If you’re trying to install a brand new handle or hinge on your cupboard door, your new installations would be positioned in a separate vicinity on the wood. As a result, the screw holes from any prior hinges and handles should be filled in. These holes will appear very grotesque and unseemly if left unplugged, yet how exactly do you move about removing these holes?
To repair screw holes in cabinets, you wish to have clear holes that you could fill with either dowel rods or wood filler. For a cleaner finish, you can paint over or stain the filled holes.
For an intensive step by step guide on the way to repair screw holes in cabinets left from handles and hinges, hold reading this article.
1. Wipe the Screw Gap Down
Before you start filling the holes, you wish to ensure that there aren’t any chipped off paint or wooden splinters near or inside the holes. Do that via following the steps below:
- Get a humid fabric and furiously wipe around and inside the hole to take away debris.
- If needed, use a knife for larger access.
- Dry with a sparkling paper towel to avoid the moisture from negatively affecting the wood’s physical properties.
- Be certain to run a vacuum over the holes to ensure that they’re clean.
2. Fill the Screw Gap With Wood Filler or Dowel Rods
Once you’ve a clean hole, it is time to fill it up. This could be executed by way of various ways, including:
- Wood filler or putty
- Dowel rods
This aid will tricky on how to use these methods to fill your screw hole.
Using Wooden Filler
You can use this Minwax Stainable Wooden Filler to fill your hole. It comes with a hardener that you wish to feature in your filler to help it dry fast. A well rule of thumb is to use a golf-ball-sized filler to an inch of hardener.
- Mix the two parts utilizing a putty knife.
- Apply the combination liberally within the hole and across the area.
- Wait for the filler to dry.
When utilizing this wood filler, make sure to have all of your materials organized because it dries very quickly.
Using Dowel Rods
In this method, the dowel rod is intended to be placed within the hole to fill it up. A dowel rod is a cylindrical piece of wooden commonly used as structural reinforcement in various furniture-related applications.
However, you would like to measure the hole’s diameter first that you can purchase the right size to fill your hole. This could be performed by:
Using a Small Ruler
You can use a ruler that measures millimeters or inches and line it up with the hole to know the diameter. In case you don’t have a ruler that measures accurately, you may buy this Adoric Electronic Caliper.
Measuring the Screw Used to Fill the Hole
If you continue to have the screws used to fill the hole, use a ruler or measuring tape to find the length and diameter. You may comply with this guide with the aid of Fastener Superstore to find out how to degree the screw.
Once you know the dowel rod’s diameter that you have to buy, absolutely head down for your regional hardware store to purchase it. You could also get it by way of on-line merchants like Amazon – absolutely kind within the inches which you want.
For example, if I’ve a ⅜ inch screw gap diameter, I’m able to find products like this Craftparts Direct Bag of ⅜ Wooden Dowel Rods to fill my hole.
Now which you ultimately have your dowel rod, you would like to fill the hole. Here’s how to do so:
- Insert your rod into the hole.
- Make a mark in which the rod should be cut.
- Take the rod out.
- Cut the wood rod at the mark using a sharp object,.
- Put some wooden glue within the holes using a small skinny item like a toothpick. If you don’t have any, buy this bottle of Gorilla Wooden Glue online.
- Place the wood pegs in the hole.
- Use a blunt object to use strength to the pegs so that they slip thoroughly into the hole.
- Put more wood glue on appropriate of the filled-in holes.
- Wipe it off flat.
3. Sand the Gap All the way down to Get Even Surface
Once the holes are filled, sand them down to ensure that they are even with the remainder of the wood. Earlier than sanding them down, ensure that the wood filler or wood glue that you’re utilizing on the dowel rods has dried.
Use sanding sponges to sand down the surface if you don’t have any sandpaper at home. In case you do have sandpaper, wrap it round a wooden block or an extra firm fabric that’s rectangular.
The pressure is shipped erratically by way of your hands when you sand with out support. With a sanding block or sponge, the wood could have an even surface.
When sanding the hole:
- Rub the sanding block backward and forward alongside the grain with even pressure. Prevent rubbing to and fro or in a round motion.
- Brush gathered dust away with a broom or a mini vacuum cleaner.
- Repeat the sanding process with pleasant sandpaper to smoothen the piece of wooden further.
4. Paint Over the Hole So It Fits the Cabinets
Despite having a soft or even wood, the naked eye will nonetheless observe a beyond hole. It’s because the dowel wooden rod or wooden filler purchased does not tournament your cabinet’s color.
How do you rectify this? It depends on your cabinet. If you have a painted wood cabinet, you would like to locate the correct colour of wood paint to paint over the hole. To do this:
- Take an image of the coloration and add it onto a paint manufacturer’s free software to locate the closest shade.
- Go all the way down to any ironmongery store and ask for a paint sample.
- Test if it is the right shade.
- Paint over the hole.
- Sand the painted area to make sure the coat is even.
If you have a stained wood cabinet, your lifestyles is about to get a touch complicated.
This is because wood stain reacts in a different way with one-of-a-kind woods. The same stain on beechwood goes to have a further colour and texture to that on pine. In case you have one way or the other managed to use a similar type of wood as your cabinet to plug the hole, you could discover the brand who made the paint stain used in your cabinet.
Otherwise, you need to do it the old-fashioned manner and try a group of stainers that seem like they may produce a similar result on the new wooden that you’re attempting to put in a hole.
Here’s a list of steps to move approximately staining wood:
- Find the wooden stain that fits the color of your wood cabinet. To do this, go to a paint store and get some assist from the staff.
- Stain the wood filler or dowel rod with a brush.
- Immediately wipe the stain off with a dry cloth.
5. Seal the Gap to Preclude Chips or Cracks
Use a wooden sealer to prevent additional scratches or stains on your fixed hole. You can use this Minwax Urethane Spray Sealer to spray over your gap and provides it a pleasant finish to avoid extra damage. Be sure to spray a sealer simply once the stain or paint has dried.
Conclusion
Filling screw holes in shelves is really simple, but making sure that they blend in is extra difficult. To make your lifestyles easier, you ought to choose wood dowels made from similar wood and color as your cabinet.
Customizable wood fillers are also accessible in the market, with some even exchanging colour to match your wooden surface. Necessarily choose wood fillers with the same colour as your wood cupboard for much less hindrance associated to ensuring the filler blends.