Fix the cabinets or ???

[athena1277]

We bought our house about 3 years ago and it’s about 30 years old.  The previous owners had put in beautiful granite countertops in the kitchen, but I’m almost positive they did it over the original cabinets.  Over time many of the screws for the cabinet doors have come out.  The wood is basically stripped, so we can’t put the screws back in.  It’s getting to a point where something has to be done.  We can’t afford to do a remodel to put in new, better cabinets.  The screws are on the outside of the cabinets, so if I get them repaired, it has to be done well, or it will show.  Would it even last long? I don’t know if we should try to do it ourselves, hire someone (no idea how much it would cost), or what.  I really don’t want open cabinets or curtains (at least on the top cabinets).  Thoughts? Ideas?

[athena1277]

11 minutes ago, parent said:

Are the screws on the hinges?  Can you get slightly larger screws that will bite into wood where it was stripped?

We expanded our kitchen, and I purchased cabinet doors to match our existing cabinets.  It was pretty reasonable.  Have you priced out that refacing option?

I think visible screws would be much better than curtains.

The screws are on the hinges.  I’m not sure a different screw would work, because the screw would show and they can only go so far into the cabinet before there’s a hole all the way through.

[Carol in Cal.]

I think curtains look really, really dated.  Open cabinets are much more common now, but I wouldn’t want them either.  (Hello, what IS the point???  Everything gets dusty and every pile has to be Just So.). Well, maybe on the top ones, but definitely not on the bottom.

I agree that you could probably use larger screws.  Also (you probably know this already) screws don’t have to be shiny and noticeable.  I’d suggest getting ones that match your finish or are just slightly darker.  Then they won’t show very much.  You might look at getting all new hinges and put in something somewhat decorative for an instant and inexpensive update, rather than just screws.  Also, if you don’t have cabinet knobs, consider getting those at the same time.  That way you won’t wear out the cabinet finish by touching it all the time.  I wish I had done that when we moved into our present home.

[Sherry in OH]

The quickest and least expensive fix would be to insert wooden toothpicks into the screw holes.  Cut the tops  even with the door or cabinet frame and then reinsert the screws.  The success of this method depends on the extent of the damage, but it is worth trying on a door or two.   If toothpicks do not work, a slightly more involved by still relatively easy and inexpensive DYI fix  is to fill the holes with wood putty.  Allow the putty to dry completely before reinserting the screws.     

If the cabinets themselves are in good shape, consider having them refaced.  Refacing cabinets is less expensive than new cabinets.  Depending on your style and color preferences, you might only need new doors (as opposed to doors and veneers).   

[Miss Tick]

We have filled the hole with wood glue and then put the toothpicks in. Once it has totally dried you can reinsert the screw. The ear and cheapness offsets the less-than-100% success rate.

[sweet2ndchance]

3 minutes ago, Sherry in OH said:

If toothpicks do not work, a slightly more involved by still relatively easy and inexpensive DYI fix  is to fill the holes with wood putty.  Allow the putty to dry completely before reinserting the screws.  

I was going to suggest the bolded. My husband and I do a lot of woodworking projects and we like the brand called Plastic Wood. You can find it at Walmart, Home Depot or Lowes. Other places probably have it too but those are the places that I have gotten it from. Over fill the screw holes slightly and let it dry completely (24 hours should do it but 48 if you want to be absolutely sure). Rather than sand it down (and possibly scratch the surface around the hole), rub the excess filler away with a wrung out rag or wash cloth until it is flush with the surface. Let it dry again (an hour or so should do it this time if it was completely dry before you rubbed it down flush) and then predrill your holes with a bit slightly smaller than the diameter of your screws. Then screw then hinges on. It sounds like a lot of work but it is a lot of waiting for it to dry more than anything. I've fixed quite a few stripped screw holes this way. You can also do a combination of the toothpicks and the wood filler. Fill the holes with toothpicks and then fill the remaining gaps with woodfiller. You will need to sand instead of just rubbing away the excess filler (more mess and possibility of scratching the cabinet face) but especially larger holes to better with wood and filler rather than just wood alone.

Both techniques work as long as you use a good quality filler (NOT Elmer's!!!) and you aren't overly rough on the doors (no little kids who are still learning that cabinet doors are not climbing equipment), it works fine and holds for a reasonably long time. If you want even more strength, get longer screws and a fresh piece of wood on the inside of the cabinet for the longer screw to bite into. These are all just temporary fixes though. You will need to eventually replace the cabinet faces or the entire cabinet.

[plansrme]

Depending on the size of the hole, you may want to try match sticks or wooden skewers instead of toothpicks.  I've used match sticks on closet door hinges with great success.

If your cabinets are MDF rather than real wood, it is going to be harder to fix striped screw holes.  But please, whatever you do, don't decide that taking the doors off and painting the interiors of the boxes is the same as open shelving!  That looks like you took the doors off and tried to pass it off as open shelving, ya' know?  I would not hesitate to remove at least some of my uppers and replace them with open shelving, but I  am a minimalist and mostly have presentable things in my uppers.  That also would require a good bit of wall repair--cabinets require a LOT of screws.

[KungFuPanda]

Can you look at a larger hinge that would both cover the old holes and drill into the wood in a different place?

Or wood filler and new screws in the current hinges?

[Pen]

We have used toothpicks. 

[Shoeless]

We've done the toothpick trick, but with wood dowels. Worked fine!