Old cabinet guy told me to stop using pocket holes for face frames back in 2019

I was building kitchen cabinets for a new house in Austin and this retired cabinetmaker named Hank watched me work for about 10 minutes. He said, "Son, pocket holes are gonna let you down on face frames with heavy doors." I laughed it off because pocket holes are fast and easy. Six months later I got a call about a warped door that wouldn't close, and sure enough the face frame had twisted where I used pocket screws. Had to drive 45 minutes to fix it on a Saturday morning and the client was not happy. Now I use dowels and glue for face frames and haven't had a problem since. Anyone else had pocket holes fail on them after a few months?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_schmidt971mo ago

Honestly that old Hank guy knew what he was talking about. Pocket holes are great for quick assembly on cabinets and stuff but they just don't hold up long term when there's heavy doors putting stress on the frame every single day. The screws can loosen up over time especially with wood movement from humidity changes. Dowels and glue might take a little longer but that joint is solid and not gonna twist on you six months down the road. Ngl the time you save with pocket holes gets eaten up fast when you have to go back for warranty calls.

jaken231mo ago

Man I remember helping my buddy build a set of bathroom vanities back in 2018 with pocket holes because we thought we were being smart and fast. Looked great when we finished, all nice and flush. Fast forward like a year and a half and I'm helping him move some stuff around and I notice the doors are sagging like crazy on two of them. The screws had worked themselves loose just from the door swinging open and closed every day. We ended up having to reinforce everything with dowels and glue anyway, took twice as long as if we just did it right the first time lol. Dowels are boring but man they don't let you down.