Hinges are the heroes behind every smoothly opening and closing door. If you struggle to sleep soundly because your doors squeak the life out of you, then perhaps you did not choose the correct hinges for their making.
In this article, we will guide you on the top 10 types of door hinges and their uses. With the correct information to guide you, your doors will remain firmly in place without causing any uncomfortable sounds.
Besides, the right choice of hinges will also ensure your installation or repair project yields the best results. You will never have an undesirable finished look when the right hinges support your doors.
1. Spring Loaded Butt Hinge
Many refer to these as spring butt hinges too. Their main purpose is to assure that doors close behind you. Apart from these, many use this for a wide variety of application, including garage doors, residential interior doors and commercial build-outs too.
Spring-loaded butt hinges suits projects of every scale. People may use these hinges to create varying degrees of open and close tension for their doors.
2. Ball Bearing Hinge
A ball-bearing hinge has lubricated bearings between the hinge’s knuckles to reduce friction that heavy doors often cause. If we said that ball-bearing hinges are among the most durable on the market, we wouldn’t be wrong.
The primary purpose of this hinge type is to support doors that are heavy and wide. Just as we mentioned, you will typically find a ball bearing between the two separate knuckles. This ball bearing plays an incredible role in reducing the friction that is almost always there between the two knuckles.
In fact, this action of the ball-bearing also extends the life and functionality of the two knuckles, which can wear down with friction others. This hinge is the best choice for larger and heavily used entry doors. In addition to reducing friction, this hinge also promotes soundlessness and smooth opening and closing.
3. Security Hinges
As the name suggests, the primary objective of security hinges is to enhance the security level of your home’s doors. It makes doors open outwards while preventing someone from taking down the hinges and your door and breaking in.
Security hinges come in two distinct types and with notable features like security tabs and non-removable pins. All of these have specific designs and installation techniques which make it impossible for others to tamper with and remove.
4. Concealed Hinge
Concealed or invisible hinges are just as their name suggests. They have a unique design that keeps them hidden and let the door’s design be in the spotlight. Many people love to make their fancy doors be the star of their interiors and here is where concealed hinges fit in.
They come in two parts, including the bracket and the pivot. Since this hinge typically goes into the door’s recess, no one can spot it from the outside. The pivot allows a 90-degree wide angle for opening.
5. Overlay Hinge
The main purpose of the overlay hinge is to reduce the thickness that many hinges add to a cabinetry. The most noteworthy aspect of the overlay hinge’s design is that it folds back on itself. With this feature, your door will lay flush against the face of its neighboring cabinet.
This hinge appeals to those who want lesser thick cabinets.
6. Offset Hinge
For standard doorframes and doors, offset hinges serves are retrofitting, cost-friendly solutions. You will find them various shapes and sizes that usually fit into same holes. They also usually work well the existing screw types, which is we call them a budget-friendly option.
Another noteworthy purpose of the offset hinge is to help your door swing away from its doorframe. It can widen the doorways by nearly two inches. For those who to make their space ADA compliant, the offset hinges are their best options.
7. Piano Hinge
Piano hinges have a somewhat continuous length, like that of a piano’s, with a central pin. They have a design that usually has leaves the same size as a box lid or the length of a door. The designs will typically remind you of a piano, yet one may use it in several ways.
From fitting in to fold-down applications, to storage boxes, cabinet doors and desks, the piano hinges are a perfect solution. The hinges have two long leaves with a rod running through its length in the center and holding the leaves together.
8. Strap Hinge
When you’re opening and closing gates anywhere, you’ll commonly see the strap hinges. These hinges have the longest leaves and the shortest hinges, perhaps the reason why they’re so unique. Strap hinges help people achieve the exceptional looks with doors that they perceive.
Strap hinges are popular for two main reasons:
- For lending extra support to the doors
- For causing optimal performance from high usage doors.
9. Double Action Hinge
Double Action Hinges also known as Saloon Door Hinges swing both ways and work to bring a door back to a closed position. They have a classic look and add a lot of character to your existing doors.
You will find these most commonly at use in dining rooms, kitchens, salons, cafes, and restaurants where a door must come back to a closed position. Because of the double swinging action, the hinges cause doors to swing in both directions.
10. T Hinges
T hinges are basically a butt hinge and strap hinge. The design is somewhat a combination of the two and feature countersunk holes as well. You can use these hinges for mounting wooden doors or frames.
These hinges are best for applications including garage doors, gates and even those doors that have to create a classic and decorative rustic look.
Final thoughts
Door hinges are the most essential components of the hardware department. The high performance of all residential and commercial doors depends largely on the choice and quality of hinges. For the best options, you can visit our store. We offer a huge variety of hinges that will not only cater to your projects of every scope but also yield high-performing and long-lasting functional doors.
For more than a decade, HingeOutlet.com has delivered the highest quality door hinges at the best possible prices. We offer the largest selection of door hinges online, as well as door accessories like wood screws, door hinge stops, ball catches, flush bolts, and more. In addition to our premium product offering from the leading hinge manufacturers, HingeOutlet.com manufactures a custom line of door hinge products.
