Cabinet repair: what to know

What the job involves, what changes the price, and what to ask a pro.

What cabinet repair is

Cabinet repair fixes loose doors, broken hinges, sagging shelves, worn drawer slides and chipped faces in kitchen or bathroom cabinets. A pro restores alignment and smooth operation, and replaces the parts that have failed. People call when doors will not close flush, drawers stick or fall off their tracks, or a shelf bows under weight.

Signs you need it

  • A cabinet door hangs crooked, will not close flush, or rubs against the next door
  • A hinge is loose, cracked, or has pulled out of the cabinet side
  • A drawer sticks, sags, or comes off its slides when you open it
  • A shelf bows in the middle or has pulled away from its pin or track
  • The door face is chipped, peeling or split at the corner or along the edge
  • A soft-close mechanism is slow, loud or no longer engages

What the pro does

  • Check each door, drawer and hinge for alignment, play and wear
  • Tighten or replace hinges, and reset the hinge cups in the door where they have loosened
  • Replace worn drawer slides, runners or glides, and check that the drawer runs square
  • Replace or reinforce sagging shelves, shelf pins or the shelf supports
  • Repair or replace damaged door faces, edge banding or veneer where the damage is limited
  • Adjust each door and drawer until the gaps are even, then test every soft-close action

What changes the price

Every job is different, so we do not publish prices. These are the things that move the quote up or down.

  • Number of doors and drawers that need work
  • Type of hinge or slide, such as concealed, soft-close or full-extension
  • Whether a door face must be replaced, or only repaired
  • Cabinet material, such as solid wood, plywood or particleboard, which affects how screws hold
  • Whether a shelf support or cabinet side must be rebuilt
  • Whether the work is in the kitchen, the bath or both, and the access

What a written quote should spell out

  • Each door, drawer and shelf, with the repair listed for each one
  • Hinge and slide types, and whether they are replaced or adjusted
  • Door face or edge repair materials, and the match for finish and color
  • Whether any cabinet side or support must be rebuilt
  • Warranty on the repair, in writing

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Can you match the hinges and slides already in my cabinets?
  • Will you tighten or replace the hinges, and which one do you recommend?
  • Do you match the finish on repaired door faces?
  • Will you check the drawer runners for square before you leave?
  • Do you reinforce the sagging shelves or only replace them?
  • Will you adjust every door so the gaps are even?
  • Does the warranty cover the hinges and slides you install?

Red flags

  • Hinge screws tightened into stripped holes instead of being reset or plugged
  • Drawer slides installed out of square, which makes the drawer bind
  • A repaired face that does not match the color or the finish of the rest
  • Sagging shelves left unsupported after a repair
  • A quote that does not name the hinge or slide types

What you can do yourself

You can tighten loose screws, replace a shelf pin, adjust the hinge screws that the hinge allows to move, and clean and lubricate drawer runners. Remove the drawer before you work on its slide. Do not cut into the cabinet sides, change the plumbing under a sink, or remove a base cabinet; call a pro for stripped hinge cups, drawer slides that need replacing, or structural shelf or side repair.

Licenses and permits

Cabinet repair is generally not a licensed trade, but some areas require a contractor registration for paid work. Plumbing or electrical work near the cabinets can need a licensed trade, so check with your state or local licensing agency.

Cabinet repair questions

Why does my cabinet door sag?

A sagging door usually has a loose or worn hinge, a screw that has stripped out of the cabinet side, or a door that is too heavy for its hinges. A pro checks the hinge and the cabinet side first.

Can a cabinet be fixed instead of replaced?

Usually, yes. Hinges, slides, shelves and door faces can be repaired or replaced without replacing the whole cabinet. The cabinet box matters most, and the pro checks it first.

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About this guide

This national guide is written and checked by infinibell. Rules and conditions differ by place, so local pros are credited on guides for the cities they serve, not on national ones.

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