A common problem in the home is having to occasionally adjust each closet door. This is especially necessary when the doors become misaligned over time and through heavy use. For many people with no prior technical knowledge, this can seem like a challenging household chore. However, there are some simple steps you can follow to realign cabinet doors by adjusting the hinges. Most cabinets have similar hinges that are easy to handle. So, whether it’s kitchen cabinets, bathroom furniture or storage cabinets, the tips listed here can help you with that. Just keep reading to learn more about it.
Why should you hire a closet door?
Daily use over time can loosen and misalign cabinet doors. In addition, the repeated opening and closing of kitchen furniture, for example, constantly causes slight movements in the door hinges or loosens the screws. This can cause a noticeable difference in the visual congruence of your cabinet doors or when using the cabinets. Another factor in such problems can be drastic changes in humidity or temperature. This will also allow you to notice changes in the orientation of your cabinet doors. In such cases, routine seasonal adjustments that prevent such natural temperature-related door movements would be recommended.
In addition, poorly aligned cabinet doors can begin to rub against each other or against the cabinet body. This can also lead to functional problems when using the cabinets and can chip or scratch the surfaces. Therefore, it is important to learn how to adjust a closet door without having to call a professional every time. However, adjusting the door hinges is one of the easiest repairs you can make to your kitchen, living room or bathroom. Even homeowners who cringe at the sight of a screwdriver and hammer can quickly take care of this frustrating everyday problem.
What you should know before you get the job done
Before you start the adjustment, you should check the type of your hinges. In most modern cabinets, the door hinges are adjustable, with three directional settings: up and down, side to side and in and out, or in depth. In addition, these also have mechanisms for lateral and depth adjustment. However, some of these you will need to move up and down with the screws that attach the hinges to the cabinet when you adjust your cabinet door. Others have a mechanism for this as well, and you don’t have to loosen the mounting screws.
In the past, this type of setting was only found on contemporary or modern style frameless cabinets. Today, almost all cabinets have adjustable hinges. If each of your door hinges has two or more screws in addition to the mounting screws, you are talking about fully adjustable door hinges. The adjustment also does not require any particularly special tools. All you need is a regular Phillips screwdriver, most commonly with a #2 screw tip, but there are different sizes. However, do not use a drill with a screwdriver, as the power of the drill can easily snap off screw heads or strip the material.
Follow simple steps and adjust your closet door
First you should tighten loose mounting screws. To do this, you can open the cabinet door and look at the part of the hinge that attaches to the side of the cabinet. The two screws located at the top and bottom of the hinge attach the hinge to the cabinet. Make sure the cabinet door is screwed tight by turning these screws clockwise. It often happens that the cabinet doors are loose rather than misaligned, which can quickly solve the problem. However, if this is not the case, you can proceed to the next step.
First, you can try adjusting the door up or down. If it’s still hanging too high or too low, you can look for screws on the door hinge to adjust the cabinet door by moving it up and down. You can recognize these by the two oval holes on the door hinge. They allow some play between the hinge and the screws. In this case you can follow the next steps:
- First you should only slightly loosen the two fastening screws on both hinges. Turning the screw counterclockwise a quarter turn should suffice. This loosens the screws enough to allow you to move the door. In addition, it is advisable to keep the screws on the door too tight than too loose.
- You can then carefully close the cabinet door.
- First, you should be able to adjust the cabinet door to the desired height when it is in the closed position.
- Then try to open the door again, being careful not to knock it out of position.
- Now tighten the screws again by hand.
- Finally, check the closet door for its position by closing it again.
So you can adjust a cupboard door to the right or left
If your cabinet doors are out of balance, you need to center them by moving them left and right. For this you can use the lateral adjustment to properly align the doors. The horizontal adjustment screw is usually closest to the front of the case.
- So you can first turn the depth adjustment screw to move the door in and out in relation to the cabinet box.
- However, a wooden door can easily detach from the box when there are seasonal fluctuations in humidity. As a result, it doesn’t hit the closet flush when you close it.
- If the cabinet door does not meet the box at the top, you can align the top hinge towards the cabinet. Adjust the bottom hinge away from the cabinet and if the door has a gap at the bottom you can do the reverse.
- Finally, make sure the door moves properly by closing it after each small adjustment. This will also help you determine if further adjustments are needed. This testing phase usually requires fine tuning.
Turning the screw clockwise should move the door closer to the center of the cabinet. Turning the screw counterclockwise should move it farther from center. You can adjust both the top and bottom hinges on the cabinet door by trying sideways movements. Move both if you need to adjust both sides. If only the top or bottom needs a shift to one side, you can treat only the appropriate hinge. In addition, you should remember that such adjustments do not have to be too drastic. Don’t over-tighten the screw to see a significant difference. When readjusting, always make sure to close the door and check the alignment.
More tips on customizing closet doors
If your cabinets have old and patched cabinet hinges, you have very few adjustment options. This is the case with most surface mount hinges that mount to the front of the cabinet rather than to the inside edge of the cabinet front frame or the inside of the cabinet body. There are also hinges at the base that have up and down adjustment. In such cases, the only way to adjust them is through oblong screw holes for the mounting screws. Otherwise, non-adjustable hinges can be moved to reposition the doors, leaving a mark at the hinge’s old location. However, since the hinge is on the inside of the door, this is not as noticeable.
If there is a gap along the edge of the door, this reveal is normal. Typically, when checking a door for proper alignment, you should also check the seams, as they form the dark, noticeable lines between cabinet panels. The width of the reveal is your choice but is usually limited by the capacity of the hinge. It could also be that a whole group of closet doors doesn’t look right together. When setting up multiple closet doors, your goal should be to make them look right as a whole. However, this does not necessarily require the doors to be perfectly vertical, level or otherwise returned to a factory position. In this way, you can make all cabinet doors look good with each other as well as with the surrounding cabinet elements, such as cabinet edges and drawer fronts. Also, use a spirit level to draw temporary vertical or horizontal lines that run across multiple closet doors at once.