At one time or another, you will probably find it necessary to remove a drawer in a cabinet or piece of furniture. Most of the time when you do so, you will discover that the drawer has an undermount drawer slide of some type. In this article, we will cover the common types of drawer slides, and the actions necessary in order to remove a drawer with one of the undermount slides in place.
how to remove drawers with wood glides?
Every now then , certain cleaning and moving tasks may require you to manually remove the drawers from a cabinet, dresser, or similar piece of furniture. Removing drawers could be a cinch in most cases, but the method can vary a small amount counting on the sort of drawer you're working with. Most wood-glide and free-rolling drawers will come straight out with a touch little bit of force or a tilt at the proper angle. For drawers with stopping mechanisms like stabilizer screws or anti-tip cables, you’ll got to remove the screws holding the drawer in situ before you'll finish pulling it out.
3 Ways to Remove Drawers:
- Metal Guide Slides
- Wooden Drawer Slides
- Stabilizer Screws And Catch Tabs
Metal Guide Slides
The most common type of drawer undermount slides are metal guide slides with levers. To remove a drawer using metal guide slides:
- Starting with the top drawer, work your way down in order to prevent it from becoming top heavy and tipping over.
- Stand directly in front of the drawer in order to ensure that you are pulling it fully out toward you without pulling it to one side or the other.
- Pull the drawer out all the way to the point that it naturally stops in the slide mechanism.
- Find the track levers, which are typically found in the center of the track.
- Using both hands, simultaneously press both levers.
- Hold the levers down, and pull the drawer the remainder of the way out.
- At this point with the levers engaged, the drawer should easily pull all the way out of the slot.
Wooden Drawer Slides
Often found on older pieces of furniture such as armoires and older bureaus, wooden drawer slides are going to require more tugging and a less gentle approach in order to free the drawer from the slide. To remove a drawer using wooden drawer slides:
- Starting with the top drawer, work your way down in order to prevent it from becoming top heavy and tipping over.
- Stand directly in front of the drawer in order to ensure that you are pulling it fully toward you without pulling to one side or the other. This is particularly important with wooden drawer slides as they have a tendency to become more resistant to removal with any opportunity to be off-centered.
- Pull the drawer all the way out until the point that it naturally stops.
- Using both hands, start to lift the drawer upward and continue pulling it toward you simultaneously.
- You need to force the drawer out of the wooden slide as gently as you can. It may take quite a heavy amount of tugging upward and pulling forward toward you at the same time in order to force the drawer from the wooden slide.
- Once you have the drawer disengaged from the wooden slide, it should easily pull out of the drawer slot.
Stabilizer Screws And Catch Tabs
For this type of undermount drawer slide removal, you will need a screwdriver. It depends on the stabilizer screw that is in the drawer which type of screwdriver youâll need, flathead or Phillips. However, in most cases, it will be a Phillip's head. To remove a drawer slide with stabilizer screws and catch tabs:
- Starting with the top drawer, work your way down in order to prevent it from becoming top heavy and tipping.
- Stand directly in front of the drawer to ensure that you are pulling it straight toward you without pulling it to one side or the other.
- Stand in front of the drawer and pull it all the way out until the point that it stops naturally in the slide.
- Find the stabilizer screws, usually 2 of them, inside the body of the drawer.
- Unscrew and remove the stabilizer screws from the body of the drawer.
- Now find and release the catch tabs that are located on either side of the drawer.
- With the catch tabs held in the released position, pull the drawer the remainder of the way out of the slide.
- Once you have pulled the drawer free from the slide, it should easily be pulled from the drawer slot.
Customer questions & answers
How do you remove a drawer without a lever?
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How do you remove Hettich drawer slides?
Final Verdict
Although some of the Remove Drawer With undermount slides can be tricky to disengage from, with a little patience you should be able to locate any releases or catch tabs that need to be depressed to allow the drawer to disengage from the slide. Remember for safety reasons, you should never work from the bottom up, as it will allow the furniture to become top-heavy and possibly tip over upon you.