A drawer to repair

[Packard]

My friend is trying to sell is 1980s vintage mobile home (single wide).  He has been painting the interior and making minor improvements. 

He called me the other day and said, "Do you think you can repair one of the kitchen cabinet drawers?"  I said, "Sure, just leave it on my front porch and I will take care of it when I get home".

I did not know even that this quality of cabinet existed.  The sides and back are made from 1/2" thick particle board, the bottom appears to be made from a plywood door skin, and the drawer face is made from MDF.  All butt joints and held in place with three narrow crown staples per joint.  No glue anywhere. 

If there was ever a finish applied to the drawer box, it evaporated years before.  It all looks as though it never saw paint or clear coat of any kind.

Replicating the drawer face would be too difficult, so I salvaged that.  I used 1/2" poplar and brad nails and glue for the sides, 1/4" plywood for the bottom and a piece of scrap 3/4" poplar for the rear.

I am not particularly proud of this repair, but I'm sure it will last longer than the original and certainly last until the mobile home gets sold.

I've also never seen this type of draw hardware.  You have to lift the drawer front slightly to move it in or out. 

 

[squall_line]

The hardware style makes sense, since I'd imagine people wouldn't want their drawers opening and closing as they made turns in their RV.

Based on the details of the repairs you said you made (actually rebuilt the entire thing), I would say that not only will that drawer likely last until the motor home is sold, but it will probably outlive just about everything else in the unit.

 

[Packard]

It is not an RV, it is a mobile home.  He bought it used and it probably has never been moved since new. 

In the early 1970s I sold insulated wall panels made from aluminum and honeycomb.  They were used for three-season room additions.

Part of my job was instructing the installers on how to use the product.

It was the first time I was seeing the product used on a mobile home.  We did not know where the studs were.  So we peeled back some of the siding to find the studs.  What we found was that the wiring was done with extension cords.  Apparently, the manufacturer would buy pre-made extension cords and they would plug them into a central hub and strip off the female end and they would then wire that the electrical outlets in the home. 

I did not know much about construction back then; I was in my early 20s.  I did suspect that it was not the ideal way to wire a home though.

I anticipated that the drawer would be of low quality.  But they might as well have made it from cardboard and packing tape.

 

[Cheese]

Reminds me of a couple of drawers I repaired for a friend. It was a beautiful 3/4" thick drawer front in real teak wood veneer with teak edge banding that was done so well it looked like solid teak.

The sides & rear of the drawer however, were 1/2" particle board with a brown teak colored plastic film veered over the surface. At all 4 corners, the only thing that held all the pieces together were 6" long pieces of brown tape placed over the brown colored film. Not a single fastener or glue was used for the drawer assembly.

The amazing part was this was a full width drawer maybe 28" x 14" and part of a chest of drawers for clothing. He said that he'd gotten about 10 years of service out of the chest before the drawers started to come apart.

 

[Packard]

I suggested that they paint the interior of the drawers glossy white.  I am trying to imagine the buyers' response when they see the drawer interiors in that color and condition.

That particular drawer was next to the sink, and I imagine some water dripped on the particleboard.  But the interiors of those drawers look unsanitary (and probably are).  I think it would be quicker and easier to paint than to line the drawers with contact paper.  But the drawers are all the same size so maybe making a pattern and using contact paper would be faster. And maybe it would be a better wear surface.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

At least it looks like the bottom was in a groove. I have seen so many drawers with a thin bottom just tacked on.
Over the years, I have had to fix (mostly replace like you did) quite a few drawers and sink base bottoms.  It's usually water damage, but occasionally someone will just do something silly, like step in a drawer.

 

[Steve1]

C'mon man.

You have to give us a picture of the finished drawer.

 

[Bertotti]

Bad flashback. Earlier this year I pulled my nice kitchen out. I say Nic because it looked great. I paid extra for Cherry but the door started falling apart, a lot of them so I pulled them only to find everything behind wat particleboard, MDF, or pressboard/hardboard whatever it's called. The fronts and sides of the drawers were the only nice pieces. It has been just long enough I can't go back on them and get some satisfaction. It amazes me what cabinet shops get away with. Neighbors had the same issue but found out right away and were able to almost half their money back.

 

[squall_line]

Bad flashback. Earlier this year I pulled my nice kitchen out. I say Nic because it looked great. I paid extra for Cherry but the door started falling apart, a lot of them so I pulled them only to find everything behind wat particleboard, MDF, or pressboard/hardboard whatever it's called. The fronts and sides of the drawers were the only nice pieces. It has been just long enough I can't go back on them and get some satisfaction. It amazes me what cabinet shops get away with. Neighbors had the same issue but found out right away and were able to almost half their money back.

My in-laws are almost two years into their kitchen remodel (my mother-in-law is highly indecisive and resistant to change), I think the cabinets are supposed to arrive around New Year's Day 2022.  This is a good reminder that I should have them/help them double-check and make sure they get what they paid for.

I was about 2 days away from offering to build their cabinets for them to get the project moving when I found out they finally pulled the trigger on the purchase.  My wife is happier this way, although I think it would have been fun to work on with my father-in-law.

 

[Packard]

I bought a rather pricy bedroom set in the early 1980s from a shopping mall chain called Scandinavian Gallery.  It was all teak with an oiled finish.  Beautiful.

But it turned out to be 100% particle board with teak veneer.  The doors and drawers were trimmed with mitered teak molding.  So no edgebanding to give this away.

It was $2,800.00 back then (equivalent to $8,200.00 in today's dollars).  Not cheap; but not really high end.  It was all delivered assembled (but apparently assembled at the warehouse).  This was all Ikea-type assembly. 

Needless to say, it started to break down in just a few years.  I was taking things apart and gluing.  Only to find that everything was particleboard.

I would say that the fit and finish were first-rate.  Good enough to fool most people.  It's all gone now of course. 

My parents' furniture, made in North Carolina in the late 1950s was in pristine condition when they moved to a retirement home in  2001.  Very solid construction made it so.

 

[Holzhacker]

Just an FYI, that drawer hardware was very common in the Chicagoland area when I was growing up. Almost every kitchen cabinet, built in non-vintage hutch, bathroom vanity, etc. had that hardware.
Never liked that hardware. It was fine as long as you didn't pull the drawer out too far.

 

[Packard]

Just an FYI, that drawer hardware was very common in the Chicagoland area when I was growing up. Almost every kitchen cabinet, built in non-vintage hutch, bathroom vanity, etc. had that hardware.
Never liked that hardware. It was fine as long as you didn't pull the drawer out too far.

I spent time googling it.  You can find replacement rollers, but not the track online.  No one is currently selling this as a drawer track system as far as I was able to tell. 

So it appears that there were a lot of people who, like you, never liked that hardware.

 

[squall_line]

My kitchen drawers (in Iowa, built in 1961, some replaced in early 2000s) have center-mount rollers like the one shown.  They don't need to be lifted to move, though.

 

[Packard]

My kitchen drawers (in Iowa, built in 1961, some replaced in early 2000s) have center-mount rollers like the one shown.  They don't need to be lifted to move, though.

Perhaps your boxes were not made from particleboard.  Hardwood would slide easier.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The kitchen in my house was built-in on-site out of solid wood (Pine), but that was 93 years ago and was tradition at that time. It is due for a remodel, but it has been down the list for a while, since other parts of the house needed it more. Kitchens are the most expensive part of a house to completely renovate and it's hard to live without one while you do it.
The drawer sides are full wood on wood contact, with varying degrees of wear. This one is the worst, but not even from side to side. The left side has a huge curve nearer to the front. The right side is mostly straight, tapering toward the back. The rub rails along the tops of the cavity are worn enough that the drawers tip quite a bit when opened.
It must be from how they were loaded over the years? The ones furthest away from the sink have remarkably less wear. The most odd thing is that although the cabinets themselves are solid wood, the doors/drawer fronts are plywood, in the old-timey design of rabbeted overlay.
It's ugly and in need of an update, but my grandmother lived with it for 70 years, I've only been here for the last 20.

 

[Packard]

You could apply self-adhesive PTFE strips to reduce further wear and improve slide.
https://www.amazon.com/WOD-Polyethy...ords=teflon+strips&qid=1638969975&sr=8-3&th=1

 

[Crazyraceguy]

It's going to end up with Blumotion undermount guides in a total rebuild, someday. If they ever come back into the market. It's a fairly small galley style kitchen that is just begging for a layout change.

 

[squall_line]

Here's the hardware on the drawer and inside the cabinet.  The front rollers seem to make the biggest difference.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

Somewhat like [member=58857]Crazyraceguy[/member] , the kitchen appears to have been built in on site; the shelves are held up by individual strips nailed to the wall inside the cabinets, everything is nailed together.  I can tell which sections have been replaced because they have MDF/MDO inside instead of solid or plywood.  A lot of stuff, like the drawer above, still has the measurements written on it if it wasn't a face piece.

The doors are also rabbeted overlays with roundover faces.  I like it because it offers a nice slim appearance for the doors without sacrificing the strength/stability of a 3/4" thickness and it's period correct for the house.

The whole thing is finished in a cherry-ish stain.  When we first moved in, my wife was insistent on painting the cabinets white.  Within 6-9 months, she loved the color of the wood, the retro look, and said she no longer wanted it painted.  The look on my face when she revealed that got me in a bit of trouble.  As she put it, "I don't think you've ever looked at me with that much love other than our wedding day.  They're CABINETS."  [embarassed]

 

[peter halle]

I have that old style hardware in the kitchen of my old house.  ...And my house was built in 1993.  The old style cabinet maker just liked that hardware.

Peter

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Mine have no hardware whatsoever. The bottom edges of the drawer box itself rub on the top of the faceframe and the wooden strips behind them. They have side to keep them from racking and actually work pretty well, especially considering their age.
I sort of have the same dilemma as squall_line in that I don't really want to ruin the period correct part, but the layout needs some help. The size of the room was expanded with an addition many years ago, but the rest wasn't modified to take advantage of that. Plus, I removed the chimney for the original wood-fired stove, which gained some more space. The layout can be improved a lot now, which doesn't have to change the character.  I have always disliked the flat slab plywood doors and the exposed knuckles of the lipped overlay hinges.
I like the clean look of frameless, but I just don't think it fits here?
When I do settle on a design, I hope to maintain the look as you walk into the room, but the functionality of more modern hardware, like undermount guides and concealed hinges. Maybe inset doors, rather than the lipped overlay?