Kitchen cupboard hinges loose.

Soldato
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Hi,

I have a problem with one of the hinges in my kitchen.

The problem is as follows:

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The people who installed my kitchen have made an error, the pilot holes they drilled appear to be too large resulting in the screw not getting tight back into the hole.

I had a think about this and filled the holes with wood filler, waited a day and then put the screws back in. It felt strong at the time for one of the screws the other was still not tightening up properly.

I got a feeling there will be more hinges these gits got wrong!

Today the hinge still feels a bit loose I think it will eventually come out like it did this week.

Also this is the end cupboard at the top of the kitchen and there is nothing to the right hand side of it except a window so putting a bit of wood there to screw into will not look very pretty at all.


Any suggestions on what I can do for a more longer term fix?
 
Soldato
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You could try making a wooden plug to hammer/glue into the holes then drill a small pilot hole in it and try re-screwing the hinges on. Wood filler in a hole that size won't be any good to try and get a mechanical fix into as it will just crumble.
 
Soldato
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what do u mean by wooden plug? is it like cutting a bit of wood for that hole, ramming them in and then screwing into the wood?

how will I cut a round with of wood like that though
 
Soldato
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just a thought , would those two screws come out
I wonder if I can get bigger screws here.

Those screws should come out, allowing you to open up the slots they go through with a file so you can use much larger diameter screws.

Have done this to repair a number of bodged IKEA and MFI cupboard doors over the years.
 
Soldato
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what do u mean by wooden plug? is it like cutting a bit of wood for that hole, ramming them in and then screwing into the wood?

how will I cut a round with of wood like that though

The little wooden dowels used in flat pack furniture to hold sections of MDF together. Any decent DIY store should stock packets to them in various sizes. Buy some that are a slightly bigger diameter than the holes and cut them to the right length.

Dip them in wood glue and whack them in with a hammer. Wait 24 hours, drill small pilot holes and attach the hinges using the original screws.
 
Soldato
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I've always used matchsticks for little fixes like this. Bit of wood glue in the hole, chop the heads off the matches and then evenly jam a few in. Let dry and then trim the extra length off and you should be able to screw in with no issues.
 
Soldato
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thanks do u think this is a common issue? and the fault of the installer?

I'm dissapointed with the people who installed the kitchen hardly been 2 years and some of the hinges are doing this already!
 

Pho

Pho

Soldato
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I've always used matchsticks for little fixes like this. Bit of wood glue in the hole, chop the heads off the matches and then evenly jam a few in. Let dry and then trim the extra length off and you should be able to screw in with no issues.

This. I even used matchsticks in my front door when the hinges went a bit wobbly. It just gives the screw a bit more meat to bite into.
 
Soldato
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It looks to me like the holes are predrilled into the carcasses and designed for hinges with larger screws. The screws on those hinges are quite a bit smaller than the ones I've mainly used.

The easiest fix I've found (and suprisingly strong) is to simply fit a suitably sized rawlplug into the hole cut to length then screw into it. Suprisingly strong.

The best solution is (as previously discussed) insert a glued wooden plug.
 
Soldato
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Soldato
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I've always used matchsticks for little fixes like this. Bit of wood glue in the hole, chop the heads off the matches and then evenly jam a few in. Let dry and then trim the extra length off and you should be able to screw in with no issues.

This 100%, done it many times and it's always worked a treat, a box of matches is about 20p and there's enough in there to last an age.
 
Soldato
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I will see if my local hardware shop has dowels but I only need 2... maybe I will need more later on

never thought about matchsticks though lol wow
 
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