What Are Corner Blocked Drawers?

Drawer Bottoms

• Drawer bottoms are often vulnerable to sagging, especially when the bottoms are made of hardboard instead of solid wood. Hardboard is a thin sheet of material that usually consists of compressed sawdust and wood pulp bonded together with an adhesive. The wider a drawer is and the more contents it holds, the more likely it is to sag without additional support. Some unsupported drawer bottoms bend so far out of shape that they have to be replaced.

Corner Blocks

• Manufacturers usually cut shallow grooves into the sides of a drawer's interior to hold the edges of the drawer bottom in place. Some manufacturers also install corner blocks, which are triangular-shaped pieces of wood attached to the four corners of a drawer bottom to strengthen it and prevent sagging. A drawer's corners are usually stress points, so supporting them with corner blocks can prevent a drawer bottom from dislodging from the side grooves and bending out of shape.

Used Furniture

• Corner blocks can help you determine how many repairs have been made on used or antique furniture. Pull out all of the drawers when shopping for used furniture and examine the bottoms. Corner blocks, or a single center block, on a few of the drawer bottoms is a sign of repair work. All of the drawers generally would have corner blocks if the manufacturer originally installed them. Repair work on a drawer isn't necessarily a reason not to buy a used piece of furniture, especially if the repair looks professional and the drawer operates smoothly.

Considerations

• Clean out drawers regularly and get rid of unused items as a way to avoid overloading the drawers. They are less likely to sag if they're not overstuffed. Bathroom vanity drawers without corner blocks can be particularly vulnerable to sagging due to the moist conditions in a bathroom that cause drawers to swell. That swelling can cause drawer bottoms to warp and dislodge from the side grooves holding them in place without the support of corner blocks.