What is a Hinged Door?

A hinged door is a door that swings open in one direction, as opposed to a sliding or pocket door that slides, folds, rolls, or pulls to open. Hinged doors swing using hinges. You can also opt for double doors that also swing on hinges, while other ranges of hinged doors are also available.

The most important aspects of choosing between the various hinged door design options are which type of hinges you want to buy for your door, your door's budget, and what it will be used for. To make the selection easier and learn more about hinged doors, let's break them down into the two most common types: surface-mounted hinges for doors and exposed (recessed) hinges for doors.

Reveal hinges in hinged doors allow you to hide the hinge mechanism within the face frame approximately 3/4" deep for a clean look without leaving any additional space behind the doorway. The opposite is surface mount hinges for doors, where the hinged part of the door is mounted on the surface of the doorway and can be placed about 3/4 inch from each edge to allow clearance.

Once you have made a choice between display hinges or surface mount hinges for your hinged door, then you will choose the right hinged door style. When choosing a door, consider how you plan to use the room based on traffic flow. If high traffic is required, choose a solid wood door rather than a plywood core door (at which point you may want veneer). If security is required, consider steel-hinged doors with a locking mechanism rather than latch hardware alone.

Hinged doors are best for rooms with the highest traffic. Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry/utility rooms, and storage rooms (entry closets) are good examples of where hinged doors can work. The advantage of this hinged door is that it can be opened or closed with one hand while holding an item or cart with the other. Hinged doors can also be placed at a 90-degree angle to hallways to keep passageways clear.

The four most common types of hinged doors are: bi-fold hinged doors, sliding hinged doors, folding hinged doors, and barn-hinged doors.

Bi-fold hinged doors provide access to a closet or storage area by stacking two or more panels side by side between two tracks. These hinged doors are available in many different materials and in various price ranges, including engineered hardwood, MDF (with or without veneer), PVC panels (with wood grain patterns), and stainless steel for high-humidity areas like laundry rooms.

These sliding doors roll on tracks installed on the floor and ceiling of the room. Modern hardware allows for a discreet fit inside your custom cabinets that can be opened with just one finger.

Folding-hinged doors are usually installed at a 90-degree angle to allow passage through narrow doorways. These folding doors are suitable for nearly all materials including engineered hardwood, MDF (with or without veneer), PVC panels (with wood grain patterns), and stainless steel for high-humidity areas like laundry rooms.

Barn-hinged doors are traditional farmhouse-style slatted doors that are popular in both residential and commercial installations. These hinged doors are usually mounted on a track system so they can be easily rolled open when needed, but these hinged doors provide privacy in other ways. You'll also find aluminum-hinged doors, patio doors, wood doors, French doors, and more. Most hinged doors are single doors, but it is also possible to find a series of hinged doors that swing open.

For greater security, each hinge should be evenly spaced across the door, as doors hinged this way leave a consistent space between the left and right doors.

1. Loosely mount the hinge leaves to the cabinet (or door) using self-closing screws. Adjusting them will allow you to capture subtle differences in cabinet face or backsplash width details. You want to make sure that both doors can swing freely without rubbing against cabinet surfaces.

2. Once you find these differences, firmly tighten all the screws on both leaves of each hinge. This is where you can now mark the points for the pivot or screw holes, depending on the type of surface mount hinge you are using. For concealed hinges, drill the pivot holes if not already done, while leaving both hinges free from their respective cabinets.

3. Use your marker to mark the screw or pivot point you want to use. If fully opened, this is where the two leaves meet.

4. Check the height of the hinges on the door by aligning the point on the exposed leaf with the marked location. Now that you have found the correct height, measure 36" up from the bottom edge of each door opening and mark it on all exposed faces of the hinge leaves, this will match what you did on all exposed faces of both doors The same 36" marks correspond so they fit evenly when closed. For concealed hinges, use a pilot drill to drill holes for both hinges while leaving both hinges free from their respective cabinets.

5. Once all the pilot bits have been drilled, secure the hinge blades in place and screw them to the door using the self-closing feature. The hinges should now be firmly attached to the doors and cabinets so they don't move when opened or closed.

6. For cabinet handles, use a 90°square to measure the distance between the cabinet edge and the door edges of the two doors so that they meet the hardware configuration. Mark it on the exposed face of each knob, then remove the parts for final installation.

7. The hinge distance is simple and practical. One thing you need to keep in mind, though, is that once properly installed, the only visible parts will be the hardware, including the knobs/pulls, hinges, and pivot plates, as all other parts are hidden by the door frame or face frame.

The steps above are for installing both doors at the same time, which is great for planning your kitchen cabinets to save time, but if you only need one door in particular, make sure to adjust the hinges accordingly so they line up properly after installation. Also remember, if you have glass installed in the window, make sure the glass doesn't break. Windows over doors can also have aluminum or other materials such as metal screens. Not every door has built-in windows, which means you'll find a wide variety of doors.

The above introduces some information about hinged doors, if you want to buy hinged doors, please contact us.

ROPO is a custom window and door manufacturer with 16 years of experience. ROPO produces various doors and windows for more than 25 countries and regions in Europe and America. The main products are made of uPVC and aluminum. Our products are very suitable for our different customers. We are constantly seeking to understand the needs of different customers. We use this knowledge to continuously create products to meet these needs. We always make sure to provide these products to the consumers at the right price.