Example of a lift up cabinet door before - no control and flings open with great force.
Example of a lift up cabinet door after - more control during opening and now soft closes.
Problem(s):
Lift up door came off its hinges. Lift up door fell down. Lift up door broken. Lift up door opens too fast.
The main issue we see with lift up cabinet doors is the hardware choice from the manufacturer, especially in condos where builders are not incentivised to use more costly higher quality hardware. Additionally, builders tend to spec “one size fits all” hardware that doesn’t account for the cabinet door size and weight.
The hardware on a lift up door is most commonly some sort of hydraulic piston similar to the hood or hatchback of a car. The main issue is that the pistons are far too strong and when the door is opened and the user lets go the door flings open with great force and can rip the hinges out of the door or cabinet, pulling the bracket where the piston mounts off the cabinet or door.
Solution(s):
The best solution we have found is to replace the hardware on the door. This includes new hinges and mounting plates, which must be soft close per the manufacturer’s specs. Also, we mount a Blum Aventos closing mechanism (sometimes we will use 2 mechanisms), which is specified depending on the cabinet door size and weight and is tuned on site via adjustment screws. The key difference between these and the pistons is that they counteract the weight of the door, so when the user opens the door as much as they want and remove their hand the door will stay in place no matter where in its travel it is. This means the door won’t fling open, rip off hinges, or slam. There are other mechanisms that are more complicated and costly, which certainly have their place and can always be considered, but we find that the Blum Aventos HK closing mechanism is the best functionality for the price and provides a long service life with minimal fuss.
Common Repair Request(s):
Why can’t you just remount the parts that came off the cabinet or only replace some parts?
Unfortunately, there is an inherent flaw in the original design and it would be a disservice to just remount the existing system as-is because it will not be long before this issue presents again. For this reason, we would much rather solve the problem once, so that you won’t have to worry about it again.
Timeline:
~2-3 hours
Cost:
$500/door