Door Hinge Buying Guide: How to Find the Best Hinges

Your doors are an integral part of your home. Exterior doors provide safety and protection while interior doors deliver privacy to the rooms of your home. Door hinges play an important role in making sure your interior and exterior doors operate properly. Get more news about Door Hinge,you can vist our website!

Whether you’re installing a new door or simply trying to repair one in your home, it’s important to understand how the hinge works, and the integral role it plays in daily operation.

To help you learn more about this small, yet essential, piece of hardware, we’ve put together a detailed buying guide. Here are the main considerations you should be aware of when buying new door hinges for your home or office.
The door hinge is the piece of hardware that connects your door to the frame, allowing it to open and close. When they’re working well, you don’t think much about them. When they’re not though, the door can get squeaky, start to sag, stick, and not open as smoothly as you want it to.

Parts of a Door Hinge
Before we can break down the different types of door hinges available, it’s important to understand the basic parts that comprise a door hinge.
Leaf: Every hinge has two leaves. These are the flat plate portions of the hinge that attach to the door frame and the door itself.
Knuckle: The knuckle is the looped portion at the end of each leaf. The knuckles are staggered so that the two leaves can be held together by sliding a pin through the knuckles.
Pin: The pin is the long, skinny door hinge part that slides through the knuckles, securing the two leaves to one another. The hinges are able to rotate on the pin, allowing a door to open and close smoothly.
Screw Hole: Each leaf will have a series of screw holes that allow you to secure the hinge to the door frame and to the door itself.
Mortise vs. Surface Hinges
As you start to shop for door hinges, two terms you’ll see frequently are surface hinges and mortise door hinges. Understanding what each of these terms means and stopping to examine the hinges currently used on your doors will help you determine which ones make the best choice for your door. If your existing door already uses one of these installation types, make sure your replacement door hardware is designed for the same installation type to make the trade-out go as smoothly as possible.

If you’re buying door hinges and doors to be installed in a new house, you have more room to work with in choosing the door hinges you want. You will still need to make sure they work for the door you buy but won’t have to worry about them matching what came before. Let’s break down the difference between surface door hinges and mortise door hinges.
Surface Hinges
Surface hinges are installed right on the surface of the door frame and the door itself, making it the much easier route for installation. This type of hinge is commonly used on indoor, lightweight, hollow core doors.

Mortise Hinges
Mortise hinges are set into the surface of the door and the door frame, which can be an extra step during the installation process. However, that extra step can make the connection between the hinge, door, and frame more secure and durable.

If you’re looking for door hinges for a heavy or frequently used door, mortise hinges make a stronger and more reliable choice. Mortise hinges are more popular among exterior doors, as are mortise locks.