Retrofitting Drawer Hardware

Knobs and Pulls

• 1

  Make a template for a new pull with a piece of 1-by-4-inch wood. Mark the center of the drawer front on its top with a pencil. Clamp the template board to the front of the drawer so its top edge matches the top edge of the drawer exactly.

• 2

  Draw the center line down the front of the template board with a pencil. Use a carpenter’s square or protractor to ensure that the line is perpendicular to the edge of the board.

• 3

  Draw another line on the template board, perpendicular to the center line. This line is customarily approximately two inches from the top of the drawer. Mark the location of the old mounting holes on the template.

• 4

  Mark the new positions for posts to anchor the pulls on the template. For example, to make the appropriate marks for a 4-inch-on-center pull, place the 2-inch mark on a ruler astride the center line, and make marks on the template board at 1- and 4-inch marks on the ruler.

• 5

  Drill holes for the new posts through both the template and drawer face with a 3/16-inch bit or a bit that is large enough for the new post bolts to pass through.

• 6

  Remove the template, place the handle against the drawer face, and screw in the post bolts from the back of the drawer face.

Side Slides

• 7

  Cut two 1-by-4-inch boards. Stand these against the back of the drawer cabinet as far into the corners as possible. The bottom of each board should sit squarely on the base inside the empty cabinet, so they form bases to attach the mounting plates on the slide ends. Tack the base boards in place with a few two- or three-penny nails.

• 8

  Mark lines along the inside of the base boards with a pencil to record their positions. Replace the drawers into their slots, and mark where the bottom corners of each drawer fall on the base boards. Remove the drawers and baseboards from the cabinet.

• 9

  Screw the side-slides to each drawer following the directions on the package. Use the wood screws that came with the slides.

• 10

  Lay the baseboards on the ground. One by one, lay the drawers on the boards, and match the corners with the “L” marks. Mark around and through the holes in the mounting plates at the end of each slide with your pencil.

• 11

  Tip the two-part slide or press a button to separate the two sections of the slide. Attach the back sections’ mounting plates to the base boards with the wood screws included with the slides.

• 12

  Set the base boards along the guide lines, and screw them into the drawer cabinet back with 3/4- to 1-inch wood screws, depending on the base boards’ thickness. Once the base boards are anchored, re-attach the back sections to the drawer sections by tipping or pushing the button. Close the drawers to close the slides.