How To Fix Gap Between Cabinet Doors?

Having a gap between cabinet doors is awful. It isn’t very pleasant when someone makes a comment on it. A beautiful kitchen can lose its beauty because of a tiny gap between cabinet doors. But fixing this gap is not a complex task. With the help of proper guidance, anybody can fix this issue.

Today we will be providing an easy and efficient guide on how to fix gap between cabinet doors. Kindly read the whole article to do DIY to fix gaps between cabinet doors.

Why Is There A Gap In The Cabinet Doors?

There should be a little gap between your cabinet doors; that is normal. The standard gap would be ⅛ inches. The purpose of this standard gap is so that you can close and open doors without friction or jamming them together.

 How would you feel if your cabinet doors clashed with each other every time you tried to open or close them? To avoid this clash and give a smooth functionality, it is recommended to put the standard gap in the cabinet doors.

But if the gap is more than the standard gap, then that is a problem. The extra gap would look bad and take away the beauty of a kitchen.

What do you do with gaps between cabinets? Well, if you have extra gaps between cabinets, you have to fix them. Fixing gaps between cabinets is no big deal; you can do it yourself.

How To Fix Gap Between Cabinet Doors?

Are you stressed about how do you fix cabinet doors? There are many ways you can fix gaps between cabinet doors. We elaborated on them below:

1. Tighten Mounting Screws

If the mounting screw gets loose, it may lead to a gap between cabinet doors. So the first thing you need to do is open your cabinet door & take a look at the hinge section, which is attached to your cabinet box. There should be two screws on the bottom and top section of your hinge.

Use a screwdriver to twist the screws to tighten them. You can use a Phillips screwdriver  which is highly recommended for this job. After tightening, even the smallest gap between cabinet doors should be fixed, and the door should be secured. If you still see the gap, then apply the next solution.

2. Adjust Upward and Downward

If tightening mounting screws didn’t solve the issue, then the adjustment of the door may be too low or too high, causing the problem. Now you need to locate the screw that adjusts the door height.

There are many types of hinges, so there is a possibility your hinge may not have an adjustment screw. In case your hinge doesn’t have any separate adjustment screw, then loosen the mounting screw of your hinge.

After loosening the screw now, you can make the door lower or higher to the appropriate height and after putting it to the appropriate height, simply tighten both screws.

Here is a cabinet hinge adjustment diagram to help you out.

3. Adjust The Door Left or Right

This is the most common issue we have seen in the gap between cabinet doors problem. Every hinge or quality hinge should have a side-to-side adjustment system in it.

The hinge should have a mount cover; simply remove it using your fingernail. And you will see there could be two to three screws there. Use a screwdriver to adjust the screw that is near the center; that’s the side-to-side adjustment screw.

Shut the door and open it to see if the gap is getting smaller or not and how much more adjustment you need to do. After finishing the adjustment, put the mounting cover back on.

Usually, there are two hinges on cabinet doors. Depending on how much adjustment the door needs, you may need to work on both or one hinge.

4. Adjust The Door Out or In

Over time wooden doors can get warp. Kitchen heat and seasonal humidity may cause the cabinet door to disrupt its natural way of coming out or going in. If that happens, cabinet doors won’t be meeting each other in the middle as they suppose to, which may create a gap issue between doors. 

It can also cause the door not to close and bounce back when you try to force close it.

To fix it, you need to adjust the top hinge closer to the cabinet if the gap is on the top side or you may move the bottom hinge away from the cabinet. 

And if the gap is on the bottom side, then make the reverse adjustment.

This way, you can adjust cabinet doors that won’t close.

5. Gap Filler

There is kitchen cabinet door gap filler that you can use to fill gaps. You can also use plywood as a cabinet fillet too.

How do I know if my cabinets Gap are sealed?

After fixing the gap problem, how would you know if it is actually fixed or not? After every small adjustment, open and close the cabinet door several times to be sure how much more adjustment is needed. Don’t forget to keep a standard gap between double cabinet doors for functional reasons.

When you are satisfied with the gap, take a step back and look at the closed cabinet doors again. From a little distance, you should be able to tell if there is an unnecessary gap between the cabinet doors or not.

Conclusion

We hope this “how to fix gap between cabinet doors” guide has given you every necessary information to fix your cabinet door gap yourself. It is not a complex problem, so be confident and get started.

Remember, another reason for the gap between cabinet doors is the wrong size of doors. You can not fix the wrong size door by adjusting the hinges. There is no other way than to replace the doors to get the correct size. To avoid the issue, measure the door properly before cutting or buying them.