How I Replaced Broken Cabinet Latches in My Home

As a hands-on homeowner, one of the ways I keep down costs is by tackling minor repairs on my own before calling in a professional. From my own experience, I have discovered that many repairs can be fixed with a bit of common sense and the right tools.

One of the repairs I made in my home recently was replacing some of our old kitchen cabinet latches. A few of the "catches" had broken in half which meant that my kitchen cabinets were no longer staying shut. Here's how it was done.

1. Determine what's broken.
Cabinet latches are two piece units consisting of a latch and a catch. In my kitchen, it was just the catches (the receiving end of the latch) that was broken and needed to be replaced. Before ordering replacement latch assemblies for your kitchen, it's wise to assess what part of the latch assembly is broken and if a complete kit will be necessary or just the catch.

2. Remove an intact catch for comparison.
Catches come in many different styles ranging from ball style to knuckle catches, rollers, grabbers, and more. The easiest way to find an exact match is by removing one of the working catches from a kitchen cabinet to bring to the Hardware store. The catches can be removed using either a straight or Phillips screwdriver.

For unusual catches or antique reproduction catches, on line resources include the following:
Grainger.com which carries a wide range of catch styles.
Rejuvenation.com for reproduction catches and latch assemblies.

3. Replacing the catches.
Catches tend to be standardized which means that the screws that will hold the new catch in place should fit neatly into the space vacated by the old catch. To switch out the catch, these instructions will help.
--Remove the old catch using a screwdriver.
--Lineup the screw holes in the new catch with the existing holes in the cabinet door.
--Gently attach the new catch. Tighten the screws until it "grips" the wood.
--Test the latch to make sure that it works.

What do you do if some of the holes don't match up? Line up the catch in the proper location on the cabinet, and mark the hole locations with a black felt marker. Remove the catch, and then "start" the hole in the marked locations using a small nail. This is done by gently hammering the nail into the wood to a depth of 1/8 of an inch. Back out the nail, line up the catch to the holes and attach using the screws.

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How to mix leftover paint for DIY projects.
How to remove old wallpaper glue easily.
A DIY guide for unsticking a sticky front door.