How to Square a Drawer

Whether you're building a set of drawers or your current set of drawers isn't working properly, you need to make sure you square the drawers so they perform efficiently. Here's how to do it.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wood glue
• Wood screws screwdriver
• L square
• Sandpaper

1. Lay out all your pre-cut and sanded pieces of wood or your already constructed drawers, so they're easy to grab when you're ready for them.

2. Take the back drawer piece and apply a liberal amount of the wood glue to one of the edges.

3. Take one of the side pieces and line up the edge of it to the bottom edge of the bottom drawer piece you just glued. The edge of the side piece should be flush to the bottom drawer piece.

4. Press the two sides together and screw in three wood screws to attach the side piece with the bottom drawer piece. Don't screw them in all the way yet.

5. Take the L-square and place the inside part against the corner of the two pieces you just attached and see if they square up. If they do, finish screwing the pieces together until the screws are tight. If they don't square up, remove the screws, realign again and then screw them together once more.

6. Repeat Steps 2 to 5 with the other side piece, attaching it to the other end of the bottom drawer piece.

7. Sand down or adjust any drawers that aren't completely square after this process.

Tips & Warnings

• If your drawers don't slide in and out freely, check the leads on your drawers and on your unit. They may not be installed properly.