Kitchen · DIY guide
How to adjust cabinet hinges and drawer runners
Uneven door gaps make an otherwise decent kitchen look tired, and almost every European hinge has three adjustment screws that nobody ever touches. This is the highest-impact zero-cost job in the house.
Legal to DIY in Victoria
What you need
- Phillips screwdriver
- A straight edge or your eye
- Ten minutes
Step by step
Understand the three screws
On a standard European hinge: the screw nearest the door moves it side to side, the middle one moves it in and out from the carcass, and the mounting plate screws move it up and down. Change one thing at a time.
Fix side-to-side gaps first
Close the doors and look along the whole run. Adjust the side screw a quarter turn at a time until the vertical gaps are even. On a pair of doors, get the gap between them right before worrying about the outer edges.
Then set the depth
The middle screw controls how far the door sits off the carcass. Both hinges need the same setting or the door will sit twisted.
Then height
Loosen the mounting plate screws slightly, slide the door up or down, retighten. Do this last — it undoes some of your side adjustment if you do it first.
Drawer runners
Most soft-close runners have a small lever or clip under the drawer for height and tilt, and a cam at the front for side adjustment. If a drawer will not close softly, check for something jammed at the back before adjusting anything.
Common mistakes
- Adjusting several screws at once so you cannot tell what changed
- Setting height before side and depth
- Forcing a screw that has stripped out of chipboard — it needs a longer screw or a plug
- Adjusting one door to a wonky neighbour instead of setting a datum
When to stop and call someone
If a hinge plate has pulled out of the carcass, or the cabinet itself has dropped or racked, adjusting will not hold. That is a fixings or carcass problem underneath.