How To Repair Your Cabinet Door Hinges: Try-It-Yourself!

It can get really annoying to discover the big holes in the frame and the cabinet door shaking both at the same time. It once happened and I had to prevent it. So I tried some DIY techniques and thankfully the outcome was great.

To know how to repair cabinet door hinges, you must inspect the surface first. Then, adjust the door hinges that seem shaky. If that doesn’t solve, change the screws, use wall plugs, cover up the holes with wood dust and glue, or insert hinge repair plates.

So this means, you don’t have to panic seeing the damage in the cabinet door hinge points just yet. Stay with me in this guide where I’ll present the procedure of each repair technique that hopefully will help.

You Can Repair Cabinet Door Hinges Using 5 Methods!

After discovering the faulty part of cabinet door hinges, there are up to 5 ways how one can use to easily fix the issue. This includes:

1. Aligning The Door Hinges

A lot of times improper installation of door hinges can show issues like open space in the middle of cabinet doors. You can fix it by doing the given process:

• Open the cabinet door and inspect the condition of the hinges.
• Mark the door hinges that seem stubborn.
• You’ll find the cabinet hinge adjustment screws (top and bottom screws are B, the middle-front screw is C, and the middle-rear screw is A).
  • Twist the A screw in 1/8 to 1/4 turns (clockwise or anticlockwise direction) for side-to-side alignment.
  • To do an up-down alignment, rotate the B screws 1/8 to 1/4 turns in the left or right direction.
  • Take out the C screw and hold the door in or out of a position based on your preference to attempt in-out alignment. After doing that, re-tighten the screw.

Note: If the door is too close or far from the cabinet, then the door won’t swing rightly. Ensure to place the door in the right spot.

2. Using Wall Plugs

When the hinges on the cabinet door seem loose even after securing the screws properly, it indicates an issue of a big hole. This thing causes the screws to get no torque to hold in the frame. Here’s how to repair loose cabinet door hinges:

• Grab the screwdriver or screw gun and detach all the screws from the hinges that seem shaky.
• Mark the holes that are bigger and wider than the screws.
• Get solid and reliable wall plugs that come with suitable screws like the KURUI anchors and screw kit.
• Measure the size of the anchors and then drill the area holes.
• Insert the anchors in the holes and tap them using a hammer.
• Use a knife to cut the extra surface.
• Install all the hinges and screws with the screwdriver or screw gun.

Pro Tip: Add toothpicks or cylinder wood beads if the wall plugs not working for you.

3. Patching Up Holes With Glue

After extreme usage, it can cause the cabinet door hinge ripped out the issue by making visible holes. And this causes the surface to not attach properly. If that happens, follow the given direction: 

• Detach the problematic hinges from the cabinet door.
• Inspect the surface holes. If the holes seem slightly bigger or deeper, then mark the surface with a pencil or marker.
• Make a mixture of wood dust and glue using a putty knife. You can use any kind of glue including superglue, epoxy, woodworking, and hard epoxy glues. Just use a few drops of glue on a plastic plate and blend it with the wood dust using a putty knife.
• After making the paste, gently insert it into the holes using the putty knife. Keep on doing this on all the holes so that the surface covers up.
• Insert the screws while the paste is not hard.
• Reinstall all the hinges and secure them with the screws using the screwdriver or screw gun.

4. Changing The Screws

If the door hinge seems a little fragile to hold the door from the frame side, then it’s maybe occurring as the screws are worn out. To troubleshoot the issue, here’s what you should do:

• Remove all the hinges from the cabinet door that seems shaky or fragile.
• After that, inspect each screw’s thread properly.
• Instead of putting the old screws, get a screw set for the hinge that seems a little thicker than the previous type.
• Install all the thicker screws on top of the hinges and tighten them out with the screwdriver or screw gun.

5. Inserting Hinge Repair Plates

In case you don’t have time and must repair the door hinges issue, then try using the hinge repair plates. Do the given steps to get it done easily:

• Open the cabinet door and locate the hinge that seems loose or wobbly.
• Take out the 2 screws from the plates of hinges using a screwdriver or screw gun.
• Ask a friend to hold the cabinet door.
• Get the hinge plates that fit most cabinet door hinges like the Goldenwarm hinge repair plates.
• Put on the hinge repair plates inside the hinges.
• Secure the hinge plates and hinges by inserting the screws with the screw gun or screwdriver.
• While holding the hinge plates and hinges together, drill the 4 points based on the holes (in the hinge repair plates) with a driller and drill bit.
• Attach 4 screws that come with the pack using the appropriate tool.
• Swing the door to ensure the hinges are working rightly or not.

Conclusion

Repairing cabinet door hinges will take approximately 20 – 30 minutes if you follow the above techniques. It doesn’t require any special skill or hard work.

It is possible that the repair methods may slightly ruin the look of the cabinet (especially due to the dust and glue patch-up technique). You can try to apply some primer and paint to cover up the issues. Or use a sticker if needed.

Best Of Luck!