Expert: maura macaluso - 1/8/2012

Question
Hello Maura.  Thank you for taking the time to read and answer my question.  I have a client who had a cabinet door on a pressboard cabinet fall off.  do you have any suggestions about a situation like that.  the door is fine but the screw holes in the sidewall of the cabinet are semi blown out.  i know there is probably not much hope but it never hurts to ask.  thank you and have a nice day, Chris.

Answer
Hey Chris,   ahh yes, Pressboard....that wonderful modern throw-away furniture.  Was certainly never meant to be repaired. However I do have an old trick that works sometimes, although there is absolutely no guarantee that the repair will work or last forever. But its so easy, its worth a try. Take some carpenters wood glue and some not-so-fine sawdust, create a fairly thick but still workable paste with it. Coat the area to be filled with a bit of the wood glue then overfill the area with the paste you've made. Take the blade of a putty knife or similar type metal surface, place it on top of the repair spot and push down on it really hard....if possible place the door on the floor and step on it and put your weight into it so it neatly compresses the wood paste down, being careful not to put so much weight on it that it will cause more damage to the door. If the putty knife has now stuck to the paste, slide it off sideways. If there are any gaps in your repair patch, fill these spots with more wood glue.  give it a full 24 hrs to cure. Then you can try drilling a small hole and reinserting the screws.  As I said, there is no guarantee, but I have seen this work enough times that it is worth a shot if the piece is nice enough to try saving. Good Luck with the repair and thanks for the question.