How to choose the right hinges for your door & project?

When it comes to doors, hinges is very important. Their style and functionality have a huge effect on the performance of your doors. The good news is that a wide range of hinge options are available, so there's an excellent chance there's a hinge out there that's right for your application.

SELECT THE PROPER WEIGHT AND BEARING STRUCTURE

Hinges are placed into three groups because of the various door sizes and weights:

Standard Weight –– Ball Bearing

Example –– DDSS001, 41/2”x 41/2” (114.3 x 114.3 mm), US32D

Heavy Duty- Ball Bearing

Example ––DDSS002, 5”x 5”(127 x 127 mm), US32D

Standard Weight –– Plain Bearing

Example ––DDSS004, 41/2”x 4”(114 x 102 mm), US32D

There are two factors that determine the weight and structure of the hinge: weight of the door and frequency of use. It is advisable to include the approximate weight of additional hardware that will be installed on the door.

THICKNESS OF DOOR	WIDTH OF DOOR	HEIGHT OF HINGE
13/18” (35 mm) Door	To 32” (813mm )	31/2” (89 mm)
13/8” (35 mm) Door	32” to 36” (813 to 914 mm)	4” (102 mm)
13/4” (45 mm) Door	To 36” (914 mm)	41/2” (114 mm)
13/4” (45 mm) Door	36” to 48” (914 to 1219 mm)	5” (127 mm)
13/4” (45 mm) Door	Over 48” (1219 mm)	6” (152 mm)
2'', 21/4” & 21/2” Door (51, 57 & 64 mm)	To 42” (1067 mm)	5” Heavy Weight(127 mm)
2'', 21/4” & 21/2”Door (51, 57 & 64 mm)	Over 42” (1067 mm)	6” Heavy Weight(152 mm)

There are three dimensions to know in order to determine the minimum width of the hinge: door thickness, backset and clearance required.

1.When figuring the calculations for a wood door and wood frame, the door is flush with the casing or face of the frame. When figuring the calculations for a wood or metal door with a hollow metal frame, the door is inset approximately 1/8” (3.2 mm).

2.For doors up to 2 1/4” (57 mm) thick, the hinge is set back 1/4” (6.4mm) from the back face of the door.

3.For doors over 21/4” (57 mm) thick, the hinge is set back  3/8”  (9.5 mm) from the back face of the door.

Once these dimensions are known, the formula can then be applied. Take the door thickness, minus the backset, times two, plus the clearance required. If the hinge size is not standard, then go to the next larger hinge width. If the width of the hinge is greater than the height of the hinge (example: 41/2” x 6” (114 x 152 mm) this is referred to as a Wide Throw Hinge. This would apply only to full mortise hinges.

GUIDELINES FOR FREQUENCY OF DOOR USAGE

 

DOOR SITUATION AND ESTIMATED NUMBER OF OPERATIONS
	Daily
High frequency heavy duty situations:
Large departmental store entrances	5,000
Large office building entrance	4,000
Cinema or theatre entrance	1,300
School entrance	1,250
Entrance door to school toilets	1,250
City centre shop entrance	1,000
Large city bank entrance	1,000
School corridor fire door	600
Town bank entrance	500
City centre restaurant entrancce	500
Large office corridor fire door	450
Large office or factory toilets entrance	400
Hospital ward door	350
Medium frequency medium duty situatuins:
School classroom door	80
Office door	75
Store toilet door	60
Dwelling rear or side entrance	15
Dwelling front entrance	12
Low frequency light duty situations:
Dwelling living room communications doors	30
Dwelling bathroom/toilet door	20
Dwelling cupboard door	12
Dwelling bedroom door	9
Dwelling wardrobe / closet door	6
Dwelling cabinet furniture door	5

As a professional door hinge manufacturer in China, we provide customers various exterior and interior door hinges, such as ball bearing hinge, fire rated door hinge, UL door hinge, commercial hinge, stainless steel hinge, Spring Hinge,heavy duty hinges etc. Our door hinges are high-quality, durable, anti-rust and textured. The stainless steel hinges we provide are suitable for wooden door, metal door, fire rated door, double door, single door, steel door of commercial or residential application. 

All our products strictly according to international Standard, such as the ANSI, BS EN/CE, UL, BHMA standard.