By Gene and Katie Hamilton

It's not often one ponders their drawer glides but just let them get off track, break or sag and the drawer that normally opens effortlessly becomes difficult to use. Enter - new drawer glides. A handy homeowner with some basic carpentry skills and tools can make the repair; you'll need a measuring tape, screwdriver, drill and bits, and a carpenter's level. However, if the furniture is an antique or the drawer is warped it's a job best left to a cabinetmaker who does repair work. But when a standard everyday drawer goes off metal track you can make a fast fix that will make it operate as good as new.

A handyman will charge $130 to replace a pair of broken or misaligned metal drawer glides. The job is so small you may have difficulty finding someone to do it. To make it worthwhile for both of you combine the repair with several odd jobs that need to be done.

You can do it yourself for $20, the cost of the replacement mechanism, and save 84 percent. The job involves diagnosing the repair, choosing new glides, determining and aligning the location of the new glides and then installing them, easily accomplished in an hour or two.

Looking for a handyman to do the job? Click Home Advisor, a free referral services that matches homeowners with local prescreened contractors.

Here is a link to Cabinet Parts, an online source for Drawer Glides and Hardware.

Wrapping up, given the average cost to replace drawer glides you can compare the price of a contractor’s bid with doing it yourself. For a local cost input your ZIP Code.

Improvement and Repair Cost Updated 2019

The cost and time data is generated by averaging labor and material data from annually updated cost books used by contractors and refined by the authors' experience remodeling 13 houses. They are authors of 20 home improvement books and Do It Yourself or Not, a weekly column syndicated by Tribune Content Agency. The national cost can be adjusted by ZIP Code.