Metal Kitchen Drawer Repair
Today I had a metal kitchen drawer side that had broken from someone slamming the drawer. The repair was done without purchasing new sides or replacing the mounting brackets that attach the decorative front to the actual slide out. I did however use a piece of wood to fix the face so that it would not come off again.
The way that I fixed it actually made the kitchen cabinet drawer even strong or more durable than it was before the repair.
* First I removed the decorative front from the metal sides
* Next I measured the distance, from left to right, of the inside of the drawer. I did this close to the bottom and the tape measure read twenty nine and three eights inches.
* After that the height of the metal drawer side/slide was measured. The dimension was 2-5/8 inches.
* Using my small table saw, I cut a piece of three quarters of an inch thick plywood the size of the width and height that I had just measured.
* I faced the plywood with plastic laminate and edged one long-3/4” thick edge with PVC tape. This makes the drawer repair look professional. Usually kitchens that have these steal type sides on the drawers are high-in and deserve the extra attention to details.
* Next, I drilled three sixteenths inch wide holes in the drawer bottom three eights of an inch from the front edge.
* I then attached the board flush with the bottom of the drawer’s front edge using one and an eight inch long screws.
* Using a drill bit made for drilling steal, I drilled one 3/16” hole in each metal drawer slide about three eights of an inch back from the front edge.
* I then fastened the plywood through the metal drawer slides using ¾” long screws.
*Finally, I attached the decorative drawer face onto the plywood with 1-1/4” long screws.
This method of repairing a kitchen or bathroom vanity drawer that has metal sides works really well. If the person slammed the kitchen drawer so hard that it damaged the holes in the metal sides, this is a good way to fix the damage without replacing the drawer side.