Cabinet Door Screws Keep Coming Loose

A quick convenient cure can be found just inside one of the cabinets.

Cabinet door screws keep coming loose.

Most hinge problems can be solved with nothing more than a screwdriver. Open the door grasp it. This happened to my back door this year and i finally decided to take an hour and fix it. Ten cent fix for a loose knob.

Remove the screws that hold the loose hinge leaf to the door jamb. Check the fit of the door after each adjustment. The small screws used to secure kitchen cabinet door hinges to the face frames of cabinets often work their way loose over time. You can see in the image below the loose screw was on my door lock striker.

How to tighten stripped hinge screws. When the door or drawer is not thick enough for the screw to tighten the knob flush against it grasping that perpetually wobbly knob each day can be an enduring pain. Using glue and shims to repair loose hinge screws. Some mounting plates adjust by turning a single screw.

If you want a quicker method that doesn t require boring out the holes try filling the stripped holes with golf tees matchsticks or toothpicks wood anchors or cyanoacrylate glue. If the loose holes are in a solid piece of wood like a door frame drill them out and fill them with wooden dowels to create a new surface for the screws to go into. I see this often on kitchen cabinet hinges and doors regular door hinges and areas that get worked or moved a lot. Open and close the door several times to make sure the screws don t work loose right away.

For example a screw installed into wood that has worn down over time and no longer maintains the opposite thread pattern from the original installation of the screw will not provide sufficient friction to keep a screw tight. If a screw is inserted into a substance that cannot provide sufficient friction it will be loose. Loose hinges can cause a door to stick bind or scrape the floor. Most knobs and pulls are attached on the backside of your cupboard doors and drawers with a standard length threaded screw.

It kept backing out on its own. If they do then the screw holes need repair. If you can t get the hinge secured back the screws all the way out take off the hinge and look at the wood beneath it. Loosen the screws at both hinges slide the door up or down and tighten the screws.

If the door is flush and parallel with other doors but too high or low use the mounting screws to raise or lower the mounting plates. Unless they re tightened immediately the screws will enlarge and strip the holes until it s impossible to tighten them. Let the door hang by itself. Lucky for you it is easy to tighten loose hinges and make your doors work like new.