How to replace kitchen cabinet doors and handles

What you need

• New doors and drawer fronts made to your sizes
• New hinges (usually supplied bored) and handles
• Cordless drill, Phillips bits
• Tape measure and a steel rule
• Drilling jig for handles — worth every cent
• Pencil, masking tape

Step by step

1. Check the carcasses are worth keeping

   Open every door. Look at the bottom of the sink cabinet especially — swollen, soft or delaminating chipboard means water damage and the carcass should be replaced, not dressed up. Also check the boxes are square and the shelves are not sagging.

2. Measure every door individually

   Never assume they are the same. Measure each opening and each existing door to the millimetre, number them, and draw a simple map of the kitchen with the numbers on it. Note which way each door hinges.

3. Note the hinge type and bore positions

   Take a door off and photograph the hinge, including any numbers stamped on it. Measure the distance from the door edge to the centre of the 35mm cup. Getting this wrong is the single most expensive mistake in this job.

4. Fit the hinges before you hang anything

   Mount hinges onto all the new doors first, on a bench, at the same settings. Working at the bench is far faster and more accurate than at arm's length in front of a cabinet.

5. Hang, then adjust

   Clip each door on and only then adjust. European hinges adjust in three directions — side, depth and height. Work along the run getting the gaps even rather than perfecting one door at a time.

6. Drill handles with a jig

   Mark one door, check it, then use a jig for every other one. Freehand handle holes are visible from across the room and cannot be undone.

Common mistakes

• Ordering from one measurement and assuming all doors match
• Not recording hinge bore positions
• Drilling handle holes freehand
• Keeping carcasses that have water damage at the base
• Adjusting doors individually rather than aligning the whole run