Everyone loves wine, but wine racks are not always the best design choice. As a result, you may be curious about how to remove a wine rack from your cabinet to store other things more efficiently. Wine racks are known for taking up a lot of space and being difficult to clean underneath them. Removing one is an easy process that anyone can do!
This is a project that can be do-it-yourself, especially if you have all the tools. In this blog post, we will show you the easy steps that need to be taken to remove a wine rack from a cabinet. Keep reading to learn how you can remove your wine rack today!
Table of Contents
How to Remove Your Built-In Wine Rack
With wine racks being a popular wine storage solution, they can be difficult to remove from an existing cabinet. But fear not! We will show you the easy steps to remove the wine rack from the cabinet successfully.
In short, we will cover the four overarching points, but we are here to assure you that removing a wine rack from a cabinet is easy!
Clean and Prep the Surrounding Area
Remove wine bottles and wine accessories that will be in the way during the removal process, such as:
- Corkscrews
- Aerators
- Anything else
This is best done before removing wine racks.
Next, you want to inspect the area where you will be taking apart the wine rack.
What’s Involved in Inspecting the Area?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to better direct your removal process:
- Does the wine rack use screws, nails, or glue to connect to the other cabinetry?
- How is the wine rack installed?
- Is there an easy way to pry up the wine rack trimming if they are attached by nails?
If there happens to be a stain left from wine spills or wine seeping through the wood, remove it with a gentle cleanser and warm water to prevent damage.
Remove The Wine Rack from the Cabinet
Now it’s time to gather your tools and get started on removing the wine rack from the cabinets.
You will need to locate where the screws are placed in your cabinetry. If it appears that the rack was attached by glue, it may be useful to warm up the glue to make it easier to remove.
For this project, you will need to use the proper tools, which include the following:
- Dust masks
- Hammer
- Heat gun or hair dryer (optional)
- Pliers
- Pry bar
- Safety goggles
- Screwdrivers or drill
You want to ensure protection against injury and property damage when you are removing the wine rack. Be careful and take your time with the removal process.
Here’s the Step-By-Step Process for Removal
Use the following steps to remove your wine rack from the cabinets:
- After removing wine bottles and wine accessories, you can begin to remove the wine rack from the cabinet.
- Inspect the area around the wine rack for the nails or screws that hold it in place. If they are there, use a pry bar of some sort to get under them and lift up on their ends.
- Continue prying until they are out far enough that you can pull them with pliers without damaging anything else in your cabinet.
- Screws may be removed by using a screwdriver after loosening them beforehand with either a drill bit or a hand socket wrench.
- Glue can be removed by heating it with a heat gun or hairdryer and pried up.
- Use your hands to maneuver the wine rack in a way that makes it easy to dispose of it properly.
- Place the wine rack in a safe area, where it can be used again or disposed of without damage to property or injury.
If your cabinets had a wine rack installed using nails, it might be a bit more of a challenging removal process. The best option you have is using a hammer and saw to slowly break and remove the wine rack pieces.
Then once removal has been completed, you can simply dispose of wine rack pieces in the garbage. If you are crafty, you may think about repurposing the wine rack lattices for a craft project.
Troubleshooting As Needed
Overall, it should only take you seven simple steps to remove your wine rack from the cabinets.
However, this will not necessarily keep you from running into problems. The best thing you can do if you run into a problem is to first troubleshoot and see if you can resolve the issue.
If your wine rack removal is not going according to plan, here are some things to think about:
- Your wine rack gets stuck – If the wine rack is not coming out, you may need to remove the cabinet door and see what’s going on. This can also include the hinges, so you have the maximum amount of space possible for removal.
- Your wine rack appears to be glued – If the wine rack looks like it has been glued in place, consider the use of a pry bar or claw hammer for removal and try heating the glue with a hairdryer to give it more pliability.
- Your wine rack extends from the cabinets – If the wine rack is expanding outwards from the cabinet, consider using a screwdriver or electric drill to remove wine rack pieces.
Sometimes these tips and tricks work great, but sometimes wood expands and makes it next to impossible to get your hands around each piece of the wine rack without breaking them off! If that is the case, move on to the next section about avoiding damage to your other cabinets.
Now, if these tips do not help you, you may have to resort to breaking the wine racks down for good. If this happens, the easiest option would be to avoid as much damage as possible, which leads perfectly to our next point.
Avoid Damage, If Possible
The biggest thing you need to worry about is damage to your cabinet or the surrounding cabinets. Be sure you take things slow and steady when removing the wine racks from the cabinet. If you are too hasty, it could lead to damages that will require more work on your part (and most likely cost more, too). Some examples of potential damage include:
- Cracks
- Scratches
- Even deeper damage
Damage is one of the most concerning things when you are removing a wine rack. It is most important that you do not do more damage, especially if you do not want to have to fix the cabinet you remove the wine rack from.
Patience is your biggest asset during the wine rack removal process. By being patient and taking your time to remove your wine rack, it is a little more difficult, but it can still be done with some patience.
You now have all the information you need to remove wine racks from your cabinet without damaging them or the surrounding cabinets. Just make sure that when removing wine racks from a cabinet that they are not too heavy for you, and ask a friend for help if you need it.
How Do You Remove Mounted Cabinets?
If you also want to remove mounted cabinets while you are removing your wine rack, we have you covered.
Follow these six steps to remove mounted cabinets:
- Clean out everything inside and move any objects around your workspace.
- Remove screws where the cabinet you want to remove is attached to other cabinets.
- Locate screws on the top or upper inside of the cabinet and remove these screws.
- Have a friend help hold the cabinet, so it does not fall on you.
- Remove the bottom screws. These can be found inside the bottom or underneath the cabinet.
- Your cabinet should come off the wall easily if all screws have been removed.
If you have any issues with the removal of mounted cabinets so of our previously mentioned troubleshooting can help. The biggest issue most people run into is forgetting a screw. Be diligent and look over all sides of the cabinet in order to avoid unnecessary damage to the walls or surrounding cabinets.
In Summary: Take A Wine Rack Down With A Hammer or Screwdriver
If you decide to remove your wine rack from your cabinetry, it can be a difficult process, but it will not be impossible. By following our easy steps, you will be able to remove wine racks from the cabinet with little effort and minimal damage.
Using some basic tools is all you will need to remove your wine rack from the cabinets. If your wine rack is a more complicated un-install, it might be easier to use a hammer and break it down carefully.