UKC

Kitchen cupboard door (quite heavy one) has come off. The hinge has damaged the mdf (or whatever it is- not proper wood). So screws won't go back in. Tried araldite and tiny bits of wood to fill it and re-screw. They're short fat screws particular to the hinges. Came off again. Any ideas. Thanks 

Screw on a metal bracket and bolt to hinge?

More of a bodge really.

Hopefully someone with DIY acumen will be along.

It's usually chipboard.

You probably want a hinge repair plate:  youtube.com/watch?v=1CrJhc0Irrc&

Just google for them and you can find several models that are cheap as chips.

Because you are using short screws in the kitchen and screwing into totally garbage chipboard, I would recommend screwing by hand as it is hard not to over-tighten the screws and rip the wood apart if you tighten them with a drill.

Glue in dowels. There are kits you can buy for exactly this. 

Thanks for the advice. I sent off for hinge repair kit. But the screw holes are too small for the short fat hinge screws. Dont seem to find hinge repair kit for these.I'll try and drill them a bit bigger. Thanks for the hand screw advice.

Thanks. Will look for these. Just watched a video about it on YouTube 

It's a careful balancing act with the size of the screw holes in the metal plate. Too small and the screws won't go through, but just a shade too big and the screws won't bite into the plate and hold them securely in place. You can trial different hole sizes for the screws using a drill, drill bits and a piece of scrap metal. You can also add araldite or superglue to the screws as you are screwing them into the plate to give an extra method of binding. You can go to your local B&Q and buy some different screws if the OEM ones seem too short or worn out or whatever.

If you decide to bind the hinges to the plate first and then bind the plate to the wood, you won't be able to turn the hinge-to-plate screws when putting the plate on the door, so you'll need to dig out little recesses in chipboard to nestle the ends of these screws into so the plate sits nice and flush on the door when you are putting screws though the plate and into the chipboard.

Is the door pre-drilled for hinges on each side?  Perhaps you can hinge it from the other side.

Not so much anymore. I've fitted 3 kitchens since 2003 from different manufacturers and all have had MDF doors. Carcasses are still chipboard though.

Our electrician suggested just replace screws with longer wood screws. Worked a treat and a simple solution. Thanks for your advice

God, how awful

I accept that the pressures of cost mean chipboard will be used if it can be either a) hidden or b) coated in something that's, at minimum, vaguely inoffensive to the eye but MDF? I'd consign the person who invented that stuff to the top of a bonfire fueled by their own invention. It's just such a vile material, I've been getting kit quotes in for my house and every single one of them is speccing MDF skirting, shelving, architraves, stairs.... I mean, I'm not asking for polished ebony but dear god, there's got to be _some_ minimum standard on finishing details that you're going to be physically looking at umpteen hours a day for decades!

I bodged a door the other day and it seems to be holding up well.

I happened to have some grip fill half used, so filled the worn out holes in the carcass with gripfill.

Before it set, I then gently screwed the door on.

Only been a couple of days, but so far so good.

If you're planning on painting it once it's fitted, what's the issue with MDF? It'll give a better and more long-term stable finish than softwood, if that was your original preference. It gives a better, smoother finish, doesn't need knot-stopping and is straighter/trued than s/w.

I built my own radiator covers using MDF as off the shelf wasn't suitable, and they've been in 10 years and still look like new.

I'm not sure what else I could have used for such a large unit without having unsightly joints to deal with.

MDF definitely has it's place.

Another +1 for MDF - in certain specific circumstances. We had an external door that was panelled in T&G and painted a dark grey colour. Within a year of it being fitted it was bleeding through the knots. I put up with it for 4 years or so, every year scraping it back to bare wood, treating with knotting, Zinnser Bulls-Eye, painted with the best primer going etc etc. Nothing would stop the knots from bleeding. I gave up, ordered a sheet of high performance MDF (Medite Ticoya Extreme), routed some v grooves and dropped the whole panel into the recess where the T&G had been. 4 years later it still looks as good as the day it was finished. There has been no movement from weather either, so there's no paint cracking at all. I've since used the remaining MDF to make up wooden window beads that I was having similar problems with.

Tricoya MDF has a below ground guarantee against rot of something like 30 years. One sheet is eye wateringly expensive but worth every penny for the right job. 

This.

Drill out the holes to 8mm with a bit with a stopping collar. A couple of mm short of going right through. Glue in 8mm hardwood dowels with plenty of PVA glue and leave for 24 hours at least. They will be a tight fit so when persuading them to go in with a hammer don't over do it and punch right through the door. Cut off flush to door. Then put a 1mm pilot hole in and put the hinges back on also dipping the screw in PVA (more as a lubricant than for adhesion). Don't over tighten.

6mm dowels will tend to split and damage the chipboard/MDF more.

If all else fails, you could get a cutter, do some measuring and relocate the hinge up or down a bit https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-tct-hinge-cutter-35mm/4977V?kpid=4977V&a... 

This too. If the timber is probably fuct then it can be the only sensible option.

Many kitchen doors are vinyl coated nowadays - a plastic layer is sucked down / stamped onto the MDF.