Which hinge do I need for a cabinet door?

Almost every cabinet door made in the last forty years uses a concealed European cup hinge, and the three variants are not interchangeable. Buying the wrong one produces a door that will not close, fouls its neighbour, or stands proud of the carcase — and the shop cannot tell you which you need without the two measurements.

What you'll need

• A tape measure or a steel rule
• The old hinge, if you have one (optional)
• A 35mm forstner bit, if boring new doors (optional)

Step by step

1. Identify the overlay by looking at the closed door.Does it cover the cabinet side almost completely? Full overlay. Do two doors each cover half of a shared centre panel? Half overlay. Does the door sit inside the opening, flush with the front edge of the sides? Inset.
2. Understand what changes between them.The cup and the mounting plate are the same. What differs is the crank of the hinge arm, which sets how far the door stands off the panel. That is why they cannot be swapped.
3. Measure the cup bore.The circular recess in the back of the door. Almost always 35mm; occasionally 26mm on very small doors and some older furniture. Measure it rather than assuming.
4. Measure from the door edge to the edge of the cup bore.Usually somewhere between 3 and 7mm. This dimension, together with the mounting plate height, sets the overlay the hinge was designed to give.
5. Choose the opening angle.Around 110 degrees is the standard and suits most cabinets. Wider angles exist where drawers have to be pulled out past the door, and there are specific hinges for blind corner cabinets, angled cabinets and doors over 90 degrees.
6. Decide on soft close.Integrated soft-close hinges have a damper built in; clip-on dampers can be added to existing hinges. Both work; the integrated version is tidier and the add-on is cheaper on an existing kitchen.
7. Count the hinges for the door size.Two for a normal cabinet door, three for a tall door or a heavy one, four for a full-height larder door. Manufacturers publish a chart by door height and weight.
8. Check the mounting plate as well.Plates come in different heights, which move the door in and out, and in different fixing patterns — screw-on, dowel, cam. A replacement hinge and an existing plate must be from a compatible system.
9. Take the old hinge with you if you can.Cup hinges are broadly standardised but not entirely, and comparing side by side settles it in seconds.

Tips

• Cup hinges adjust in three directions after fitting, which is what lets a run of doors line up. That adjustment is a separate procedure and it is worth knowing which screw does what.
• If you are boring new doors, a 35mm forstner bit in a drill stand or a jig is the standard method. Boring freehand rarely gives a hinge that sits square.
• Butt hinges, flush hinges and piano hinges are still right for some cabinets — a period piece, a plywood workshop cupboard, a lift-up lid — where a concealed hinge would look wrong.

Common mistakes

• Buying a full overlay hinge for a door on a shared centre panel — The two doors collide before either closes. The half overlay crank exists specifically to give each door its clearance.
• Assuming an inset door needs a normal hinge set further back — Inset hinges have their own crank geometry. Trying to achieve it by moving the plate produces a door that binds on the carcase edge.