Cabinet Door Screws

[hovanic]

We are on our second year in our Cougar Bunkhouse 5'er and it seems like after every trip I am fixing cabinet door hardware. The screws keep backing out. What have you done to fix this issue?

Im half tempted to pull the screws dip them in elmer's wood glue and re-install them.

Thanks for any input!

[Festus2]

I've used toothpicks with a touch of clear or white glue to tighten loose screws. Just insert the end(s) of a toothpick into the screw hole, snap it off and squeeze in a drop or two of glue. The toothpick gives the screw something to "bite on" rather than just putting glue into the enlarged hole. If the hole has enlarged quite a bit, you may have to snap off a couple of pieces of the toothpick. Hope this works for you.

[Jim W]

I use wooden match sticks with woodworking glue. Toothpicks will work also but the wooden match is a little thicker. You will need to cut the match flush with the face of the cabinet. Since I do woodworking I have the glue available, household white glue will also work. Just another idea for you.
Jim W.

[hovanic]

Ive fixed a couple with toothpicks and glue. I like the idea of match sticks. I guess I was just looking for some preventive measures I could take.

It seems that some of them that are loose tighten back up just fine, but i guess they could be starting to wobble out the holes.

[Festus2]

Over time, you will probably find more screws working themselves loose. The bouncing around of the RV going down the road contributes to the problem. Some of the screws have been over-torqued and are already spinning before you go anywhere. When you factor in the composition of the "wood" into which the screws are going into, it is no wonder that they work themselves loose.
At some point in each trip, I usually make the rounds of the cupboards and drawers, checking for loose screws, tightening those that need to be nudged up or removing and repairing those that need more work. After a while, it becomes a routine and I get Brownie points to boot!

[bartletts]

If they get bad enough you can run a small machine screw all the way through the cabinet face and put a little lock nut on the back, or you can install threaded inserts or tee nuts. You'll never have those work loose.

[Sally_Ama]

We've had fan lights and fan blades fall off, doors fly open spilling out (and breaking) the contents, and screws holding pull out drawers pull out completely!. My husband, a skilled builder/cabinetmaker, feels the wrong screws and wrong length were used. In some cases he replaced the screws and in some cases he applied Loc-tite to the threads, which is a thread sealant. That resolved the problems. But do check EVERY one of them in your unit. We found a problem with most of them.

[bartletts]

I use the big "Grip Twist" twist tie noodles (I got mine from Costco as a gift) to tie around my door handles to keep the doors from flying open. They work well and they don't mar the finish:
http://www.griptwist.com/