A good hinge is one you never think about: the door closes quietly, lines up with its neighbours and stays that way for years. This guide covers the three decisions that get you there: how many hinges each door needs, whether you want full overlay or inset, and how to adjust the door once it is hung.
1. How concealed hinges work
Modern kitchen and wardrobe doors use concealed (cup) hinges. A round cup sits in a 35 mm hole drilled into the back of the door. The arm clips onto a mounting plate screwed to the inside of the cabinet side. Because the plate and hinge clip together, you can take a door off and put it back in seconds without losing your adjustment.
Our GTV Silento Pro soft-close hinges come with clip-on plates in the pack. They have a 35 mm cup, open to 102° and have the soft-close damper built into the hinge, so there is no separate damper to fit. They are SGS tested to 80,000 opening cycles and come in nickel or black.
2. How many hinges per door?
Door height and weight decide the number. As a guide for standard 18 mm board doors:
| Door height | Hinges per door |
|---|---|
| Up to 900 mm | 2 |
| Up to 1600 mm | 3 |
| Up to 2000 mm | 4 |
Heavy doors, solid timber or doors with mirrors or glass should have an extra hinge. Place the top and bottom hinges roughly 80 to 120 mm in from the door ends, and space any middle hinges evenly between them.
3. Full overlay or inset?
- Full overlay: the door sits in front of the cabinet and covers the side panel. This is the standard look for most fitted kitchens and wardrobes.
- Inset: the door sits inside the cabinet frame, flush with the front edge. This is the classic look for in-frame and shaker kitchens and needs an inset hinge.
The Silento Pro is available in both versions, so choose the one that matches how your doors sit. Hinges are not interchangeable between the two: an overlay hinge will not hang an inset door correctly.
4. Drilling the door
- Mark the hinge positions on the back of the door.
- Drill the 35 mm cup hole with a hinge-boring (Forstner) bit, keeping the edge of the hole a few millimetres in from the door edge. Check the drilling distance on the technical data sheet on the product page before you start.
- Drill to the depth of the cup only. A depth stop or a hinge jig stops you breaking through the face of the door.
- Press the cup in square to the edge and fix it with the two screws.
5. Fitting the plates and hanging the door
Screw the mounting plates to the inside of the cabinet side so they line up with the hinge positions on the door. With 32 mm system cabinets, the plates usually go on the existing pre-drilled holes. Then hold the door up, hook the back of each hinge arm over its plate and press the front down until it clicks.
Spare plates are available in packs of ten if you are replacing old plates: GTV clip-on hinge mounting plates.
6. Adjusting the door (3D adjustment)
- Side to side: the screw nearest the door moves it left or right. Use it to get an even gap between doors.
- Depth: the eccentric on the hinge arm pulls the door in or out so it sits flat against the cabinet.
- Height: the slots on the mounting plate let you raise or lower the whole door so the tops line up along the run.
Adjust one door at a time, working from one end of the run, and aim for an even 2 to 3 mm gap between neighbouring doors.
7. Special doors
- Aluminium-framed glass doors need a hinge made for narrow frames, such as the Emuca X91 hinge.
- Lift-up wall unit doors are best on a flap stay rather than side hinges. See the GTV MiniLift or our wall unit lift-up door pack.
- Doors without soft close can be quietened with self-adhesive silicone buffers.
Quick checklist
- Count hinges by door height: 2, 3 or 4.
- Full overlay for most kitchens, inset for in-frame.
- 35 mm cup hole, drilled to depth only.
- Clip on, then adjust side, depth and height.
Fitting out a whole base unit? The kitchen base unit fit-out pack bundles hinges with adjustable legs, plinth clips and buffers. Browse everything in hinges and cabinet fittings.
