How To Measure

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Be sure to double check you measurements.

If you are not using your old doors to order sizes, just add 1" to the height and width of your cabinet openings for both doors and drawer fronts. This gives you a 1/2" overlay all the way around the door or drawer front.  List each door separately.

If  you have a door opening that uses two doors butted together, measure the width of the opening, divide that in half and only add 3/8" (not 1/2") for each door.  For example:  A 20 inch opening with two butting doors would need two 10 3/8" wide doors.  This will give you room to adjust the center gap between the two doors after they are hung.  You still add 1" to the height of the doors.

Very Important!

Always list the width first.  (Example 16*28 door / 16*4 drawer front )  What can happen when you don't?  A good example of what can happen concerns the sets of doors over most refrigerators and sometimes over stoves.  The openings in these two places in the kitchen are often wider than they are tall.  That means, if you make the mistake of listing the height first,  the wood grain will be running the wrong way and you will have to re-order.  This is the number one mistake people make when ordering.  So always double check.   (Of course this is not a problem with solid color doors since there is no grain.)
What About A Lazy Susan?

If you have the kind of Lazy Susan door that mounts to a shelving unit and spins around inside the opening, Lazy Susan doors are simple to measure.  Simply turn the door around inside the opening to measure the back side. Measure from the outside edge of the door to the point  where the doors meet in the back ( left diagram A) and from the top to bottom (left diagram B) and mark your measurement with LS (Example: 11 x 27LS ) List Lazy Susans as 2 doors.  The manufacturer will miter the back edges of the 2 doors to create the 90 degree angle you will need when installing them.

If you have the kind of Lazy Susan Door that mounts to the outside of the cabinet and both doors swing open with a piano hinge attaching them, it's a little different.   Measure one side of the Lazy Susan opening (both sides should be the same, but not always) and add your overlay (usually 1/2") Then subtract 3/4" for the piano hinge to function in the corner (right diagram AA)  List your doors separately with hinge boring requested for only one of the doors.  You will need to make a note, requesting a square edge profile on one long side of the doors where the piano hinge will attach.

 

Other Things to Consider

Revealed hinges are designed to fit 1 1/2" minimum styles.  (Styles run vertically and rails run horizontally)  If you have 2 doors that hang hinge-to-hinge, you should have a 3" style.  If yours is narrower,  you can simply screw a length of oak or pine stained or refaced to match your frames to each side of the opening before you measure for the doors.  Adding about 3/4" to each side usually does the trick and keeps the door centered.  You need a minimum or 2" where doors meet hinge-to-hinge.

Our Blum Hidden hinges require a 1/4" gap between doors butted back to back and 1/8" on the ends.  In a corner, you need 3/4" (thickness of the door) plus 1/8".

Prepping Drawers

On some drawer boxes, you can simply unscrew the old front and attach the new one.

But, if your old drawer front is actually part of the drawer box and not simply attached to the box with screws, knock out the existing drawer front creating a 3 sided box with an open end.  Square up and flush the ends with a saw and add a piece of pine to the front of the box ,where the old front was, to create a complete box.  Pre-drill holes in the sides of the drawer box when securing this piece.  Screw the new drawer front to the front of the box.

Some extra sturdy drawers are even easier to prepare.  Just cut off the overhang of the drawer front so the drawer will slide back into the cabinet flush with the frame.  Make sure the remaining front is still solidly attached before installing your new drawer front with screws.  One final note of caution: Be very careful not to put a screw through your new drawer front when attaching it. Pre-drilling the drawer box itself is always a good idea.