Hot take: People need to stop over-tightening cabinet door hinges

I'm not trying to be a jerk about it but I keep seeing new guys crank those screws down until they strip. I worked in a shop outside Portland for 12 years before I went on my own. You only need about a quarter turn past snug on a Euro hinge or you'll warp the cup over time. I had a customer call me back after 6 months because his doors wouldn't close right and it was just hinge screws that had been wrecked. Has anyone else noticed this getting worse lately?

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2 Comments

sageadams2mo ago

...and that's exactly it, it's like people think if a little torque is good then a lot must be better. I've had the same thing happen with euro hinges where homeowners crank them down so hard the little metal tab inside the cup just bends, and then the door sags no matter what you do. On drawer slides, I always tell guys to back off a half turn after they feel resistance, because if you bottom out the screw head into the plastic it'll crack in a year. It's one of those things that's hard to teach too, because you can't really show someone what "snug" feels like, they just have to mess up a few times before they get it.

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carter.gavin2mo ago

It's the same thing with people cranking down on drawer slides until the bearings grind, or over-tightening outlet screws until the plastic cracks. Everyone's got that "more tighter = more better" brain worm now lol.

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