How to Adjust Kitchen Cupboard Door Hinges - InfoBarrel

Kitchen doors tend to have a habit of moving around. When the cupboards are first installed they look great but after time and a lot of use kitchen doors can slump, the gaps between the doors become uneven and sometimes they move so much they don't work as they should.

The good news is that it will only take you 5 minutes to fix your kitchen doors up so they look straight, and they don't rub on each other. You will also be able to use some basic tools from around the home.

There is no need to remove the kitchen door from the cabinet, leave it on and open it up. On opening the door you can see the hinges. (FYI these types of hinges are known as concealed hinges because you can't see them from the outside).

The hinge sits on a hinge plate which screws to the cabinet. The hinge holds the door by pressing into a hole drilled by the manufacturer in the door. Some hinges then screw into the door to hold the hinge in place, the hinge in the picture just presses into place.

On the hinges there is adjustment or setting screws which will adjust the door different ways. There are 3 ways you can adjust the doors.

1. This adjustment moves the door left and right. These settings are quite sensitive so you might want to start with a half turn of your screwdriver, close the door and see what it looks like.

2. This adjustment moves the door out and in. My hinges are newish, the old ones have a screw which you undo, move the hinge where you want it and do it up. The new ones you just turn the adjustment (with your screwdriver) either way, until the door sits where you want it.

Adjusting the in and out of the door is for making both the top and bottom of the door close on the cupboard. If only the top or the bottom closes on the cupboard the door is known as 'hinge bound' and needs re adjusting. This setting can also be used to make sure doors line up when you look at them in a line.

3. This is the up and down adjustment of the door. It isn't as scientific as the other adjustments, as you undo the two screws just enough so they aren't touching the hinge plate. This adjustment works better when you adjust all the hinges on that particular door at the same time. If you can move the door into place with your hands, otherwise put the flathead screwdriver on the side of the hinge (which ever way you want to move it) and then hit it with the hammer.

It does take a bit of fiddling, the best way is to go a little at a time. If you go too hard on one adjustment then it will harder bringing it back.

Perfection when adjusting doors is impossible, because in building nothing is really 'straight'. So do the best you can.

When you're doing one door in a bank of doors it helps to start in the middle and work your way out, looking at the bank as you go to make sure it looks correct.