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Update to My Simple and Quick Dresser Drawer Fix
Craftiness

Update to My Simple and Quick Dresser Drawer Fix

Kyra

•6 minutes to read

Years ago I fixed my daughter’s dresser drawers with a hot glue gun and declared the task completed. However, recently, I noticed one of the drawers started to sag again. After a quick look I realized I needed to alter my previous plan and thus I ended up upcycling an emptied cereal box. Here’s what I did!

Pinterest-geared image showing my blog title, main URL, an image of the sagging drawer, an image of the fixed drawer, and an arrow going from the old one to the new one.

Both my girls have their own dresser in their bedroom to store their clothing but I noticed, years ago, that one of these dressers frequently had its drawers stuck open. On inspection I realized that the bottom of the drawers shifted enough that they weren’t being held up by the frame and had instead sagged down. This meant the drawer was able to be pulled out as the bottom was pressed up as it opened but when we tried to push it back in the sagging edge got caught and stopped the drawer in its tracks. I quickly realized I could get around this by shoving the bottom up as I pushed in but after a while I realized I needed an actual fix. After pulling all the drawers out and emptying them I was able to fix the bottom of each drawer with my hot glue gun. This was a perfect fix and I had no complaint for years… though recently I noticed the top drawer has started sagging again. It wasn’t bad enough to get stuck open but I knew, given enough time, it would and so I needed to fix it again and soon.

I started removing all the drawers and was pleasantly surprised to see that the bottom two were still holding strong from the last time. I only needed to fix the top drawer! I carefully removed the contents, pulled it fully out, and carried it to the kitchen table where I had just plugged in my handy little hot glue gun. Upon closer inspection I was disheartened to realize that when I pushed the bottom into place it no longer reached the groove in the edges and thus couldn’t be held in place. I think this was also the case last time as I had used the glue gun to create a lip of sorts that the bottom could rest on. I knew this time we needed a better solution that would hold up for longer so I paused to think it over.

Image shows the drawer laid upside down on the table with the side closest to the viewer and the small blue hot glue gun in the background partly hidden.
I emptied and removed the drawer from the dresser and placed it upside down on the kitchen table where I could see it better.
Image shows a close up of the back of the drawer where the flat bottom is bowed enough to each the bottom of the drawer.
The sagging bottom was obvious especially when viewed from the center where the flat wood was almost even with the base of the back.
Same view of the drawer as the previous one but now the bottom was pushed down (hands out of sight) so you can see the inside of the drawer including where the groove that the base was supposed to be in.
Once I pressed down on the flat wood I could easily see the groove where the wood was supposed to rest within but I also saw the gap where it pulled away from the wall rather than nestle inside.

Looking around for inspiration I noticed my bag of recycling and realized I could use some leftover cardboard to create a surface for the bottom to rest on. After inspecting the groove I realized the cardboard boxes might be a bit too thick to fit but an emptied cereal box would be perfect. I grabbed one and lined it up with the groove to see that it fit perfectly!

Since this would be hidden within the dresser it didn’t matter how it looked. I quickly cut off a length of box about an inch or two wide. I then pushed the bottom of the drawer in, eyed how long the cardboard section was, and pushed a continuous bead of hot glue into the groove matching the length of the cardboard. Once the glue was in, without missing a beat, I gently shimmied the cardboard in so the glue would keep it in place. I then let go of the bottom and saw that the cardboard was capable of holding the bottom in place.

Image shows the same close-up of the draw but now there's a cut piece of thin cardboard jammed into the groove and keeping the bottom from popping back up. The cardboard almost matches the wood but this piece has some white bits on it that pop.
After cutting a strip of the cereal box I then pushed the bottom in, ran a bead of hot glue along the groove, and shimmied the cardboard in while making sure that the colorful side was down and hidden. Love how it kind of matches the surrounding wood.

To make sure this fix would last awhile I cut off two more strips of the cereal box and repeated the previous steps on either side of the first strip. This way the cardboard insert stretched from one end of the back of the drawer to the other.

Image shows one side of the same drawer with another piece of cardboard touching the first one's edge and stretching almost to the edge of the drawer.
I repeated the same steps twice more so the left and right side of the first piece of cardboard would continue to the far side. Now there’s cardboard inserted into the entire groove from the far left to the far right side.

With the cardboard in place within the groove I next lifted the loose side up a bit and pushed some more glue in to hold the entire piece in place. Once the glue was there I pressed firmly against the cardboard to fix it in place. I did this as I wanted to make sure the cardboard would stay in place longterm and not have a chance to hang and/or get snagged on anything. With that done I next added more glue along the groove to help hold the cardboard and the drawer bottom within the groove securely.

Image shows the cardboard again but there's now more glue bit showing along the grove and the odd bit showing from underneath in the upper right corner.
I then lifted the loose edge of the cardboard up from the bottom, pushed some glue out along the edge, and pressed the cardboard firmly back down to hold it in place better. I also applied glue along the groove to help hold it in place and add a little ledge it could rest on.

And with that this drawer was officially fixed… again. I still can’t believe that this simple glue gun fix held for so long as the bottom two drawers are still going strong. I have high hopes that the addition of cardboard along with more glue will help keep this top drawer in place for a way longer time.

If you have the same issue I hope this fix helps you. If you don’t have a hot glue gun I bought this mini-gun from Michaels Arts and Crafts years ago along with the mini glue sticks. Looking online now (on July 17th, 2022) I see my older and much loved Craft Smart® gun is only $2.99 while my other one, a Fashion Mini by ArtMinds®, is $3.99. Looking back I bought the ArtMinds® one as it was purple but it doesn’t work as well as the other older one as it’s not slated as a high heat glue gun. That said, the glue gets mighty hot so be careful while using it. Either way, whether you’ve used hot glue guns before or not, I hope this helps you fix your drawer. If so I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. If not I’d love to know if you used something else to fix it. Either way I hope you’re having a great day!

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