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How to fix inset hinges gone wrong?

Hi there,

I’ve attempted to tackle an outdoor kitchen project on my own with no experience. I’ve essentially gotten to the finish line after starting from scratch and I’m stumped on doors. I cannot for the life of me get the doors to sit right and swing freely for a multitude of unforeseen circumstances I’ve created over the build. The main problem is that my doors are binding on the hinge side and the WPC cladding I am using is splitting and the door won’t open freely. To contribute to this problem is that I require I set hinges to line up my vertical cladding (see attached photos), I’ve had to add 10mm ply to the hinge cup area on the door to allow for the 12mm recess, the internals of the cupboard are 10mm marine ply and the screws are pulling through and I’ve continually sanded pieces away however cannot justify any more as itll

take away from the seamless look I was after (not that I nailed that anyway)

I am after some potential fixes for this issue please!!!

I’ve attached photos of the doors resting in there before hinges and what it’s meant to look like, as well as photos from currently

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JacobZ

Hi @Penpusher,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Part of the problem you are experiencing is because of the thickness of the door. Standard cabinet door hinges are designed for use with 16mm materials, which their hinge location instructions are set for. I'm assuming the two layers of 10mm plywood and then your cladding combined would be thicker than this.

Unfortunately, I don't think you are going to be able to achieve a completely seamless look using these materials. Generally, cabinets will have a 2-3 millimetre on all sides, which looks clean and professional.

I would just trim 2-3mm off each edge of the doors using a circular saw. You can use a spirit level with some clamps as a guide to get a perfectly straight cut.

If your cuts are consistent and perfectly straight, it will still look extremely good, although not perfectly seamless.

Allow me to tag @Dave-1, @AlanM52 and @Nailbag to see if they have any advice they can offer.

Jacob

Dave-1

Good Afternoon @Penpusher

Having a non standard thickness would add issues to the doors opening for sure, I was going to add some trim to the hinge side edge of my foyer cupboard doors, I ran into the same issue as you 😕 I had a feeling it would but still tried and it was a no go. That opening angle that then jams and wants to rip screws out is the fail point.

Two options come to mind.

Some kind of cupboard sliding rails and you offset the doors so the can slide on the rails. The closest thing I could find at Bunnings is Cowdroy 1800mm White Plastic Sliding Door Track Where it may be possible to offset the front panel, I wa slooking for an old school rail but maybe Bunnings dont stock that type?

Throw in third option -

A piano hinge instead, tho you come back to the angle opening. Or you could go for a top down towards you in the horizontal plane instead, that way you only have the bit under the door needing the gap to open.

The second option is the have the cover of the door finish 1cm before the edge so you can open the door and not cause it to jamb and put those stresses on it. You could paint the door the same colour as your rippled trim or go for a say a black vertical line to give distinction.

Dave

Nailbag

Morning @Penpusher

That outdoor kitchen looks amazing, well done.

I have attached a few photos to show how the standard concealed hinges your using fit and align to cabinetry to get a better understanding of the issue. Then diagrams of the common types. I believe an inset hinge like this would work. @JacobZ could confirm as there are several Bunnings stock.

Nailbag

Screenshot 2025-07-13 at 9.23.13 am.png

JacobZ

Hi @Penpusher,

As @Nailbag has said, inset hinges are the way to go. I think you have already used inset hinges, but if you can let me know which ones you have, I can look into them further.

Jacob

AlanM52

Hi @Penpusher,

Let's have a look at a kitchen door opening and closing.

That is the action you want to achieve, as the door opens it initially moves away and the forward of the cabinet or carcass edge.

As you said the screws won't even hold in the 10mm plywood carcass.

Thinking this might work.

I suggest this cut to size:

Bedford 600mm Pantry Shelf.jpg

and screwed to the side.

Same for the door replace plywood with the above.

You will likely need one of these:

Cheers

Penpusher

I appreciate all of the support! What I’ve begun doing is turning the hinge types into overlay by adding a railing on the inside of the cabinets on the hinge plate side. Hopefully with the initial swing pattern of an overlay being outward this will eliminate binding on that edge. I appreciate all of the feedback and tips! I’ll post when I get to giving this a go

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