This article is part of a series designed to help architects use Source, Architizer’s premier marketplace for building products. For more information on the platform, click here.
If you’re an architect, contractor or do-it-yourselfer, you probably already know how difficult and time-consuming it can be to research and select the building products that are right for your next project. Luckily, Architizer is here to help: Using our product catalog and Source, the new marketplace for building products, we’ve written a collection of “spec guides” on everything from marble to surface-mounted lighting. These will help you understand what factors to consider before making your next specification or purchase and help you to make the perfect product search on Source. Think of them as the ultimate specifier cheat sheet.
After guiding you through the challenges of specifying key architectural elements of interiors such as stairs, we scale down further to some of the smallest details, shifting the focus to kitchen and bathroom cabinet hardware.
Cabinet Hardware
Categorization
Architizer: Building Products > Hardware > Cabinet Hardware
MasterFormat: 064020
Introduction + Tips
There are so many different types of pulls, knobs, and hinges available for cabinetry nowadays that it can seem overwhelming to settle on just one set. Luckily our suppliers are here to help! If you have a specific vision for your cabinet hardware, describe what it is and upload images. If you don’t, begin by describing your cabinetry, where it’s located and what it will be used for.
With Source, the key is to provide as much information as you can. This will help the platform match you with ideal product manufacturers that offer exactly what you need. Don’t worry if you’re not sure exactly how many pieces of hardware or which materials you need. Ultimately the most important considerations in choosing cabinet hardware are aesthetic, but providing details on the cabinet’s dimensions, weight and usage will help to narrow down some of the more practical considerations, like which hinges are compatible with which doors.
Architect Tom Kundig designed his own range of heavy-duty hardware. Read more about these beautiful designs in Architizer’s exclusive interview.
Hardware Components
Cabinet hardware includes pulls, knobs, hinges, drawer slides, door catches, and back plates.
- Pulls: Handles mounted to the exterior of doors and drawers with two or more screws and bolts
- Knobs: Handles mounted to the exterior of doors and drawers with a single screw and bolt
- Hinges: Attachments that secure the cabinet door to the frame
- Drawer Slides: Attachments that facilitate the opening and removal of drawers
- Door Catches: Attachments that secure cabinet doors without self-closing hinges against the frame
- Back Plates: Pieces of finished metal that rest between the door and pulls/knobs to protect a cabinet’s surface, cover existing holes, or enhance decorative hardware
Application
- Location
- Residential kitchen/bathroom
- Commercial kitchen/bathroom
- Industrial/manufacturing setting
- Hardware Dimensions: If you know the size of the different hardware that you need, please list:
- Length and width
- Center-to-center measurement – the distance between mounting or screw holes
- Projection – the total distance that a pull or knob projects from the cabinet door
- Cabinetry: It’s important that the hardware matches the cabinet’s design and dimensions, both for functional and aesthetic reasons. Please note the following details regarding your cabinets:
- Materials
- Depth
- Door height, width and weight
- Door type – inset, face-frame, full- or half-overlay
- Drawer depth, width, height and weight (if specifying drawer slides)
- Drawer opening width and height
- Framed or frameless construction
- Pre-drilled?
- Quantity: How many cabinets are there? How many of each hardware component will you need? Note that:
- Hinges are specified for use on left- or right-hand doors
- The number of hinges you need depends on the height and weight of the door:
- Use two hinges for doors less than 40 inches high and less than 11 pounds
- Use three hinges for doors 40-60 inches high and 13-20 pounds
- Use four hinges for doors 60-80 inches high and 29-33 pounds
- Use five hinges for doors 80-85 inches high and 40-48 pounds
- You may wish to order spare components for future use and replacement
Tom Kundig’s collection; image via Treehugger
Aesthetic
Upload a picture or rendering to Source as an example, or describe how you would like your cabinet hardware to appear. There are many different types of knobs, pulls and hinges.
- Knob/Pull Shape: Many different varieties. Check out Houzz for ideas.
- Hinge Type
- Mortise – permanent installation hinges, in which the areas inside the cabinet door and frame have cutouts to attach the hinges
- Non-mortise – do not require placement into the cabinetry, instead fastening in with screws
- Fully concealed – only the surface of the door is outwardly visible
- Semi-concealed – only the knuckle is visible; for use with inset doors
- European/frameless hinges – popular for full-overlay and inset doors
- Overlay – for frameless half-overlay doors, or face-frame doors that overlap the frame
- Variable overlay – for doors that overlay the frame and have no cut-out at the back
- Partial wraparound – large surface area to improve stability on flush, inset or overlay doors
- 3/8-inch inset – for doors that overlay the frame and have a cut-out on the back edge
- H-style – one side attaches to the frame and the other attaches to the flush mount door
- Butterfly – for flush doors; each wing mounts to the outside surfaces of the cabinet door and frame
- T-style – the vertical piece attaches to the doorframe and the horizontal piece attaches to the door
- Full-inset pin – for doors completely flush with the face of the cabinet
- Materials (excluding drawer slides and door catches)
- Bronze
- Copper
- Iron
- Polished Chrome
- Sterling
- Pewter
- Brass
- Nickel
- Ceramic (pulls and knobs only)
- Finish Color: If applicable, specify the color, including for drawer slides.
- High shine
- Polished
- Hammered
- Enameled
- Oil brushed
© Frank Poole
Performance
- Drawer Slides and Rollers: These are available in light, medium and heavy designations, depending on the weight of your drawer.
- Side-mount slides – a slide attaching to each side of the drawer; available with a ball-bearing or roller mechanism
- Center-mount slides – mount under the center of the drawer; available in classic wood version or with ball-bearing mechanism
- Under-mount slides – ball-bearing slides sold in pairs; invisible when the drawer is open
- Push to open – slides open with a nudge to the drawer front, eliminating the need for handles or pulls
- Self close – slides return the drawer fully into cabinet when drawer is pushed
- Soft close – slides add a dampening effect to self-close feature, returning the drawer into the cabinet softly and without slamming
- Bearings and rollers create a smoother motion, while full-extension slides enable greater access to the drawer
- Catches
- Magnetic – metal plates mounted on the door and frame secure door closure
- Spring roller touch – catches mounted on the door close when the rollers set on the cabinet frame hook in the strike plate
- Ball – recessed into the edge of the door while the striker plate is recessed into the jamb
- Double ball – two balls in a casing hold the striker in place when inserted between them
- Touch latch – push to latch, push again to release; the main body fits to the inner side of the cupboard and the striker plate is fits to the inside of the door and aligns with the catch
- Accessibility: ADA-accessible cabinet hardware is available for those with limited mobility, arthritis or other special considerations.
Visit Architizer’s Product Catalog to check out the latest cabinet hardware products.
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