Edit ArticleHow to Hang Cabinet Doors Four Parts:Attaching the HingesInstalling the DoorAligning the Other DoorsSanding and Painting the DoorsCommunity Q&A Learning how to hang cabinet doors is a great way to update your home and give your kitchen a face lift. Whether you opt for brand new cabinets or refinishing your existing cabinets, you can save a lot of money by installing them yourself. You can sand and paint or stain old doors. Hanging the doors involves attaching the hinges to the door, determining how the door fits on the cabinet, and aligning the door evenly on the cabinet. For a whole row of cabinets, you can level each one with the first door you hang.If you took the hinges off of the door at the start, then you should be able to find the original screw holes. Line the hinges up with those holes and use a hand drive screwdriver to attach them. New doors may or may not have pre-drilled holes for the hinges. When working with new doors that have never had hinges attached, carefully use a power drill to drill holes for the screws.
Make the holes very shallow so you don’t drill through the front of the door. Look for a mark of some kind, or read the instructions that came with the cabinets, to determine where the hinges need to go. If you are working with hinges that stay together as one piece, attach them to the door before you attach them to the cabinet. Some hinges will come into two pieces and you’ll attach one to the door and one to the cabinet itself. Determine how the door fits against the cabinet. There are at least a few types of cabinet doors, which include overlay doors and partial inset doors. The type of door and the type of hinges determines the best way to attach the door. If the inside of the door is flat, it is probably an overlay door. If there is a ridge on the inside of the door that would rest inside the cabinet, it is a partial inset door. You can hold the door up against the cabinet to see how it fits. For a partial inset door, move it around to see it if fits tightly in the cabinet opening or if there is room to move it around.
This will affect how you position it when you hang it. The type of door you have will determine where the hinges go, to an extent. Some hinges will attach to the face of the cabinet, while others will attach inside the cabinet. Look for pre-drilled holes in the cabinet. This will help you determine where the hinges attach to the cabinet. If you find holes on the outside or on the inside, that will tell you where the hinges go. If you don’t find holes, it’s good to consult the instructions if you have them. You may need to drill holes. If you can’t find holes anywhere, and you don’t have instructions, you’ll have to do a little bit of guesswork to determine exactly where the hinges attach. With doors that inset, there is a pretty small margin of error for where you could place the hinges. With overlay doors, your goal is to center the door on the cabinet opening. Affix the hinges to the cabinet using a screwdriver. Have someone help you hang the door. If you attach the hinges to the inside of the cabinet, the door will have to be open, so having someone hold it while you insert the screws will help a lot.
This is the part where you have to move the door and use your own judgment to align the door straight. Using a small level can help you align the door. It can be helpful to put 1 screw in each hinge and see if the door hangs straight and swings open smoothly. If not, you can remove the screw from one of the hinges, adjust the door slightly, and then replace the screw. When you feel that the door is aligned, insert the rest of the screws into the hinges. Test the door by opening and closing it a few times to see if it moves smoothly.Some cabinets include a latch which keeps the cabinet door shut. This might be a magnetic piece, a roller, or some other type of latch. These are usually attached to the top corner of the door on the opposite side from the hinges. The second part of the latch should be attached to the corresponding spot on the cabinet. This is an optional step because not all cabinets need a latch to stay closed. Even if your cabinets did not come with latches, you can buy some at a hardware store.
The holes on the latch pieces where the screws go are often slotted so you can move the screws around as needed. You have the ability to adjust the placement so the latch pieces connect. Install the handles or knobs using a screwdriver. Some cabinets do not have knobs. The type of handle may determine how you attach it to the door. For upper cabinets, be sure to attach the handle near the bottom of the door. For lower cabinets, the handle should go near the top. Cabinets which feature a handle or knob should have pre-drilled holes which show you where the handle goes. You’ll most likely attach the screws on the inside of the door. Make a guideline with painter’s tape. Open the door that you already hung up. Stretch a piece of tape from the hinged corner of the door across the lower front edge of the rest of the cabinets. You want roughly half of the tape to be covered by the door and half of the tape to be visible. Make this tape line as level as you can. You can use a level to guide as you stretch it out.
Use a level to mark a line for the second cabinet door. Holding the level against the bottom of the first cabinet door, draw a line under the opening for the second door. This line will give you the proper angle to match the second door up to the first door. Hang the second door. Repeat this process for the remaining doors. Choose a work area with plenty of ventilation. Use drop cloths to reduce the mess. If the weather is nice and warm, you can work outside, but if you work inside it is best to cover things well. If you are doing a lot of doors, you may want to do a few at a time to reduce the clutter. If you have doors containing glass, it’s a good idea to tape some paper over the glass to protect it from stains. You’ll also want to be careful as you move these doors around so you don’t break the glass.You will be sanding and painting the doors, and this is much easier to do with only the wooden door. Use a screwdriver, electric or hand drive, and take off all the hinges and knobs or handles.
Set these aside for when you put them back on. These are most likely interchangeable between doors, but you can mark them in some way if you want to put them back with the same door they were on. Sand the outside of your cabinets. Whenever you refinish wood, it is a good idea to give it a thorough sanding first. You can use a few coarseness levels to get the job done. Using a sanding block for all of the flat areas will save you time. Sanding serves two main purposes: it removes old paint or stain and roughs the surface up for new paint or stain. Don’t go overboard and take a half inch off the doors, but make sure that all of the old paint or stain is gone. When you finish, the doors should have a smooth, dull look to them. Prime and paint or stain the doors. If you want to paint your cabinet doors, it is always good to give them a coat of primer. It helps the paint stick. If you stain them, you don’t need any other product, but you may want to put two or three coats on for a full coverage.