Appreciation post: A broken hinge taught me to always check the door first

I was installing a set of cabinets in a kitchen remodel over in the West End last month. The homeowner was really pushing for me to finish the upper doors before lunch. I was rushing to get the last Blum hinge seated when the whole door just fell off in my hands. Turns out the pre-drilled hole in the door itself was stripped out from the factory, something I never even thought to check before mounting the hinge. Now I give every door a quick twist test on the hinge cup before I even pick up a screwdriver. How many of you run into factory defects like that on a regular job?

3 comments

3 Comments

ericw934d ago

Man that's such a pain, but a good lesson. Factory defects are way more common than they should be. I've had similar issues with drawer slides.

ruby6594d ago

Ugh, tell me about it. I find a stripped screw hole at least once a week now.

angela_patel754d ago

Oh man, that's the worst. I keep a tube of wood glue and a box of toothpicks in my shop just for this. Jam a few toothpicks in the hole with some glue, let it dry hard, then snap off the ends. You can drive the screw right back in and it holds like new.