The process of installing interior doors is a responsible job that is best entrusted to professional installers who actively offer their services in almost every region of our country. When inserting locks and hinges, a special power tool is required - a milling cutter and considerable experience in performing such installation processes. If this is not possible and the work has to be done with your own hands, the home craftsman is recommended to use overhead hinges without insertion.
Overhead hinges on an interior door in an apartment
Overhead hinge design
Hangers for door leaves that do not require insertion are distinguished by the presence of the following design features:
- They are made of alloy steel, stainless steel or brass with reduced deformation properties and increased corrosion resistance.
- Quality products are treated with galvanic coating, metal paint, powder pigments followed by heat treatment or other specialized compounds.
- Regardless of the absence of a recess, when closing, these hinges ensure a tight fit of the end of the door leaf to the frame with the formation of a standard joint. This is achieved due to a special slot on one of the plates, which exactly repeats the configuration of the response element.
Brass overhead hangers
When purchasing such hinges, it is recommended to pay increased attention to the quality and thickness of the metal, as well as the presence of paint and varnish coating, which significantly increases their durability.
How to fix errors?
It is impossible to get rid of all the listed consequences of using such original hinges, but it is possible to minimize their impact on ease of use. Among the most important tasks that craftsmen solve during the installation of butterfly hinges is ensuring uniformity when the cards converge. Typically, inconsistencies are eliminated by creating linings. For this, cardboard, thin wood chips, paper and similar material are used - it must be placed in the part opposite to the side that is not overlapped.
In addition, hinges for butterfly doors, due to their design features, do not provide a high degree of reliability. Of course, it all depends on the product, but they are significantly inferior to mortise-type hinges. Therefore, it is important to perform the fixation with screws as efficiently as possible - the absence of protruding heads and tilts during insertion will be reflected in reliability.
Another questionable feature is the location of the screws on the map. On one side they are located closely, and on the other - at a distance from each other. The configuration cannot be corrected, but the possibility of damage to the door on which you plan to install butterfly hinges can be eliminated. Installation is carried out on solid and reliable areas - that is, suitable for tightening.
Basic dimensions of butterfly loops
Overhead butterfly hinges are considered economy-class products, and each manufacturer focuses on the general public when supplying them to the market. In this regard, according to international standards, such products are divided into 2 basic categories:
- Hinge hangers designed for mounting doors weighing up to 30 kg - dimensions 100 x 75 x 2.5 mm.
- If the weight of the door panel exceeds the specified values and reaches 40–50 kg, then for such structures it is recommended to purchase reinforced hangers with dimensions of 125 x 75 x 2.5 mm. These products are characterized by the presence of a larger number of holes and an expanded contact area, which significantly increases their load-bearing capacity.
Butterfly hinges with dimensions 125 x 75 x 2.5 mm
It should be noted that many companies resort to some simple tricks. If the consumer sees that hinges of the same brand have different dimensions, but at the same time, the same number of holes are marked on them, there is no need to overpay for a large size.
Selection rules
When selecting hinges for glass, you need to be guided by the basic principles that are important in fastening a fragile material.
- Estimated load. It is calculated based on the weight of the suspended structure and the number of holders. The thicker and more massive the sash, the more reliable the hinges should be. The presence of a frame and hanging fittings also needs to be taken into account.
- Opening angle. It determines how far the sash can be opened. For entrance groups this indicator should be 90 degrees or more. For hanging furniture doors, a standard right angle is usually sufficient.
- Availability of adjustment. If possible, during operation the hinges can be tightened taking into account the deformation of other elements. This is convenient, but not necessary.
- Appearance. Hinges installed on glass must be in harmony with the design as a whole and provide it with additional attractiveness.
Advantages and disadvantages of overhead loops
Overhead hinges are widely used for installing interior doors, due to the presence of many undeniable advantages:
- Low retail cost of products due to the small amount of metal.
- Easy to install - no special router required.
- Considering that such hinges are installed mainly in inexpensive doors with honeycomb filling or solid pine, the hangers can be fixed with a simple screwdriver.
Tightening the screws on the hinge
- These products are made in a universal version and are not divided into right or left.
- During normal operation of such hinges, the manufacturer guarantees their use for at least 7 - 10 years, without the need for replacement.
- There is also a special category of overhead hinges on sale, made with curved base plates. Such products are ideal for installing doors with rebates.
At the same time, such products have several important disadvantages:
- As a rule, they have a low load capacity. Recommended for use on door leaves weighing up to 30 kg.
Lightweight door leaf
- To dismantle the door leaf, you will have to unscrew all the screws on one of the plates, since the hangers are not equipped with a removable hinge rod.
- Given the weak material of lightweight panels, the screws can become loose over time, which causes the door to warp.
- Before installing such hangers, careful preparation of the door end will be required, since even the slightest unevenness can cause a loose fit, which will significantly complicate operation.
- To install the door leaf, you will need to hold it suspended or use spacer plates of the required thickness.
- Many consumers do not like the appearance of the overhead loop. In the open position, the large plate looks like a frame through which part of the blade material is visible, while the small part has insignificant dimensions and does not inspire confidence.
Overhead hangers in open state
Almost all the disadvantages are subjective and do not affect consumer demand.
Areas of use
The use of furniture hinges without mortise may be determined by the type of product design or the materials used. These can be thin doors in frames made of chipboard or plywood, or other options in which drilling holes is somewhat difficult. Special non-mortise hinges are produced for glass elements; you don’t even need to drill holes for them. For aluminum structures, fittings are often supplied immediately complete with the furniture profile.
The use of such fasteners is most in demand when assembling cabinet furniture, built-in and conventional, free-standing. Options without drilling are mounted like clamps, securing the blade in a kind of groove. They are in demand when assembling display cabinets with a large glazing area.
What tools are needed to install overhead hinges?
To install overhead hinges on interior doors, a home craftsman will need the following set of simple tools:
- A tape measure, a ruler with a steel blade, a carpenter's corner, a simple pencil - for marking the places where the hangers are installed.
- An awl or sharp nail for preliminary marking of holes for self-tapping screws exactly in the right place.
- A screwdriver with a set of bits for fixing hinges.
- Slotted or Phillips screwdriver for manually tightening screws.
Screwdriver with a set of bits
All tools must be of high quality, sharpened, cleaned of dirt and ready for use.
Step-by-step instructions for fixing overhead hinges
To install overhead hinges on an interior door with your own hands, a home craftsman will need to strictly follow all the steps of the following technological map:
- The canvas is fixed with clamps in a static position.
- As a rule, a smaller hinge plate is mounted on the door leaf itself.
Marking the door leaf
- The installation location is marked relative to the end edges of the door.
- The suspension plate is used as a template - the steel part is applied to the intended mark and carefully traced around the entire perimeter, as well as in the locations of the holes for the screws.
- The hinge plate is carefully removed to the side.
- In places where holes are marked for self-tapping screws, pilot holes are made with an awl or nail, strictly along their central axis.
- The hinge is again applied to the end of the door.
- The technician sequentially tightens all the screws with a screwdriver set to medium force.
- Upon completion of fixing the suspension, it is necessary to tighten each hardware until it stops using a hand screwdriver.
- The door with mounted hinges is brought to the frame and fixed with spacers to form the required gap.
- The master completely repeats the procedure for marking the holes for the counter plate on the vertical slope of the box.
- The hinges are fixed to the box material and tightened with a screwdriver.
Installation of butterfly hinges
Immediately after installing the door, it is recommended to check its opening and closing. If a misalignment is detected, it is recommended to immediately adjust the position of the canvas or hinges to avoid negative consequences.
Possible errors when installing overhead butterfly hinges and ways to eliminate them
When installing overhead butterfly hinges on their own, beginners may encounter a number of serious problems that lead to negative consequences, including complete replacement of the door leaf. To eliminate these errors, experts advise following a number of recommendations:
- Loose fit of the hinge plates with subsequent loosening of the mechanisms and distortion of the door. Before taking measurements, marking and fixing products, it is necessary to carefully check the tightness of the steel plate and, if necessary, level the installation plane.
- If the door cannot be aligned where the plate fits, it is recommended to use wooden wedges, matches or other available materials to eliminate the defect.
- It should be noted that many hidden hinges are sold with a ready-made set of spacer elements, with which you can ensure their tight fit to the end of the blade.
- The self-tapping screws rotate during fixation - this problem often arises if the hinge is mounted in an economy-class canvas with a thin wall and honeycomb filling. To eliminate such problems, it is recommended to immediately use a self-tapping screw with a maximum thread diameter and a sharp edge.
- When screwing a self-tapping screw, it is also important to control the tightening force, since there is always a risk of stripping the thread.
- After several months of intensive use, the canvas sags due to loosening of the screws. If such a problem occurs, it is recommended to immediately lift the blade and try to tighten all the hardware until it stops by hand. If this does not help, each self-tapping screw is replaced with a longer one with a different thread pitch.
Sagging door leaf
- If the door has sagged due to a broken thread in the structure of the door leaf material, it is recommended to prepare a special composition - PVA glue with sawdust, which is carefully filled with holes for the screws. After polymerization of the material, it is necessary to screw in the screws again, which guarantees their strength and reliable fixation of the loop.
High quality interior door with butterfly hinges
If you strictly follow the professional advice listed above, the installed overhead hinge will be used no less than the door leaf itself, without the need for major repairs or replacement.
Built-in door closers
Glass is a fragile material. It is important that the doors close quietly and without knocking, otherwise the door may crack upon impact. Closers come to the rescue.
Door closer Blumotion 973-A
They can be built-in or independent. The price for such models is more expensive than classic ones. But you will be confident in the safety of fragile doors.
The closer is a spring or an oil shock absorber. Sometimes the mechanisms are filled with gas. If you decide to equip your glass doors with a shock-absorbing system yourself, you can do this in two ways: hang hinges with built-in closers or install stand-alone devices.
In Hafele, Resident and Leroy Merlin stores you will find glass hinges with built-in closers. Cheap Chinese companies build them into the hinge arm. Expensive fittings (Dorma, Blum) are equipped with closers in the seating cups of the hinges.
If you have already hung glass doors in your closet, then you do not need to change the hinges, just attach the autonomous closers to the screws. The pusher should protrude almost completely beyond the cabinet opening. The thrust piston should not prevent the door from closing completely.
