The information on door hinges below applies to hinges for residential homes and not for commercial applications. The hinges on our website that we call “Architectural Hinges” are the ones most people want to use when upgrading the hardware in their home or when installing new custom doors. Architectural hinges are a higher quality hinge, made of heavier grade material than Residential hinges. They are available in all hinge sizes from 3″ x 3″ up to 6″ x 6″ and larger. Architectural hinges are available in a wider choice of finishes than are Residential hinges. They are also available with an NRP feature (NRP means non-removeable pin). An Architectural hinge with NRP is recommended on a door which swings outward. An outward swinging door has its hinge pins exposed and can be removed by unauthorized persons. When you upgrade existing hinges from Residential grade to Architectural grade keep in mind that you must increase the mortise depth on the door and jamb because Architectural hinges are thicker.
An upgrade to the plain bearing Architectural Hinge is the Ball Bearing Architectural Hinge. Hinges do wear out over time. Heavier doors and wider doors put more stress on the hinges and they tend to wear on the hinge knuckles. The ball bearings are placed between the knuckles to reduce friction. Ball bearing hinges increase the life of the hinge, tend not to make a creaking sound, make the door easier to open and are a good choice anytime a door closer is used. Residential Hinges are the door hinges that are used in most tract type housing today. They are lighter in weight and they are only available in a limited number of sizes and finishes. They are generally only available in 3 sizes (3″ x 3″, 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″, and 4″ x 4″). They are best used in lightweight doors. The above comparison between Architectural and Residential hinges is a general guideline. Some hinge manufacturers may use slightly different thicknesses, screwhole patterns, etc. The top hinge should be located 5″ from the rabbet in the door frame (measure to the top of the hinge barrel).
The bottom hinge should be located 10″ from the finished floor (measure to the bottom of the hinge barrel). This is the U.S. Standards procedure. Certain western states use as a standard 7″ from the top and 11″ from the bottom. The third hinge should be centered between the top and the bottom hinges. Swing Clear Hinges are used whenever a door is required to swing completely clear of the openings so that wide equipment (for example wheel chairs) can pass through. Wide Throw Hinges position the door out further when it is open than conventional hinges. They are used when a door is set back in a reveal (or where a door has a wide door jamb) and is required to open 180 degrees. Swing Clear Door Hinge Wide Throw Door Hinge3 Safer Door Hinges to Make Your Home More Secure The following safe door hinges will help prevent exposed hinge pins from being removed, and will deter burglars from attempting to detach the door in this manner. Even if your hinge pins are on the inside face of the door, it's still recommended to incorporate these hinges for added security.
Setscrew in the hingeOne design keeps the hinge pin in place with a setscrew, or a small screw threaded through the middle of the hinge. If the door is closed, the setscrew cannot be accessed. You also can fashion this style of hinge yourself by drilling a hole through the middle of the hinge and into the pin, and then installing a small setscrew. However, if the door is in the open position, the setscrew is exposed and can be retracted, and the hinge pins removed. So remember to grind down this setscrew so would-be burglars cannot take it out.Fast-riveted (crimped) pinsThese pins are longer than the hinge height, and once inserted into the hinge, they are crimped on their ends to create a rivet on the top and bottom of the pin. The crimping prevents the pin's removal. These pins give the most security, but you won't be able to easily detach your door if you need to: You'll have to remove the hinges entirely in order to do so.Safety studsSafety studs or pegs offer another option to keep your hinges secure.
Hinges are available to purchase with this stud already in place, but if the screw-holes on the two sides (or leaves) of your hinges line up, a stud or small metal peg can be installed in one of the holes to fit into the corresponding leaf's hole when the door is closed. That way, even if the hinge pin is removed, the door still cannot be taken off its hinges because the stud holds it in place. If the screw-holes on the hinge leaves don't line up, drill to provide a matching hole. Then place a screw without a head or a short, thick nail into one of the screw-holes and have it projecting out to engage the opposite leaf. Safety studs are a good security measure if you still need to remove your door from time to time, but don't want to commit the time and effort to unscrew its hinges.Consult the prosBefore making any adjustments or retrofits to your door hinges, it's best to consult a locksmith or security contractor. They can assess your hinges and make any other professional recommendations to keep your doorways secure.
The information in this article was obtained from various sources not associated with State Farm®. While we believe it to be reliable and accurate, we do not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information. These suggestions are not a complete list of every loss control measure. The information is not intended to replace manuals or instructions provided by the manufacturer or the advice of a qualified professional. Nor is it intended to effect coverage under our policy. State Farm makes no guarantees of results from use of this information.Probably the best place to start is to figure out what type of cabinets and doors you have because that's typically how hinges are broadly categorized. There are two basic types of cabinets (with corresponding hinges): Face-frame cabinets incorporate a frame (often made from 1-1/2" to 2" wide solid wood) that is attached to the front edges, or face, of the case. Hinges mount to this face frame. This is the most common style in American cabinets.
Frameless cabinets are essentially a four-sided box, typically made from 3/4" thick stock. Hinges mount to the cabinet interior. Frameless cabinets also are sometimes called Euro-style cabinets. This has to do with the position of the door in relation to the cabinet opening. The configurations for frameless and face-frame cabinets are slightly different. Overlay doors do exactly what the name implies: They cover the cabinet opening completely, overlapping the cabinet case or face frame on all sides. Inset doors, by contrast, fit entirely within the cabinet opening and sit flush with the cabinet sides or face frames when in the closed position. Partial-inset, 3/8" inset or lipped doors overlap the cabinet opening slightly on all sides, but a 3/8" x 3/8" shoulder machined along all edges on the back of the door allows part of the door thickness to sit inside the opening. Full overlay: A full-overlay door covers all or nearly all of the front edge of the cabinet.
This overlay type typically is used for doors at the ends of a cabinet. Half overlay: This overlay type is commonly used in the middle of a run of cabinets where the doors share a single partition wall. This hinge will allow the door to cover half of the partition wall (or approximately 3/8"). Don’t confuse this with 1/2" overlay, which will allow a door to cover up the cabinet or face frame by 1/2". Inset: As on face-frame cabinets, inset door on frameless cabinets fit within the cabinet opening and sit flush with the front edges of the cabinet. In some applications, the hinges are used to add stylistic detail to cabinetry; in others, visible hinges would detract from the desired effect. There are three basic options: Concealed hinge: No part of the hinge is visible from the outside of the cabinet when the door is closed. Ideal for modern, minimalist applications in which visible hardware would detract from the design. Semi-concealed hinge: A hinge that is at least partly visible from the outside of the cabinet when the door is closed.
May incorporate details such as a decorative ball tip or finial tip. Exposed hinge: A hinge that is fully visible on the outside of the cabinet when the doors are closed. Butt hinge: The quintessential traditional hinge, it’s composed of two pivoting plates whose interlocking fingers form a barrel and are held together by a pin. One plate is attached to the door; the other, to the cabinet. Butt hinges sometimes require a mortise in the door and/or the cabinet to prevent an excessive gap. Deluxe (adjustable mount) butt hinge: A butt hinge with elongated mounting slots that allow you to adjust doors horizontally and vertically for a perfect fit. Knife hinge: Shaped like scissors. One half of hinge mounts to top edge (or bottom edge) of door. Other half mounts to horizontal cabinet edge directly above (and below) door. European hinge: A type of concealed hinge especially popular on frameless Euro-style cabinets but also available for face-frame applications. European hinges have a mounting plate that secures to the cabinet and a cup that seats in a (typically 35mm) circular mortise drilled in the back of the door.
One popular benefit of Euro-style hinges is that they offer adjustment in two and sometimes three directions, making it easy to fine-tune the alignment of the door. Side adjustment regulates the gaps between doors, cabinets and walls for perfect parallel alignment. Height adjustment aligns doors precisely at top and bottom. Depth adjustment (not always available) lets you bring door faces in line with the vertical front of the cabinet. Another benefit is easy removal of doors for cleaning and refinishing. Take into account how far will the door need to open How far or to what angle a hinge will allow a door to open is called degree of opening. Some hinges will let the door open just beyond 90°, but others offering a much greater degree of opening are available. For example, a 270° hinge will allow the door to swing back against the cabinet side. (It bears noting, though, that this type of hinge will work only on a frameless cabinet with full overlay doors). Decide how you want the hinge to mount to the cabinet and door
Surface-mount hinge: A hinge that does not need a hole or mortise to be drilled in the door or cabinet in order to mount it. It simply mounts to the surface. Mortised hinge: A hinge that requires the cutting of a mortise or recess in the door or cabinet to fit the hinge leaves for proper mounting. No-mortise hinge: A style of surface-mounted hinge that screws directly to the cabinet and the door without any mortises or special recesses being cut into the surfaces. Wraparound: A style of hinge where the leaves are formed to wrap around the edge of the door and/or the cabinet side or face frame. A partial wraparound hinge will wrap around the door and have a plain flat leaf for the cabinet so it can be used on a frameless cabinet. A full back-to-back wraparound hinge will wrap around on both halves of the hinge so it can be used on a face-frame cabinet. Decide whether you want any special features Self-closing hinge:This type of hinge pulls the door shut when it is within a few inches of being closed and keeps it closed.