Replacing guides when repairing a chest of drawers

Over time, any furniture loses its consumer properties, but it often happens that a person does not want to part with it. Indeed, you shouldn’t throw away old furniture, especially when its service life can be extended. The tools and materials sold on the market allow this to be done without any problems. If you have certain skills, you can do this work yourself. Furniture repair, for example, a chest of drawers, is carried out in different ways. The choice of repair method depends on the extent of the damage. Usually a partial or complete renovation is carried out.

When performing the first type of repair, the surface of the chest of drawers is restored. For this, paints, stains, etc. are used. A complete renovation means that all components of the chest of drawers will be restored - the sides and drawers, along with the guides. Before starting work, inspect the furniture as a whole and its parts. In the process, it becomes clear what the scale of the upcoming repair is and you can decide on the choice of the necessary tools and consumables.

What tools are needed to repair a chest of drawers?

To carry out repair work, both in general and components of furniture, you will need the following tools:

1. Screwdriver with a set of drills and bits.
2. Screwdrivers of different types.
3. Mallet.
4. Measuring tool and marker.
5. Nails and screws.
6. PVA glue.
7. Abrasive sandpaper.
8. Paints and varnishes.
9. Set of spatulas.
10. Set of hexagons.

Using the described tool will allow you to repair the chest of drawers without much difficulty.

Replacing the guides in a chest of drawers with your own hands

During the inspection, a list of parts that must be replaced will be determined. As a rule, such parts include guides along which the chest drawers move. The guides consist of two halves on which rollers made of polymer material are installed.

One half is attached to the wall inside the chest of drawers, the other half is attached to the drawer. When choosing new guides, it makes sense to be guided by geometric parameters, in particular length.

IMPORTANT! Installing fasteners on old holes is undesirable, as this leads to weakening of the walls of the box.

Before replacing the guide rails, you must remove the drawers from the chest of drawers. Then, using a marker, mark the location of the shelves. After this, using a screwdriver, remove the screws that secure the guide rulers to the body.

In such dresser parts, rollers quite often fail. They simply collapse. The cause of destruction may be overloading of the boxes. Roller guides can withstand a maximum load of up to 25, and ball guides up to 36 kg.

Those who decide to replace old wooden guides made of wood should take into account that the width of the box should be 20–25 mm less than the opening. When installing new guides, you can use pre-made marks, this will save time on making new markings.After installing the guides, you need to check the quality of movement of the box along them; it should move freely and be fixed in the extreme positions.

How to use a chest of drawers so that there are no breakdowns

The furniture that is installed in our homes can be made from solid wood, for example, oak, beech, sheets made from pressed sawdust, for example, chipboard. Even after the furniture is assembled, the wood continues to live; as a result of excessive moisture, the walls and tabletop may crack, but in reality this is not a defect.

Furniture, for example, chests of drawers, is coated with paint or furniture varnish made on a plant basis. If water gets on the surface of the chest of drawers or its sides, stains will form. To remove them, you can use a soft cloth moistened with furniture wax.

In order for the chest of drawers to have a good appearance and last for quite a long time, the air temperature in the room must be maintained in the range from +15 to +25 degrees, with an average humidity of 45...65%. When humidity levels are low, it makes sense to install a humidifier in the room.

REFERENCE! Changes in this mode or installation of heaters next to furniture will sooner or later lead to a decrease in the performance of the furniture, in particular the chest of drawers. That is, the furniture will dry out and crack. There will be aging of the surface coating and deformation of the body as a whole.

If the humidity is insufficient, the furniture will give up its natural moisture. This can also lead to similar defects. The consumer must understand that all of the above is not a defect, but a violation of the operating rules.

To remove dust from the surface, you should use soft rags, for example, flannel; if you use liquids intended for cleaning surfaces, it makes sense to carefully study the instructions for its use. It should not contain substances that include abrasive particles. When cleaning surfaces, it is unacceptable to use various types of scrapers, dishwashing sponges, and especially metal scourers.

When using a chest of drawers, its owner should know that the maximum load that the bottom of the linen drawer can withstand does not exceed 10–15 kg. For greater stability, it makes sense to place heavy items at the bottom of the chest of drawers. Overloading the chest of drawers can cause it to deform and break.