Can You Convert Cabinets to Soft Close
To get a soft close mechanism for your cabinets, you do not have to do a complete hinge replacement. You should first look at soft close and its invention capabilities. If you have a cabinet where you do not want to hear the doors banging shut or squeaking when opened, this is where soft close comes in.
Can You Convert a Cabinet to Soft Close?
It is possible to convert a cabinet with a soft close to stop the loud noises associated with opening and shutting your cabinets. You can often purchase a small adapter and install it within minutes to fix the problem, but you must know which model to purchase and how to install it. The soft close hinge helps to reduce the force of how you close your cabinet doors. It reduces the speed at which the door closes so it does not shut with a bang.
You can get a conversion kit to do your soft close. These kits typically come with a damper, screws, and spacer. You will need to determine the type of cabinet doors you have, and whether they are overlay or inset. With an inset cabinet door, you will not need the spacer in the conversion kit, but if you have an overlay cabinet door you will need this spacer to keep the door from hitting the adapter. You will also need a power drill and screwdriver to convert your cabinet to soft close.
Using a Soft Close Model
While you do not necessarily have to replace the hinges, if you want to do so, then it is best to choose a soft close hinge. If your existing hinge is a European style, then you can choose a soft close model such as Grass TEC. These have small pistons already built inside the hinge cup.
Some models will come with an internal arm to make sure that slamming does not occur. The great thing about certain soft close models is that you can turn the switch on or off to engage or disengage this feature. When you have a soft close model, you can replace the hinges, but it depends on the size of the cabinet door. You may also have the option of adding a plunger, if you cannot get the right door hinges.
Steps to Installing Soft Close Models
Now that you know you can convert your cabinets to soft close, here are some steps that you should follow when making the coversion.
- As mentioned before, you are going to need a screwdriver to get the hinges off from the doors. After that, remove the cabinet doors one at a time.
- Insert the new door hinges in the same place you took the old ones from. Drill them in if they do not fit into the holes.
- Use a drill bit for the small hole and then screw in the new hinges.
- Now it is time to reinstall the doors of the cabinet.
- Repeat steps 1 through 4 for each cabinet door.
You are going to now need drawer slides.
- Remove the slides and drawers with a screwdriver, doing it one at a time while keeping track of the size of the drawers and their order. You can also remove the drawers all at the same time. Pull the new slides apart so you can work on one section at a time.
- Mount up the drawer slides into the cabinet.
- Put the slides back into their socket, resting the slides onto the jig.
- Position the slides and use the screwdriver to put back the socket into the back of the cabinet.
- Using a screwdriver, put the front of the slides into the front frame.
- Make sure the drawer slides jig is protruding out of the cabinet.
- Screw in the slides so they fit into the drawer.
- Do this for all the drawers.
While you can do this cabinet conversion all on your own, you have to know the style and whether they are frameless or face frame. You must be able to use the necessary tools and you must know which hinges to use.
Get Help from the Professionals
If you don’t know where to start or think that this project is too overwhelming or intimidating for you, it is best to call on a qualified and expert professional to get it done for you easily and accurately. Contact our team at Authentic Custom Cabinetry to start the process.
Categorised in: Cabinet Quality, Custom Cabinets