How to Measure for New Cabinet Doors using 1/2" Overlay

This video demonstrates how to measure existing cabinets’ openings to order correctly sized replacement kitchen cabinet doors. With an added ½” overlay. If you’re ready to learn how to measure kitchen cabinets for replacement kitchen cabinet doors, we can help guide you through getting the most accurate measurements. Learn how to measure kitchen cabinets correctly and how to measure for a ½” overlay to ensure that you order cabinet doors that fit the way they should.

How to Measure Cabinets for Cabinet Door Replacement

In the “how to measure for cabinets” video above, a sample face-frame is used for the measurements, while an animation illustrates how the cabinet doors will “overlay” the opening. Learning how to measure for a ½” overlay is essential for getting the right fit on your replacement cabinet doors. Watch the full video, or read on below, where we will provide the formula for calculating the size of either a single door or double doors needed for that opening.

How to Measure Cabinets With a Single Door

Understanding how to measure cabinet doors for replacement begins with understanding how to measure the opening for cabinet doors. From there, you’ll need to account for the ½” overlay.

Start your kitchen cabinet measurements by measuring both the width and height of the cabinet opening. For example, in the video above, our sample cabinet face-frame’s opening width is 11 inches and the height is 13 inches.

In the most common cabinet design, the doors are slightly larger than the opening. This is called the overlay, and the most common overlay is ½ inch. ½ inch overlay means the door is larger, or overlays the cabinet box’s opening at the top, bottom, left, and right, by ½ inch.

In the video, the animation shows the outline of a single door, sized to fit this opening. Notice the ½ inch overlay. The formula for calculating the size of a correctly sized cabinet door with a ½ inch overlay door is:

• Door width = Opening width + ½ inch + ½ inch
• Door height = Opening height + ½ inch + ½ inch

Once you have figured out how to measure cabinet doors with the correct formula to get the size you need, you’ll see it’s actually not so hard. If you need to know how to measure openings for cabinet doors that are double doors, the formula is slightly different.

How to Measure Cabinets With Double Doors

For cabinets with double doors, the measurements are a bit different since double doors will meet in the middle. As such, they only overlay the face frame on three sides, instead of all four sides, as with single doors. To account for this, the formula for double doors with a ½ inch overlay on 3 sides is:

• Door width = (Opening width ÷ 2) - 1/16 inch + ½ inch
• Door height = Opening height + ½ inch + ½ inch

You might be surprised to notice that the double door formula subtracts 1/16 inch from the calculated width of each double door. This is necessary to prevent double doors from touching in the center when high humidity conditions cause the door to slightly expand. This will allow a ⅛” gap between the doors, which is the most ideal.

How to Measure Cabinet Overlay for Your Cabinet Doors

It’s helpful to know that, although a ½ inch overlay is the most common, other overlays may be encountered. If you are replacing existing cabinet doors, you may want your new doors to have the same overlay. In that case, make sure you know how to measure existing cabinets and doors carefully first to ensure that you order the overlay you want.

If the cabinet doors you are replacing have a different overlay than ½ inch, like ⅝ inch or ⅜ inch, the formulas provided above will still work and will correctly size your new cabinet doors. Just replace the “½ inch” in the formula with the overlay measurement you intend to use.

Keep in mind that concealed hinges have different models for different overlays and the correct hinge must be ordered for the cabinet door overlay. At Cabinetdoors.com, we carry top quality, self-closing Blum Hinges, and we’re also able to drill the hinge pockets in your new doors for you to help ensure that everything fits together exactly as it should.

Learning How to Measure Cabinets on Your Own

If you thought you couldn’t learn how to measure kitchen cabinets yourself, you can see now how easy it really is to determine the exact sizes of each of your new cabinet doors. You won’t need to pay to have the big-box store take the measurements for you and knowing how to measure cabinets correctly yourself will save you time. It’ll also save you money, because you also won’t have to pay the big-box prices for your replacement cabinet doors.

When you’re ready to take your measurements, we recommend watching our “how to measure for cabinets” video a few times first. Then, measure your cabinet openings (twice, for good measure), and make sure you have your cabinet door overlay and size calculated correctly. From there, just head to Cabinetdoors.com to order your replacement cabinet doors.

Using Your Kitchen Cabinet Measurements to Order Cabinet Doors

Cabinetdoors.com is one of the largest manufacturers of cabinet doors in the country. We supply cabinet doors to several retail chain stores, dozens of home builders, and thousands of cabinet shops, nationwide. We even supply cabinet doors and drawer fronts directly to customers, so that you can get your cabinet doors shipped right from the factory to you. There are a lot of benefits to ordering factory-direct, but the best part about ordering directly from the actual manufacturer is the price.

When retail stores buy from the manufacturer, they increase the price for the customer. A retailer charges a certain percentage over the factory price—usually 30-50%—in order to cover their own costs like store rent, salaries, utilities, accounting, taxes, and profit. However, when you buy factory-direct, you get to skip these retail store costs. You also won’t be paying sales taxes because out-of-state internet sales aren’t taxed.

The bottom line is that cabinet doors ordered from the actual manufacturer will often cost you up to half the retail price. When you order from Cabinetdoors.com, you save 30-50% off big-box store prices, and that means big savings for you. You’ll be able to get more for your money, helping you make a bigger impact at a lower cost to you.

Learn How to Measure Cabinets Yourself and Order From Cabinetdoors.com

Even if you’ve never completed a DIY project before, we are confident that you will be able to learn how to measure kitchen cabinets yourself. Our formula is easy to follow, and our “how to measure for cabinets” video walks you the process through step by step. If you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to contact us through the website or by calling our team at 800-342-1010.

We know that you have choices when it comes to where you will purchase replacement cabinet doors. You can continue to buy retail from the big-box stores and pay the markup, or you can buy factory-direct from Cabinetdoors.com and save 30-50%. We’re confident that if you choose to order from Cabinetdoors.com, you’ll be extremely satisfied with both our service and our high quality products. Our commitment to service matches our commitment to quality, and as a result, we have a strong customer base. We have many 5 star customer ratings and have received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

When you buy from us, you know you’re getting high quality products from a company that stands behind its work. Even better, you can get the exact size you need to ensure that your cabinet doors always fit just right. Once ordered, your products are made for you in our factory, then shipped directly from the factory to your door. You get a custom-sized product at a great price.

We offer an excellent selection of cabinet door styles and designs in a variety of wood species and a number of different finish options. You can choose the look you want in the size you need. Once you’ve chosen your cabinet door style, enter your precise measurements, choose the finish you want, and have your cabinet doors delivered right from the factory to your door in just a few weeks. Start by exploring our selection of our most popular cabinet doors. When it comes to providing high quality replacement cabinet doors, Cabinetdoors.com always delivers.