Most homes have a familiar sound in the kitchen — an annoying “bang” when you shut or slam a cabinet door. The reason is that until about 2005, it wasn’t very common to see the soft-close hinge or soft-close drawer option offered for new kitchen cabinets. So most homes have the standard hinges and drawer glides that do not prevent slamming.
All is not lost! There are other options if you’re in a home without this coveted cabinet add-on, which is standard now with many cabinet manufacturers. If you’re tired of the constant noise in the kitchen when the kids ransack the cabinets looking for snacks, you can do a few things to solve the problem without breaking the bank and not having to buy a new kitchen.
The problem: noisy kitchen cabinet doors
The reason cabinet doors get so noisy most of the time is there’s nothing but the wood door hitting the face frame of the cabinet when you close it. Most kitchen cabinets come with a rubber bumper on the corners of each door and drawer to soften the impact when it closes. Over time, these bumpers come off, and most people don’t replace them, making the problem worse.
Solution: bumper pads for cabinet doors and drawers
One solution is to purchase and replace the inexpensive bumper pads on each cabinet door and drawer. Just sticking one on each corner does the trick. Although you still hear the door shut, it’s not the “clank” you would hear without them.
Self-adhesive bumpers are inexpensive. You can buy a sheet of more than 100 for less than $20.
Solution: soft-close kitchen cabinet dampers
The next-level solution is installing soft-close cabinet dampers on each door. These make an exponential difference. The dampers catch the door before it hits the cabinet and slowly close it the remainder of the way quietly and softly.
Some dampers attach to the existing hinge. Others attach to the top or bottom of the cabinet frame, and the rubber tip comes in contact with the door before it hits. The result is the door slows down before contacting the cabinet, almost like landing in a bed of marshmallows.
Solution: soft-close cabinet hinges and drawer slides
The Cadillac of quiet cabinet doors, soft-close hinges and drawer glides make closing doors and drawers perfectly smooth and silent. It’s more of a challenge to replace all of the hinges and drawer glides in your cabinets — and more expensive, too — but it’s a sure and permanent way of changing the decibels in your kitchen.
The trick with hinges is they most likely have to be the same kind that your cabinet doors have currently. Many have holes bored in the door, and the new hinge will need to fit the same way.
Test first on kitchen cabinet doors and drawers
Experiment with one cabinet door to find the perfect solution for your kitchen before you take on the whole project. You’ll be amazed at the difference in sound in just a few minutes after solving the problem.
One word of warning: Kids often watch the soft-close hinges or dampers over and over because it looks “so cool.” So they might do a lot more opening and closing of doors and drawers until the novelty wears off. But at least it won’t wake you up anymore.
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This article originally appeared on Angie's List. Chad Kurtz President of Brakur Custom Cabinetry is a regular contributor to their Experts Contributor Program.
