How do I refix a kitchen drawer front that has come loose?

A drawer front is a decorative panel, not part of the drawer. The box does the work and the front is hung on it, which is why loosening is normal wear rather than a defect — every time you pull a loaded drawer by its handle, the whole force travels through two or four small fixings into the back of that panel.

What you'll need

• Screwdriver
• 2mm packers, or coins of even thickness
• Two-part wood filler or hardwood dowel, if holes have torn out (optional)
• Bradawl (optional)

Step by step

1. Take the drawer out and turn it round.Everything happens from inside the box, and you want it on a bench or the floor with the front supported. Empty it first.
2. Identify how the front is fixed.Three systems. Screws straight through the drawer box front into the back of the door panel. Adjustable plastic front fixings, cammed for height and side to side. Or, on undermount systems, the front clips onto the runner's own front-fixing brackets with their own adjusters.
3. Find where it has actually failed.Screws pulled out of the back of the front panel is the usual case. Less often the fixing block has broken, or the screws have come out of the drawer box side. Look before ordering parts.
4. Repair torn-out holes in the front panel properly.Two-part wood filler packed in, cured hard, sanded flush and re-drilled — or a glued hardwood dowel if the void is large. Driving a longer screw into a torn hole in a 16mm MDF panel comes through the face.
5. Check the screw length before refitting.The screw goes through the drawer box front, which is typically 12 to 16mm, and into the door panel, which is 16 to 22mm. It must not reach the visible face. Measure both and choose a screw that leaves at least 4mm to spare.
6. Refit the front loosely, with everything just nipped up.Enough friction to hold its position, loose enough to be tapped about. This is the setting stage and it is far easier with the drawer in the cabinet.
7. Set the gaps with packers, not by eye.Put the drawer back in the cabinet, slip 2mm packers or coins into the gaps around the front against the neighbouring fronts, then tighten. Packers hold the gap while you tighten, which is far more accurate than judging by hand.
8. Use the adjusters if you have them.Plastic front fixings and undermount front brackets carry cams for height and side-to-side. Set the drawer front against its neighbours with those rather than by slackening and re-tightening screws.
9. Check the whole run from a few metres back.Kitchen drawer fronts are read as a set, not individually. Stand back, look at the horizontal lines across the whole run, and adjust to those rather than to each opening.

Tips

• If a front has come loose more than once, the handle is doing work the drawer front was not designed for. Two extra fixings spread across the panel, or a longer handle with wider centres, both help.
• Double-check the handle screws while you are there. A loose handle and a loose front feel identical from outside the cabinet.
• Where a front fixes with screws alone and keeps failing, adjustable plastic front fixings are a cheap upgrade and give you the adjustment as a bonus.

Common mistakes

• Driving a longer screw into a torn-out hole — The front panel is only 16 to 22mm thick and a longer screw comes through the visible face. That damage cannot be repaired invisibly on a painted or foil-wrapped door.
• Setting the gaps by eye with the drawer out of the cabinet — The gap only exists in relation to the fronts either side. Set it in place, against its neighbours, with packers.
• Tightening everything before setting the position — You then have to slacken and re-tighten repeatedly, and each cycle wears the holes. Nip up, set, then tighten once.

If it doesn't work

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