Soft Close Cabinet Door Damper, 10 Pack

Background - We purchased a house with a new kitchen, but the original owner did not purchase soft close hinges. With two kids, the slamming of the cabinet doors began to wear on the ears and nerves. Soft closes are the answer, but with 50 cabinet doors in the house, $6 per door seemed steep ($300 for the house). $150 seemed more reasonable.Construction - Let's be clear. Polymer = Plastic. These are chromed plastic. They are also inexpensive, so this is another case of getting what you pay for. At the local big box similar items cost about $6 each, but are cast metal. These are half that at $3 each in bulk. I deducted one star for this, but these should be considered your bargain basement alternative to the higher quality metal versions.Quality - Quality is good, though some care should be taken in the threading of the adjustment housing that screws into the back of the piston chamber. Plastic threads are easily cross threaded, so if it doesn't feel right, you need to stop twisting and realign the threading. Once you have installed the item and adjusted it, you should never have to adjust them again,so it should not be a reason for you saving $3 a cabinet door.Installation - The housing is installed on to the cabinet first using an angled wood screw (included). After the housing is in place, the piston is installed from the back (it is keyed so you can't get it wrong) and the adjustment cap is carefully screwed on and adjusted (see notes above on Quality). I highly recommend that you drill pilot holes and not try and just use a power screwdriver to force the wood screw in. There is too much risk of misalignment and the housing is plastic. Since you are dealing with cabinets, it is a good idea to put masking tape on the drill bit at the maximum depth to prevent over drilling the hole. I used a 3/32 bit ( DEWALT DW2553 3/32-Inch Hex Shank Drill Bit ) to accomplish this task. For installing the screw, I recommend a low torque power screwdriver to get it most of the way in and a quality screw driver to tighten until snug. Phillips heads are used to accomplish the task.Placement - I placed mine on the upper portion of the cabinet on the hinge side of the door. This puts the device out of the way and is where I always have seen them placed at the box stores.Adjustment - The cap housing on the back allows you to adjust the extension length of the piston. Twist to the desired length and you are done.Use - Once they are in, you really forget that they are there. When you close the cabinet door, the piston slows the closure of the door so it gently makes contact with the cabinet face.Long term durability - Since I just installed them, I can not comment on how these will hold up. My opinion is that they should last at least 7 years, maybe longer, in a residential application. I will update this review if one fails.Recommendation - For residential, normal use, I would recommend these if cost is your concern. For commercial or high use applications, I would have concerns (although these are not founded on fact or experience, just a comparison of the construction of higher cost versions). Also if money is no object, then $300 will get you a house full of metal housings. Clearly there are better constructed units out there, but expect to pay more. If this is a good deal or not will really be told over time.

For the price, I was amazed how well they looked and the ease of installation. They have been installed for a month now with no issues on our Kitchen cabinet doors which get quite a bit of use. They are plastic, so we'll see how long they hold up, but for the value, order extra's and keep some backups. Much cheaper than having some installed while having your house built.

While installing them is far better than what I had before, the saying "you get what you pay for" definitely applies. They install easily. I had no problems with the screws but definitely pre-drill your holes. If I had not, i know the installation would have been a real headache. The pictures make them look a little more like metal then they actually are. They are plastic construction but that wasn't what I was disappointed about. Some of the little pistons are stronger than others. You may need to switch some out depending on the size of your cabinet doors. Adjusting them is very simple. Doesn't stop the door, turn the screw on the back a little tighter. Otherwise, i definitely like that they help lower the noise.

The review from Mr. Bickle was accurate and helpful. I bought and installed a 10 pack of these in my cabinets and it probably took me about 45 minutes, though I wasn't keeping track. Every single one installed and worked fine. I've had them in my cabinets for a couple of weeks now and they work great. No more cabinets loudly banging shut.I installed mine in the upper, inside corner of the cabinet (the side with the door). There is a little lip on the device that helps you position it against the outer wall of the cabinet hole (between the outer facing cabinet wall and the door.)They do feel cheaply made (plastic instead of metal) but so far have been working fine.

For the price I wasn't actually expecting these to work but they do. They are just plastic housings (as explained in the description) but they do work really well. I have put them on all of my cabinets. If I could make one suggestion, when you are screwing them into the cabinet have a small gap between the tab and the front of your cabinet so that as you tighten them they move into the proper location.My main complaint about these is that they don't come with any sort of instructions. They aren't very complicated, but a simple piece of paper with how to mount, how to adjust, etc. would have been nice. Overall a good product for the money.

I had several dud's right out of the box, the little hydraulic damper leaks and fails. These are really light duty and not as smooth as the blumotion. The Blumotion is so much more rugged and way smooter when you close the cabinet door, there's not comparison in quality and performanceBottom line, these are functional and pretty light duty, I'd say about 2-3 failed right away of the 10 or so that I bought but the others have held up for 6+ months now without any more failures. These are OK if you really can't afford any better; I like to be as cost concious as possible but in the future I will just buy more Blumotion.

I guess you can say you get what you pay for. The body of the unit is all plastic so not sure how long it will last. Was disappointed in the hydraulic damper itself. Each damper is not consistent in absorbing the close. Some work better than others even after adjusting. I gave this product a 3 star because I am comparing them to the ones I purchased for my kitchen where the body was steal and hydraulics were consistent and sturdier. Lucky I didn't use these in my Kitchen.Here's my recommendation spend the extra buck or two on dampers and you will be very happy.