Types of Cabinet Hinges

In order to determine what type of cabinet hinge will work best for your cabinet, identify what type of cabinet you have.

Frameless cabinets are originally of European design and have recently grown in popularity in contemporary American homes. There is no frame, allowing you to feel around the entirely of the cabinet opening smoothly. The hinges on frameless cabinets are installed directly on the inside of the cabinets.

Framed cabinets are the more traditional style of American-built cabinets. They feature a frame around the face of the cabinet, like a picture frame. The hinges on framed cabinets are installed on the frame,
and the cabinet door sits on the outside of the face frame.

See the diagram above to better understand frameless cabinets vs. framed cabinets.

The overlay on framed and frameless cabinets describes the amount of the cabinet door that lays on top of the cabinet opening.

Measure your cabinet’s overlay by making a faint pencil mark or putting a piece of tape along the edge of the cabinet doors when closed. Open the door and measure the distance between the cabinet opening the distance and the mark/tape.

You could also simply find the width of your cabinet doors. Measure from end to end, both doors together. Then subtract the width of your cabinet’s opening. Divide that difference by two to get each door’s overlay length.

The most common overlay lengths on American cabinets are
called partial overlay and full overlay.

• Partial overlay leaves some space between doors. Most common overlay lengths on American cabinets are 1/2-inch and 1 1/4-inch.
• Full overlay leaves little to no space between doors.

When you’re updating cabinets, you have many different cabinet hinges to choose from. Here are some common cabinet hinge types:

• Face frame hinges are also called semi-concealed hinges. They’re mounted on the frame. The frame wing is visible while the door wing is attached to back of door.
• Flush hinges are completely concealed or only a knuckle is exposed. Both the frame and door wings are mounted inside.
• Full overlay hinges can be interior or exterior. They attach to doors where the end of the closed door fully covers the cabinet frame.
• Half overlay hinges are either completely interior or exterior. The closed door fully covers the cabinet frame with these hinges.
• Inset hinges are installed inside the cabinet frame and flush with the closed cabinet face. They can either be concealed or exposed. You'll need a doorknob to open a cabinet with these hinges.
• Partial overlay hinges allow typically a 1-inch gap between doors. This allows the face frame to be seen. You don’t need any hardware to open doors with partial overlay hinges.
• Surface mount hinges mount to the door and are fully visible from the front. They don’t require a hole for installation.
• Variable overlay hinges are designed for overlay doors on framed cabinets.
• Wraparound hinges have the leaf of the hinge wrapping around the frame. A partial wrap touches two sides of the frame. A full wrap touches three frame sides.

• Butt hinges have two rectangular leaves joined by a pin or rod. You can remove the joining rod or pin if you need to take off the door. Only the pin shows when the door is closed.
• Continuous hinges have long and beautiful leaves with multiple screw holes. They’re commonly used on pianos, so they’re also called piano hinges.
• Corner hinges are generally used with the wide-angle opening of corner kitchen cabinets.
• Friction hinges slow the pivoting motion of cabinets. Some models can keep the door held open in any position.
• Butterfly hinges resemble a butterfly. Both sides are fully visible when the cabinet door is closed.
• Pie cut hinges attach two corner cabinet doors together.
• Semi-concealed hinges, also known as semi-wrap hinges, show part of the hinge when the door is closed.
• Self-closing cabinet hinges are spring-loaded so the door can close on its own.
• Soft-close cabinet hinges reduce the noise of a closing cabinet door.

When replacing a drawer slide, examine how the drawer is currently installed. Your drawer may use a slide system that’s installed on the bottom of the drawer, along the side of the drawer or along the drawer’s bottom joint. Choose new drawer slides that have the same type of installation. Make sure they're also the same length as your current drawer slides.

When installing new drawers, consider the required length and extension to find the best slide system for your drawers.

Drawer slide length:

• Drawer slides typically range in length from 10 inches to 28 inches. Specialty slides can be shorter or longer.
• For side-mount drawer slides, measure the distance between the front edge of the cabinet and the inner face of the cabinet. Subtract 1 inch from this measurement to find the slide length you need.
• For undermount drawer slides, measure the length of the drawer. They must be the same length as the drawer to work properly.

Drawer slide extension:

• Drawer slides only allow the drawer to extend a certain distance from the cabinet when open.
• 3/4 extension drawer slides allow most of the drawer to extend, while a small part of it remains in the cabinet. This can be a space-saving option when you don’t necessarily need full access to the drawer.
• Full extension drawer slides allow the drawer to extend the full length of the slide. This doesn’t always mean the drawer opens completely beyond the cabinet.
• Over travel extension drawer slides allow the drawer to extend outside of the cabinet, granting full access, even under countertop edges.

Also pay attention to a drawer slide’s weight rating. Drawer slides can only support the drawer if both the drawer and its contents are within its weight rating. Most drawer slides are rated for 75 to 150 pounds.

Tip: Make sure the slides will have enough clearance between the drawer and the cabinet to operate properly.

• While standard drawer slides use a plastic or nylon roller to operate, ball bearing drawer slides use a set of stainless-steel ball bearings. They’re quieter and smoother than roller slides and are available as soft-close slides.
• Side mount drawer slides attach to both sides of the drawer and the inside of the cabinet. They’re easy to install.
• Undermount drawer slides are ball bearing slides that mount to the side of the cabinets. These slides connect to a locking device mounted on the underside of the drawer. They’re entirely concealed from view.
• Bottom mount drawer slides are a slide set that wraps around the bottom joints of the drawer. They’re subtler than side mount slides. However, they're not entirely concealed like undermount slides.

• Push-to-open drawer slides eliminate the need to use handles or other hardware. Simply push the front of the cabinet or drawer and it will pop out to open.
• Self-closing drawer slides smoothly pull the drawer shut the last few inches. This eliminates loud slams and squished fingers.
• Hanging drawer slides install under a shelf or cabinet.
• Keyboard drawer slides are designed to attach to the bottom of a desktop for keyboard storage.