Fixing a wood drawer


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Old 10-13-16, 11:42 AM
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Fixing a wood drawer

Hi, I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. The top piece of one of the drawers in my bathroom cabinet has fallen off, it appears that it just was pulled away from the two screws holding it on over time. The piece I am talking about is the one which faces out and has the handle on it. The drawer itself, the part that slides into the cabinet is also wood, so I assume I could simply drill a hole an inch away from the original hole and screw it back on, but I'd rather avoid that if I could. Is there any way to get this piece back on using the holes that already there or are the holes where it will screw into already too damaged? I want it to be on sturdy this time, so if I need to add additional wood glue or something I can do that. Is there something I can fill the holes with that would dry strong enough to be screwed into again? I attached images if they would help. Thanks so much for the help.
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Old 10-13-16, 12:44 PM
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To use the same holes you would need to Glue wood into the holes. 1 easy way to do it is to drill a small hole so that you can insert a golf tee along with some wood glue. When the glue is dry cut the golf tee off then you are ready to screw the drawer front back on.
 
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Old 10-14-16, 07:26 AM
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Thanks for the reply. Will that be pretty secure once it's screwed in? I ask because this style of drawers/cabinets don't have any handles on them so to open them you need to pull them open from the top edge. You don't need to apply a lot of pressure to open them obviously, but when they're full of stuff there's more torque being applied to the screws from pulling them from the top vs the center. I know I could add handles but my wife won't go for that solution.
 
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Old 10-14-16, 09:41 AM
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Be careful not to drill all the way though the drawer front if you follow xsleeper's directions (which are a very good approach). I am not sure why you don't want to drill a new hole if you are considering drilling out the existing hole to put in a wood patch. It seems to me that the screws are from the inside of the drawer pointing out and screw into the drawer face. You could drill new holes and even double the number of screws you use and no one would ever see it or care. If you do drill new holes for screws, consider drilling a larger hole in the drawer box so that the screw goes through it easily and then just a small pilot hole (in width) in the drawer face so you don't split the wood with the new screw. Again remember not to drill deep enough that it goes through the drawer face. I am guessing you probably only have about 5/8" thickness of wood in the drawer face so your pilot hole will and screw depth will be less than 1/2". If you really want to be secure you could add glue between the drawer box and the face but then you have a problem if you ever need to replace the box or the face.

- Peter
 
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Old 10-14-16, 12:37 PM
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The way I do it is to put wooden matches in hole dipped in wood glue. Stuff as many matches as you can get and tap the last one in. No drilling hole to fit anything and once glue dries never come out. Matches are soft so new screw will just screw in without a pilot hole. As for strength I have repaired door frame holes and have held up for many years.
 
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Old 10-17-16, 06:59 AM
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Thanks for the replies. The only reason I don't want to drill new home is because I'm afraid I'll drill too far or split the wood. If I use the existing holes I'm less concerned about that since they're already there. I think I'll try the wooden matches approach and if it comes loose again I'll drill new holes as recommended and add an additional screw to be safe.

Is all wood glue the same or do I need a particular type to maximum the hold?
 
 

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