left/right one, you can do so by slightly unscrewing the base plate holding the hinges and lifting the door up to the correct level, and then screwing the base plate back on tightly.
Serious door overlaps
If your cabinet doors overlapping isn’t fixable by adjusting the hinges, it may be because the doors themselves are damaged or because the hinges are worn out.
If the doors are damaged but the cabinet boxes are fine, you could simply buy new cabinet doors and replace the old ones.
Similarly, if the hinges have worn out, local hardware stores are sure to stock hinges in the size you need them. Simply swapping out your old hinges with new ones may be just what your kitchen cabinets needed.
Warped wood
While adjusting hinges may hide the damage done by warped wood temporarily, there is, unfortunately, no way to either reverse the effects or repair them. If it’s only the cabinet doors that are warped, you can replace them. Otherwise, you may need to replace the cabinets themselves.
Can wood warping be prevented?
Warped wood is difficult to avoid, especially if you live in humid climates However, using a high-quality door oil or a varnish will help prevent the wood from warping for a reasonably long time. Keep this in mind if you need to replace your kitchen cabinets or any other wooden furniture in your home.
Written by Narayan Shrouthy. April 28, 2022
Narayan is a content writer for Kukun. With experience in both content writing and editing, Narayan mixes his writing and love for reading with his passion for music. As an active musician, He aims to be a key player in Kukun's content experience.
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Almost every time I see these problems, they are poorly manufactured products, it is always better to buy American