The drawers will probably have already been fitted before the cabinets were delivered to the jobsite.

However, drawer fronts generally need a final adjustment on-site to match the gaps with adjacent cabinet doors or other panels.

There may also be times when a drawer runner needs to be re-adjusted because it wasn't lined up properly in the workshop.

Below are the procedures used to adjust drawer fronts on the two most common types of drawers.

Standard flat panel drawer

The standard drawer consists of 4 sides and a bottom, all made from 16mm melamine board. The drawer front is generally attached to the drawer in the workshop with 2 screws, fixed from the back. It can then be adjusted on-site by removing one of the screws and tapping the drawer front with a hammer and block of wood.

Once its position is correct, the front is secured with 3 more screws, making 4 screws in total.

Steel sided drawer

Steel sided drawers are manufactured in a range of patented designs. In most cases, the drawer front is attached separately.

The diagram at right shows a typical example of the bracket that connects the drawer front to the metal side. The functions of the screws are as follows:

A: adjusts the drawer front from side to side.

B: attaches the drawer front to the metal sides

C: adjusts the drawer front up or down.

Adjusting drawer runners

There are various types of drawer runners available, ranging from simple runners to 'servo-drive' (electrically driven) drawer slides. Below is the procedure for re-aligning a standard drawer runner:

1. Unscrew all of the runner screws, except for the rear screw so that the runner can pivot at the back.
   
   
2. Put a level on the runner (assuming the cabinet is already level) and mark the new holes for the screws. You can either do this with a bradawl, or use a pencil and then drill pilot holes with a cordless drill.
   
   
3. Screw the runner back in place using the new holes.