to have exposed hinges or not?
Comments (9)
bagpipers
13 years agoWe have exposed hinges on our new cabinets which are waiting to be installed. The hardware is from Horton Brasses Co. I think they look great and wouldn't change it.
$1000 seems like a lot, if the cab guy is not that troubled about the hinge maybe you should look elsewhere.
Here is a link that might be useful: Horton Brasses
natschultz
13 years agoRelated Discussions
refacing cabinets
Comments (4)For my DIY kitchen remodel, I built about half the cabinets new, but I refaced the rest. I replaced every door and drawer front with new ones. Also, I replaced the exposed hinges with Euro-style hidden ones. Like yours, my old cabinets were oak. However, "refaced" means covering every existing outside surface with wood, either 1/4 inch plywood, or wood veneer. It does not mean sanding down existing wood cabinets and restaining. There are a few challenges with your approach. First of all, when cabinets are stained, the stain soaks in. To remove the stain and get down to clean wood, you have to sand down the clear finish coat, and enough thickness of the wood to get past the old staining. The fronts of the cabinets, called the face frames, are usually made out of solid wood, and there is enough thickness, 3/4 inches, that you can sand off enough to get to clear wood. However, don't underestimate the effort to do this, which is considerable. Also, you have to not only sand down to clear wood, but fine sand to get to a finish-ready smooth finish. However, the sides of the cabinets are usually plywood, and the part you see is a thin veneer of wood. If you sand this down, you have a good chance of sanding through the outer veneer, and right down to the next layer of wood, which will be oriented in a different direction. Also, this next layer will not be a "facing" veneer - it will likely be a different wood than the outer veneer. As to your idea of covering the hinge holes with larger doors, this is problematic too. Hidden hinges only work with a certain amount of overlap between the doors and the opening. This is called the overlay. Most hidden hinges are designed for a 1/2 inch overlay. You can buy hinges that will allow a larger overlay, up to 1 1/2 inch: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=2283&filter=blum%20hinge Just make sure ahead of time that you plan appropriately for the right hinges and doors - both are expensive....See MoreInset cabinet exposed hinges. Yes or no?
Comments (23)Nope. They're installed just above the top one, but thinking about it, I don't see why they couldn't just be installed above the hinge that would be least in the way. I did learn that your doors must be heavy enough to push against the soft closer. I have a bunch of evidently, really (crappy) lighter doors, because they're not heavy enough to push against the closer! So. I took some 2.5"w x 1/4" thick craft wood and cut pieces to fit against the back panel's top and bottom. Glued 'em in and painted them to match. Voila! Done....See Morescrewing hinges in plywood edge
Comments (3)pre-drill your holes with the correct size pilot hole, perhaps use a bit longer screw than comes with the hinges and you'll probably be fine. There are many theoretical reasons why it's a bad idea, but in practice for a light load like a cabinet door it seems to work out OK....See MoreInset cabinet hinges
Comments (20)LOL Francy, "It never ever occured to me...that I would hire someone who would lie abou his skill" etc. Gad that killed me...after three tile guys, two GCs, redoing the floors twice, the stairs twice...oh and the three painters...It sure as heck occurs to me now LOL (You too I bet!) I have hidden hinges on my inset doors. The reason being, I live in an earthquake zone, and I'm on pilings verses a foundation. My house moves like Michael Jackson once did :oP Insets aren't used as much here because of the earth quake and frost heave movement of our ground. So where you live should come into the factoring at some point (and might be why the cabinet maker hasn't done many with exposed hinges?) I do however find it very frustrating when a KD inserts their own opinions into the mix, either with or without knowledge. FOr instance, one KD here told me that inset cabinets don't work in Alaska and that I'd hate them so because she didn't want to see me back complaining, she wouldn't price them for me (and priced a more expensive european brand instead). She was fortunate I guess...since she didn't have to see me again after that :OP Then I went to the top place in town and chatted with them about it. The KD (very experienced, highly awarded) laughed and said "With adjustable hinges it's no biggie...I do them quite often". And she was right...it's not hard to adjust the hidden hinges at all. I also have an exposed hinge at the end of the island because the space isn't deep enough for any other type of hinge. I ordered it in pewter and the balance of my knobs, handles, squirrels are in antique pewter. You really don't notice the difference in the colors (there is a little) because there is so little exposed. But with some of the fancier hinges (ie that H hinge up above) you might notice it more because they're more of a feature of the design astetic. Had I been making an attempt at a period look, I'd have gone with exposed hinges, and I think I probably would on white cabs as well, just because I love the look of a Chistopher Peacock kitchen. But of course, that kitchen in my dreams has silver...real silver...knobs and hinges...and the maid of my dreams says she won't clean them :o(...See Morekatsmah
13 years agoI have exposed hinges, knew immediately that I wanted them for the look and also to be able to open the doors as far as I wanted without having to deal with big bulky concealed hinges.
John Liu
13 years agomacybaby
13 years agomine are self mortising so no need to cut into the cabinets like with true butt hinges. I think self mortising is the norm now days -that also sets the gap on the one side, so the doors need to be the exact right size our you'll have too big/small a gap on the other side. All of our doors were custom fit to each opening. Not a big deal for us as the tools needed were all on site - just a lot of walking back and forth to the shop.
They were a pain to install, more nit-picky to get just right and fidgeting to get the doors to close correctly, but DH and I got it done.
Getting the "old farmhouse look" was top priority for me. That meant exposed hinges were a must. And with the other hardware, I think it would have looked like something was missing without the exposed hinges.
Now, because of the hinge type, we have to install magnets to keep the doors closed, so that is also an extra cost over most hidden hinges which are designed to hold themselves closed.
I've always assumed one of the reasons inset cost more is because it is more work to mount the door/drawers, but not that much. Sounds like this guy does not want to do it, so he's charging you way more than it's really worth because of that.
On a side note, we got the seeded glass for the uppers and they should get installed today - we are slowing getting to the finish line.
sombreuil_mongrel
13 years agosayde
13 years agocaryscott
13 years ago
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