Over time, kitchen cabinet screws and hinges can sometimes become loose from everyday use and may need to be adjusted to ensure peak performance. Here are some tips about how to adjust and realign your cabinets to make them easier to open and close, and to maintain a streamlined, sleek look.
Follow the tips below to adjust your kitchen cabinet hinges like a pro!
What You’ll Need
Adjusting your kitchen pantry cabinets doesn’t require any fancy equipment. All you’ll need to get the job done are some screws and a screwdriver.
How to Level Cabinet Doors
Ensuring your cabinet doors are level is important for a neat, uniform look across your kitchen. Cabinet doors can sometimes become uneven due to normal wear and tear, but these simple tips will have them fixed in no time:
- Open the cabinet door and locate the hinges.
- On each hinge, identify the vertical adjustment screw. This is typically found on the hinge's vertical arm nearest the cabinet door.
- Use your screwdriver to rotate the vertical adjustment screw. To lower the door, rotate the screw counterclockwise. To raise the door, rotate it clockwise.
- Keep adjusting until the door reaches a level position.
- Work slowly and close the door repeatedly to check that it is in the proper position before tightening the final screws.
- Repeat the steps for the other hinges on the door, and readjust if needed.
How to Adjust Cabinet Doors Left or Right
To adjust the cabinets to the left or to the right, you must identify the side-to-side adjustment screws. These are typically located on the horizontal arm of the hinge closest to the cabinet door.
Once you’ve identified the screws, follow these steps:
- To move the door more toward the right, turn the screw clockwise with the screwdriver. To move the door towards the left, turn the screw counterclockwise.
- Repeat the steps for the second hinge on the cabinet door.
- Recheck the alignment and ensure the door is level with the cabinet box and neighboring doors.
How to Adjust Cabinet Doors Up or Down
If your cabinet doors are hanging too high or too low, you need to look for the screws on the hinges, which allow you to adjust the door’s vertical position. You can typically find these screws by the two oval holes in the cabinet hinge, which allow you to move the door up and down.
Once you’ve identified the screws, follow the steps below:
- Loosen the two mounting screws on both hinges. You can do this by turning the screws counterclockwise. Don’t loosen them completely–just a quarter turn or less will do.
- Carefully close the cabinet door.
- With the door closed, adjust the cabinet door to the desired height.
- Open the cabinet door, and tighten the screws in this position firmly.
- Close the door to check the alignment and readjust if needed.
These steps may also come in handy if you’re looking at how to extend kitchen cabinets to the ceiling.
Additional Tips
In some cases, tightening the screws will not solve the problem. If this doesn’t work for your cabinet, you can try one of two things:
- Sometimes, a longer mounting screw will solve the problem.
- If this doesn’t work, consider adding a shim behind the hinges to help keep the doors aligned.
If you notice your cabinets sagging under their weight, they are simply too heavy for the current hinges. In this case, consider replacing them with stronger hinges. You could even add an extra set of hinges to divide the weight equally and reduce the weight being supported by the old hinges.
If your cabinet door is falling off, this could be because the screws holding the mounting plate to the cabinet have become loose. In this case, you can opt for a temporary fix by filling the holes with toothpicks to give the mounting screws something new to grip to.
However, weighty cabinet doors falling off can be dangerous, so don’t leave them hanging for too long–either tighten the mounting screws or replace the hinges as soon as possible. If you can’t seem to fix the problem yourself, call 27EStore for advice or call in a professional to get the job done.
In Summary
Adjusting the position of your kitchen cabinets is not difficult with the right tools and a little forethought and planning! Doing it yourself will also save some money when it comes to the cost to repair kitchen cabinets.
