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Re-attaching Cabinets Pulling Away From Walls

I’ve been hired to re-attach many kitchen, bathroom, office or laundry room loose cabinets. I am a professional cupboard manufacture, installer and designer. Base, upper, pantry, office and closet cabinetry have all been repaired by my company. We’ve fixed drawers, doors, roll-outs, appliances garages, wine racks, hospital cupboards and have worked for many insurance contractors repairing water damage cupboards and fire damaged cabinets.

My specialty is fixing cupboards. This blog about Fixing Cabinets is loaded with how to articles for cabinet repair.

Tools and Materials Needed
:
Electric Drill
Assorted Length Screws
Hammer
Prop Sticks
Clamps
Extra Person
Possibly Two by Four Studs


Why did my cabinets get loose? We must understand there are two reasons that your kitchen cabinet may need to worked on because it appears to be coming off the wall. Remodeling them will be easier when you determine what’s causing the problem.

1)When the cabinetry was originally installed the installer missed the wall studs.

2)The cupboard itself is coming apart due to poor craftsmanship.

-Before attempting to repair your loose cabinets, determine what exactly what the problem is. This way you will be prepared with the right materials and tools for the job.

-If the cabinets are coming apart consider using L-brackets to hold the parts together. If you can force the loose cabinet members back into place, bond them back into the correct position by attaching the L-brackets. This usually takes two people.

-If your cupboards are pulling away from the wall you must find where the studs are located and screw them fast again. If your upper cabinets are open above (not tight to the ceiling), drill holes in the wall just over the top of the cabinet (where they cannot be seen) in search of the studs behind the drywall.

-If your cabinets are tight to the ceiling, find an installation screw that is fastened tight to the wall and then measure sixteen inches over and try to tighten the loose kitchen or office cupboard there. If this doesn’t work you may need to hire a professional cabinet maker to do the job. Any other suggestions I would make would extend beyond amateur carpentry skills into the professional cabinetry man’s skill level.

Additional Tips:
Use props when fixing loose upper cabinets.

Cabinets pulling away from the ceiling may require that you access the attack space and install studs to attach the upper cabinets to.

Some cabinets are not tight to the wall because the wall stud caused a hump I the wall. You will need to cut out the drywall or scribe the back of the cupboard.

Categories: Installation Tips
  1. Donna Smythe
    September 15th, 2016 at 05:58 | #1

    I have a large cabinet pulling away from wall, it;s floor to ceiling like a pantry. It’s about half inch from wall. What size screws would i use to screw it back into the wall. Also when drilling the hole do I use a bit the same size as the screw or a size smaller. Thankyou.

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