How to Measure Cabinet Hinges: Overlay, Cup and Mounting

A cabinet door that hangs crooked or will not close is often blamed on the hinge, but the real trouble usually starts when someone buys a replacement that only looks similar. Knowing how to measure cabinet hinges comes down to five details: overlay, cup size and bore depth, cabinet construction, mounting plate style and opening angle. Get those right and the new hinge drops into the old holes, the door lines up with its neighbors and you never have to drill a fresh cup in a finished door.

Part of our Kitchen Remodeling guide — explore the full guide →

The work takes a few minutes per door with a tape measure and a screwdriver. Measure one hinge of each style in the kitchen, since uppers, bases, pantry doors and corner cabinets often use different hinges even in the same set of cabinets.

How to Measure Cabinet Hinges: Start With the Cabinet Type

Before you take any measurements, decide whether the cabinet is face-frame or frameless. Open the door and look at the front edge of the cabinet box. If a solid hardwood frame, usually 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, surrounds the opening, you have a face-frame cabinet. If the edges of the side panels are exposed and covered with edge banding, with no frame at all, the cabinet is frameless (sometimes called European style).

This matters because hinge mounting plates are built for one or the other. A face-frame plate clips onto the frame and screws into its front or inside edge. A frameless plate screws flat to the inside of the cabinet side panel. Concealed hinges for each type share the same 35 mm cup, but the arm geometry and plate are different, so the cabinet type narrows your search more than any other single fact.

Tools and Supplies

• Tape measure and a small steel rule marked in millimeters and inches
• Calipers (optional but helpful for cup diameter and bore depth)
• #2 Phillips screwdriver
• Pencil, painter’s tape and a notepad or phone for photos
• Masking tape to label doors as you remove them

Most concealed hinges are specified in millimeters, so a rule with both scales saves a lot of conversion math.

Step-by-Step Measurement

1. Measure the overlay

Overlay is how far the door covers the cabinet opening or frame on the hinge side. Close the door and put a strip of painter’s tape on the face frame or cabinet side right along the door edge. Open the door and measure from the tape line to the edge of the opening. That distance is the overlay. Common values are 1/2 inch for many face-frame doors and around 5/8 inch (16 mm) or 3/4 inch for frameless full-overlay doors.

You will also see three broad categories. Full overlay doors cover almost all of the frame or cabinet edge. Half overlay doors share a single partition with a neighboring door, each covering half. Inset doors sit flush inside the opening, with zero overlay.

2. Measure the cup diameter

Open the door and look at the round cup set into the back of the door. Measure across the cup’s outer rim. Nearly all modern concealed hinges use a 35 mm cup, which is just under 1 3/8 inches. Smaller cups, around 26 mm, show up on thin doors and some furniture. If your cup measures 35 mm, you can use almost any standard concealed hinge.

3. Check the bore depth and boring distance

Remove the hinge from the door by backing out the two cup screws. Measure the depth of the hole, usually 1/2 inch (about 12 to 13 mm). Then measure from the edge of the door to the edge of the hole. That boring distance, often 3 to 6 mm, slightly affects overlay. Note the door thickness as well, because most hinges suit doors from about 5/8 to 3/4 inch thick.

4. Note the mounting plate style

Look at how the hinge arm connects to the cabinet. Some hinges clip onto a separate mounting plate with a tab or button; others slide on and lock with a screw. Count the screw holes, measure the distance between them and note whether the plate is flat (frameless) or wraps around the face frame. Photograph the plate with a ruler beside it.

5. Measure the opening angle

Open the door as far as it goes and estimate the angle. Standard concealed hinges open 100 to 110 degrees. Wide-angle hinges reach 120 to 170 degrees and help on corner cabinets or pull-out shelves. Special hinges handle blind corners, bi-fold corner doors and thick doors. Matching the opening angle keeps the new door from hitting an appliance or neighboring cabinet.

6. Look for markings

Many hinges are stamped with numbers on the arm or inside the cup. These often encode overlay, cup size and opening angle. Write them down, but rely on your measurements, since codes differ between makers.

Measuring Exposed and Older Hinges

Not every cabinet uses concealed hinges. Older kitchens often have exposed or semi-concealed hinges screwed to the face of the frame and the back of the door. For these, measure the overall height and width of each leaf, the hole spacing, the offset (how far the door edge sits from the frame, often 3/8 inch for lipped doors) and the finish. Lipped doors with a rabbeted edge need a 3/8-inch inset hinge, while flat overlay doors use a flush or offset style.

Butt hinges on inset doors are measured by leaf height, open width and pin type. Match the knuckle count and size so the new hinge fits the existing mortise without chiseling.

Decision Guide: Matching the Replacement

• Face-frame cabinet, 35 mm cup, 1/2-inch overlay: standard face-frame concealed hinge with a 1/2-inch overlay rating.
• Frameless cabinet, 35 mm cup, full overlay: frameless full-overlay concealed hinge with a matching clip-on plate.
• Doors sharing a center partition: half-overlay hinges.
• Doors flush with the frame: inset concealed hinges, or butt hinges for traditional work.
• Doors that slam: soft-close concealed hinges, or add-on dampers if you want to keep the existing hardware.
• Corner or pull-out cabinets: wide-angle or specialty hinges matched to the original opening angle.

For a full kitchen refresh, concealed cabinet hinges with integrated soft-close are a popular upgrade that uses the same 35 mm cup holes, so you can update every door without new drilling.

Troubleshooting Fit Problems

The door overlaps its neighbor or leaves a big gap. The overlay is wrong. Most concealed hinges allow about 2 mm of side-to-side adjustment with the front screw, but if you are off by more than that, return the hinge for the correct overlay.

The new hinge will not line up with the old screw holes. The mounting plate pattern is different. Choose a plate that matches the original hole spacing, or fill the old holes with glued hardwood dowels or toothpicks and redrill with a self-centering bit.

The cup sits proud or too deep. Bore depth or door thickness does not match. Do not deepen the bore past about 13 mm on a 3/4-inch door, or you risk breaking through the face.

The door rubs at the top or bottom. Adjust the height with the plate screws, or check whether the cabinet box is racked.

Screws spin in the holes. Glue in small hardwood plugs, let them dry, trim flush and redrive the screws.

Typical Costs

Basic concealed hinges are inexpensive, especially in contractor packs, and soft-close versions typically cost more per hinge. Specialty hinges for blind corners, thick doors or very wide opening angles are at the top of the range. Exposed decorative hinges vary mostly by finish and material. Because a typical kitchen has 20 to 40 hinges, buying in bulk often saves a meaningful amount compared with single blister packs.

When to Call a Pro

Swapping like-for-like hinges is a beginner-friendly job. Bring in a cabinet installer or refinisher if you are converting from exposed to concealed hinges (which means boring 35 mm cups in finished doors), changing overlay on a full kitchen, dealing with inset cabinetry where gaps must be even within about 1/16 inch, or repairing doors with split stiles around the hinge cup.

Once you understand how to measure cabinet hinges, the process becomes routine: identify the cabinet type, measure overlay and cup, record the plate and angle, and buy one sample hinge to test before ordering the whole kitchen. That single test door prevents a box full of returns.