Readjust Kitchen Cabinet Concealed Hinges - 3

This is the continuation of the previous post on using wood epoxy as a wood filler.

After preparing the wood epoxy and filling it into the screw holes, you have to work fast enough to ensure that the screws are in place BEFORE the epoxy completely hardens. Otherwise, the epoxy becomes hard and doesn't bond the screw with the wood. Read the curing times of the epoxy and be aware of them as you work.

• Prepare the new set of screws. The new screws should be a bit longer than the old ones. The new screws are 3/4" long (shown below, left) while the old screws are 1/2" long (shown below, right). The new screw length is about right because the kitchen cabinet wall is 3/4" plywood. Any screw that is longer may protrude to the other side.
  
  
  
• With the epoxy still damp, position the kitchen cabinet door. Get an assistant to lift and hold the door while you position the concealed hinge to the readjusted position. For a sagging kitchen cabinet door, that means raising the hinge a bit to the original correct position. You'll notice that when you correctly position the concealed hinge, the gap between door and cabinet is straight and uniform again.
  
  Although the screw holes have been covered with epoxy, the new screw will still find its way in. Because the screw is longer, you'll find new wood to drive the screw in. Be sure not to overtorque as this will damage the threading and weaken the screw grip.
  
  
• Drive the topmost screw into the old screw hole. Drive only two screws first - the top one of the top concealed hinge and the other is the top screw of the bottom hinge. While carefully holding the door, close and reopen the cabinet door ensuring it is aligned correctly and the door edge (hinge side) does not bind and has a good fit.
  
  
  
• Find some items to support and position the door without having anyone hold it. I used a small box and a flat screwdriver (green) to wedge the bottom of the kitchen cabinet door as shown below.
  
  
  
• With the Phillips-type screwdriver, drive the rest of the screws in. Keep the kitchen cabinet door secured and supported by the wedge until the epoxy completely cures and hardens. This could be up to 24 hours, so again, be sure to read the label on the wood epoxy.

Here's how one of the concealed hinges has been readjusted. From the heavily scratched paint, you'll notice the old position of the hinge as it was dislodge from its correct position. The concealed hinge is now readjusted to its original and correct position as shown below.


With the concealed hinges now correctly in place, you'll see how the door now correctly lines up. You'll see the uniform gap on both sided edges of the kitchen cabinet door from top to bottom.


By being familiar with kitchen cabinet hardware and how they work, you'll easily solve problems like these without having to spend much on handyman labor costs.