How to repair cabinet furniture at home

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The presence of cabinet furniture in the house recently is almost mandatory. Cabinet furniture - these are interior elements made up of massive rigid vertical and horizontal elements. Connections are made using angles, screws, bolted joints and other fasteners. One of the advantages of prefabricated furniture sets is the simplicity of their transportation and installation. Cabinet furniture is located in many rooms of ordinary apartments, is subjected to stress and, of course, breaks down during operation. But this does not mean that it is time to pack up for the store behind a new cabinet. Everyone can perform a simple repair of cabinet furniture on their own.

What materials and tools are needed

Before performing repairs, it is necessary to prepare a set of tools:

• In case of surface damage, it will be necessary to repair them with improvised means. A wax pencil, ordinary walnut, vinegar, glue, and many other elements for fixing can help in this matter;
• Suitable size screwdrivers;
• If required, you will have to find the missing elements of the mechanisms;
• Varnish for furniture.

Do-it-yourself cabinet repair is a creative process, no one can accurately list the entire set of tools, because all breakdowns are unique and require a special approach.

Surface restoration

The most common damage is surface defects. This is not surprising, because cabinet furniture is often operated in not the best conditions and often the surface is subjected to heavy loads. You can fix minor damage on your own. To do this, you will need your skill and some tools depending on the damage.

Minor scratches

The appearance of small scratches is a natural process when using furniture. The reason for such a defect may be pets, careless handling of furniture. Usually, scratches appear as if by themselves, the owners just notice them and begin to choose a repair method:

1. Walnut. With it, you can make minor scratches on the surface less noticeable. Material paints over scratches. To carry out repairs, it is necessary to divide the whole nut into two halves and rub the damaged area slightly with the inside;
2. To correct damage, you can use a pencil of a suitable color. With it, it’s enough to just paint over the scratch;
3. MDF and particleboard panels can be repaired with furniture wax. To do this, the wax pencil is melted with a thin knife heated over an open flame, and the mixture is applied to a scratch. After drying, the remnants of the wax should be removed with a blade and wiped with a cloth.In no case can wax be melted over an open fire, beeswax, which is part of it, is easily ignited.

After performing scratch repair, the surface can be varnished, this will not only improve the appearance, but also help protect the furniture from further damage for a while.

Scratch Pencil

Scratches are fixed by a walnut.

Scratch Wax

Major damage

Major damage is not always possible to fix with your own hands, often they require the involvement of specialists. Many companies carry out repairs of cabinet furniture at home, this saves the strength and nerves of the owners. In this case, the master will professionally assess the amount of damage and carry out repairs. If the damage is unusual or you need to replace non-specific parts, you will have to wait until the specialist returns with a set of everything necessary.

Some major damage can be repaired by yourself. A common defect in furniture is cracking of legs or other parts due to operation in adverse conditions, with constantly changing humidity. To repair this defect, you will need the following tools:

• PVA glue;
• Syringe with a needle;
• Rag;
• Varnish;
• Clamp.

The work is carried out in several stages, at which time the operation of furniture becomes impossible. For high-quality performance of all work, repaired objects are advised to get rid of the cargo.

1. First, remove dust and other contaminants from the crack. Do not allow moisture to enter the surface; all work must be carried out with dry parts;
2. Gently glue into the syringe without a needle. At this stage, air bubbles should not be allowed to enter;
3. To work on a syringe put on a needle. Through it, the crack is carefully filled with glue. It should protrude somewhat above the surface of the furniture;
4. The part is compressed with a clamp and excess glue protruding from the crack is removed;
5. After a day, the clamp is removed, the surface is ground and varnished to protect it from scratches and other damage.

After performing these simple steps, the furniture fully restores its functions. Cracks must be repaired as soon as possible, immediately after the appearance of damage. This is due to the ability of the cracks to expand as time passes.

We clean the surface

We glue into the syringe

Fill the crack with glue

We compress furniture with clamps

Grinding coating

Chips

Cabinet furniture is made of chipboard or MDF - these are sheets of tightly glued sawdust wrapped in a decorative coating. Often they are varnished or laminated. The top layer of furniture parts is prone to chips. This unpleasant incident can result in the appearance of noticeable defects, because an unprotected surface is subject to significant damage.

Chipped paintwork can be easily removed with wax for furniture repairs. It is simply applied to the surface, waiting for complete drying and covered with an additional layer of varnish.

The situation with chipped edges of structures is somewhat more complicated. These are noticeable light recesses on the edges and corners of the chipboard panels. Such damage causes further destruction, so they must be "treated" immediately. To complete the work you will need:

• Felt-tip pen to give the repaired place an inconspicuous color. The most difficult thing to repair chips is to choose the desired shade;
• Wax to repair a suitable tone;
• Thin knife and lighter;
• Putty knife;
• Felt;
• Fixing spray varnish.

The repair process includes several stages:

1. The edges of the chip give a direct shape. Damage is treated with a knife and sandpaper;
2. Chipped up with wax. The pencil is not allowed to melt on an open fire, so it is applied using a hot thin knife. It is necessary to leave a certain supply of wax;
3. After the final cooling and hardening of the wax, it is necessary to process it with a chisel and give the hardened mixture the desired shape;
4. When the shape of the part is restored, the wax is lightly polished with a felt cloth;
5. To repair surfaces with a clear structure, a pencil is used. It helps restore texture;
6. If the cleavage site does not appear to be visible, it means that the work has been done well and you can cover the repaired part with varnish.

If you can’t find the right color wax in the store, then this problem can be solved by mixing different shades. Get two tones that are close to the color of the furniture being repaired. The shavings of these wax pencils are placed in an unnecessary tablespoon and melted. The substance should be the desired shade. By adding chips from one of the two pencils, you can achieve the perfect color.

Making straight edges at the chip

Coat the surface with wax

We process a chisel

Make a texture with a pencil

Appearance Update

When the furniture no longer looks as new as it used to or the owners get bored with its appearance, updating the furniture can help make the cabinets attractive again. It includes several types of work:

• Painting;
• Pasting;
• Replacing accessories.

All these actions can be performed independently even without the skills to repair cabinet furniture. For painting, it is advised to choose an acrylic paint mixture. It dries quickly and does not require multiple coatings. But she has a number of minuses:

• Each element of furniture will have to be painted separately from the rest;
• Do not paint work indoors;
• Use personal protective equipment.

Before painting, the surface must be treated with sandpaper, remove the old paintwork. In this case, cracks and scratches should be treated with putty. After this, a primer is applied. Paint is applied with a brush or spray. It is not necessary to apply several layers, but at the same time it is necessary to monitor the uniformity of the paint layer on all elements. Pasting is done only on smooth surfaces. In stores you can buy self-adhesive film of any color. It is glued to a cleaned surface, without dust. When carrying out work, remove all the accessories. By the way, it can be replaced with a new one. This is straightforward and requires no tools other than a screwdriver.

Coating color

Self-adhesive film application

Handle Replacement

Fixing jamming mechanisms

Seizing mechanisms appear due to their wear. To correct this trouble, you can simply lubricate the moving parts. If this does not help, you can try to replace some of their parts: springs, joints or rollers. To do this, the mechanism must be dismantled and disassembled into components. Replace the worn part with a similar new one. Assemble the structure back, fix it on the furniture and grease well. For lubrication, special solidols and other compounds are produced. As a universal tool, you can use oil for sewing machines. Many breakdowns are not critical for furniture and can be fixed on their own in a short time.

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