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When the entire front of our kitchen drawer came
off—both the solid-wood front and the front of the
drawer box—I discovered that the box had been
made of particleboard and fastened with staples
(sigh). Can the front be reattached? —CANDI MILLER, LIMA, OH
NORM ABRAM REPLIES: Staples
aren’t the best fasteners for any
drawer that gets tugged open
several times a day, particularly one
made of particleboard covered
with some kind of laminate. (I
assume you didn’t know what the
drawer-box material was because it
was covered with a laminate like
melamine .) There may also have
been some adhesive holding the
corners of the box together, but
that glue apparently lost its grip,
leaving you to make the fi x.
Fortunately, it’s not hard to do.
You’ll need a drill/driver, a
countersink bit, four bar clamps,
Norm Abram
tightens the
screws
holding a bin
pull to a
drawer front.
ASKTOH CELEBRATES 17 YEARS OF SERVICE
Based on this magazine’s popular Q&A column Ask
Norm, AskTOH the TV show made its debut in 2002
under the guidance of Russ Morash, the creator of
This Old House. Instead of a season-long deep dive
into a single renovation, each AskTOH episode
features multiple small-scale projects covered from
start to fi nish. The concise, engaging format has
allowed the show to travel to all 50 states, and
recently earned the series an Emmy Award.
In honor of the show’s 17th anniversary, the
questions selected for this issue refl ect the most
popular AskTOH topics—kitchens, doors and
windows, and plumbing.
Do you have your own home-renovation question?
Send it to thisoldhouse.com/askTOH
TOM SILVA
General Contractor
NORM ABRAM
Master Carpenter
RICHARD TRETHEWEY
Plumbing and Heating Expert
ROGER COOK
Landscape Contractor
KEVIN O’CONNOR
Host
Our team of
veteran experts