Kitchen cabinet hinge troubles

[danny la rouge]

OK, so you know those concealed hinges on particle board cabinets? The top hinge on the door under our sink (ie the one that bears most weight on the door that gets most use) has come away from the particle board. The pre-drilled holes in the cabinet carcass (ie not on the door) have disintegrated and widened.

My first thought was to fill the holes with hard woodfiller and then find self tapping screws the same size as the cabinet manufacturer’s engineered little bolts.

Problem one: no such self tapping screw exists. (It needs to thread through the slightly threaded hinge plate).

So I decided to fill the hole (leaving much longer to set than suggested) then redrill them so I could reuse the bolts. This took the door weight momentarily then fell out again.

I know repair plates exist, but I tried some in my local hardware store yesterday and the threads in the holes don’t match the bolts. I suspect this is because (I think) the cabinets are Ikea (they were here when we moved in) and the threads aren’t standard.

So, I’ve searched the internet for Ikea compliant hinge repair plates. As usual the search returns never match all the requirements.

My question:

A) does anyone happen to know of an ikea compliant hinge repair plate?

Or

B) Is there any other simple repair method short of full door replacement that anyone can recommend?

 

[danny la rouge]

The culprit.

 

[keybored]

Can you drill out the threads in the hinge plate so your screws pass through? Or is there space on the hinge plate to drill a couple of new holes?

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Can you drill out the threads in the hinge plate so your screws pass through? Or is there space on the hinge plate to drill a couple of new holes?

That will hinge on whether danny has a drill.

 

[Sprocket.]

Is your cupboard connected to an adjoining unit?

 

[danny la rouge]

OK, I’ve just spoken to someone at Screw Fit and they’ve got the plates for Ikea in Rutherglen. They’re called Hafele hinge repair kits. I’ll have to go south of the River into the Bad Lands but it’s worth it!

 

[High Voltage]

Drill over sized holes (15mm or bigger IF you can find bigger dowel rod) fill with dowel, wood glued in - allow to dry over night - re-drill holes

Wood glue is far stronger than wood let alone particle board so you should be OK

 

[danny la rouge]

Is your cupboard connected to an adjoining unit?

Yes.

 

[Sprocket.]

Yes.

Are the adjoining doors hinges opposite the one needing repair?
I have made temporary repairs in the past by fitting small nuts and bolts by drilling through into the next cabinet. If you use something small like a 5mm countersunk set screw 50mm long. Drill through original hinge screw holes. Put the csk screw through f from adjoining cup bed and secure hinge with 5mm washers and 5mm nylock nuts. You will need a 5mm drill, a 8mm spanner and a screwdriver to tighten it up.
But I see you have sourced some Hafele repair plates so they should be okay.
The other alternative is to follow High Voltage, suggestion.
Good luck.

 

[StoneRoad]

Open the hole out and glue in some wood [dowels] and put the screw into the new wood.

Oh, and check that the cabinet side is not getting slightly damp, as most particle boards are not waterproof.

 

[existentialist]

Open the hole out and glue in some wood [dowels] and put the screw into the new wood.

Oh, and check that the cabinet side is not getting slightly damp, as most particle boards are not waterproof.

TBF, it doesn't look like there's any of the typical bulging and swelling you get when particleboard gets damp, so it seems more likely that someone over-opened the door and pulled the hinge out that way...

 

[danny la rouge]

TBF, it doesn't look like there's any of the typical bulging and swelling you get when particleboard gets damp, so it seems more likely that someone over-opened the door and pulled the hinge out that way...

No, there’s no damp. It’s folk leaving the door open I think.

 

[existentialist]

No, there’s no damp. It’s folk leaving the door open I think.

There's a lot of leverage on an open cupboard door, and the problem with particleboard is that, once its integrity starts to deteriorate, complete failure is a given.

 

[danny la rouge]

One of the reasons I’m happy to be going for the repair plates it that it’ll spread the weight.

 

[Epona]

I'm having the same issue with some of my ancient and creaking kitchen cabinets, 1 door is off completely and another is hanging by the bottom hinge (it's OK when closed as the adjoining door holds it in place, but I can only store stuff that I don't need to access regularly in there).

This thread has given me some ideas of how to deal with it, so thanks for the thread and replies!

 

[existentialist]

One of the reasons I’m happy to be going for the repair plates it that it’ll spread the weight.

I do have to say, though, that IKEA kitchens do use thicker board (18mm vs 14), and in my (limited) experience, the boards themselves are denser and less fragile than a lot of even quite big name kitchens.

 

[StoneRoad]

TBF, it doesn't look like there's any of the typical bulging and swelling you get when particleboard gets damp, so it seems more likely that someone over-opened the door and pulled the hinge out that way...

I agree, there isn't any swelling visible.
But now the interior of the panel is open to the air and in a kitchen, that is potentially damp[ish] atmosphere, then it needs sealing to prevent damp getting in and causing more damage.

 

[bimble]

Can you not just glue (with proper serious glue) the flat plate of the hinge to the cupboard where it’s supposed to attach?

 

[existentialist]

Can you not just glue (with proper serious glue) the flat plate of the hinge to the cupboard where it’s supposed to attach?

The trouble with that might be that you're gluing to the laminate facing, which will not be as strong a bond as having a fixing embedded into the particleboard itself, especially as the structure of that may well be somewhat compromised from the hinge being pulled out.

 

[bimble]

The trouble with that might be that you're gluing to the laminate facing, which will not be as strong a bond as having a fixing embedded into the particleboard itself, especially as the structure of that may well be somewhat compromised from the hinge being pulled out.

You’re not going to hang heavy things off the door though. I know I’m proposing a bodge but think 99% it would work perfectly well.

 

[Epona]

You’re not going to hang heavy things off the door though. I know I’m proposing a bodge but think 99% it would work perfectly well.

The doors themselves tend to be heavy though

 

[existentialist]

You’re not going to hang heavy things off the door though. I know I’m proposing a bodge but think 99% it would work perfectly well.

My experience of gluing things to laminated particleboard is that it doesn't take a huge amount of shear to cause the laminate to separate from its substrate. Yeah, it's probably an acceptable bodge, but if that fails, the fixup is going to be a LOT more complicated.

ETA: and remember, what happened to cause the hinge to pull out in the first place is still capable of happening again. And a glued-on hinge isn't going to stand a fraction of that force. I stood up once and crowned myself on a door I had stupidly left open, and which tore the bottom hinge out of the door (it also tore a fairly large chunk out of my scalp, and I spent quite a while staggering around the kitchen using vast quantities of kitchen towel to stem the bleeding while swearing fit to cause a bishop an aneurysm). Fortunately, I'd already located a couple of spare doors in the loft.

 

[existentialist]

My experience of gluing things to laminated particleboard is that it doesn't take a huge amount of shear to cause the laminate to separate from its substrate. Yeah, it's probably an acceptable bodge, but if that fails, the fixup is going to be a LOT more complicated.

ETA: and remember, what happened to cause the hinge to pull out in the first place is still capable of happening again. And a glued-on hinge isn't going to stand a fraction of that force. I stood up once and crowned myself on a door I had stupidly left open, and which tore the bottom hinge out of the door (it also tore a fairly large chunk out of my scalp, and I spent quite a while staggering around the kitchen using vast quantities of kitchen towel to stem the bleeding while swearing fit to cause a bishop an aneurysm). Fortunately, I'd already located a couple of spare doors in the loft.

WHO FUCKING LAUGHED?

 

[Sprocket.]

The door will also be much heavier if a one piece routered and wrapped door made from MDF, than say for instance a five piece two rails, two stiles and panel door.

 

[existentialist]

The door will also be much heavier if a one piece routered and wrapped door made from MDF, than say for instance a five piece two rails, two stiles and panel door.

Ah, now, that was exactly the kind of door I brained myself on. In a way, I'm quite proud that my skull was capable of inflicting quite such damage on a very solid door. Fucking bastard thing . Bitter, moi???

 

[Sprocket.]

Ah, now, that was exactly the kind of door I brained myself on. In a way, I'm quite proud that my skull was capable of inflicting quite such damage on a very solid door. Fucking bastard thing . Bitter, moi???

In my previous job before last, I worked for a company who produced over 300, 000 of these types of doors and components a week. Having to remove them to repair the machinery got very tiresome. They weigh a fair bit.

 

[Epona]

I've got a mismatched lot of cabinets in my kitchen, the wall ones and the one under the sink unit (different styles of cabinet) both have fairly light doors, but the base units given to me by my parents when the council installed a new kitchen at their place have doors that I struggle to lift, and it's those that have broken free from the cabinet.

In fairness, they must be at least 35 years old because I remember my dad installing the things in their kitchen back in the day - so they've done well, but knowing it might only cost a few quid to get the repair brackets to fix them is a bit of a relief. I certainly wouldn't glue those ones, absolutely no way, the doors are really solid and hefty.

 

[Sprocket.]

I am, slowly, currently replacing all our units and appliances in our kitchen. Although it is taking time as I’m not as mobile anymore, we have decided on only having one wall unit. We had six originally fitted, but I’ve installed a larger cooker hood and we are having open shelves on the walls. All the base units apart from two, one is the sink, are drawer units. So only three doors to fit. We have acquired a larder unit that will stand in the dining room that will accommodate more stuff.
I hate cupboard doors.
Still have, sink, hob and oven. Three units and two worktops to do. But going slowly.

 

[pinkychukkles]

This is exactly the same thing that has happened to an Ikea cupboard door in our kitchen. It was my fault, something hanging off the inside of the door got trapped when closing it and levered the top hinge out of the screw holes which are now enlarged. Said cupboard has now been an 'open' cupboard for the past 6+ months...
<subscribes to thread>

 

[Supine]

Haha, I have exactly the same problem. I fixed it by turning the door upside down and around so I could attach it to the ‘good side’. It looks shit