If you ever examine a door that is beginning to sag or hang crookedly, you will note that it always happens from the top. The door begins to catch from the upper side of the doorknob. The rule of gravity applies this way on a door; this is why you need to place the hinges on the high side.
You must place the top hinge five inches from the door's top, while the bottom hinge must be ten inches from the door's bottom. If you are working on a hollow-core, lightweight door, you can perhaps get away with using only two hinges.
However, if you are working with a solid-core or an exterior door, you cannot work with less than three hinges at least. It would be a great idea to perform the fitting and trimming on your door before you start marking the attachment point for your hinges.
If you want to be sure of how many hinges your door requires, here is a point of reference for you:
- If your door is approximately 60" use 2 hinges
- If your door measures between 60" to 80" use 3 hinges
- If your door measures between 80" to 90" use 4 hinges
- If your door measures between 97" to 109" use 5 hinges.
- If your door measures greater than 109" use 6 hinges.
Note: This is a guide rather than a general rule.
DOOR WIDTH
If your door has a width wider than 37 inches or goes up to 48 inches, you can make use of an extra hinge for added support. The extra hinge will help support the additional tension and weight upon the frame, owing to the door's wider width.
HOW TO MARK
Using a pencil, mark 10 inches from the bottom of your door after you have measured it with a ruler or a measuring tape. Then lay your hinge by the edge of the door, making sure the hinge's bottom is where you marked with the pencil.
Take your hinge and use its center screw hole to leave another mark on the door. Using your pencil, trace the hinge's outline so that it becomes easy for you to mortise it later. From the top of the door, measure 5 inches with your ruler.
Placing the top edge on the mark you made, place your top hinge against the door's side. Create another mark on your door, using the center screw hole again and outlining the hinge. If you plan to use only hinges, consider this the end of your measurement.
Taking the distance you measured from the top mark of the screw hole to the bottom mark, divide the total by two and see the number. The result you get is the halfway point you need to mark from the top screw hole. Lay the third hinge on the door's side so that you can center the third mark in the middle hole and trace the hinge's outline.
FINAL THOUGHTS
As a general rule, we use one hinge at the space of every 30 inches on our door or the fraction thereof. Depending on the door's height in question and its width, the standard need remains two to three inches for most interior doors. However, exterior doors or the larger ones with heavyweight will surely need four or more hinges.
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