Adjusting Face-Frame European Cupboard Hinges

The process of adjusting face-frame style concealed European cupboard cup hinges can be challenging. The reason is because some brands do not have an adjustment that moves the cabinet door toward or away from the face-frame of the cabinet. This presents a problem if the box has a slight twist in it and the door refuses to rest tightly against the front of the cabinetry.

Here’s an example of what I am referring to. If you close the cupboard door and the top of the door, on the side where the hinge is not, touches at the bottom but does not touch at the top, then the lower section needs to be away from the frame of the cupboard more.

In such cases it is necessary to use small shims behind the hinge plate.

Some European face-frame hinge plates have an oblong screw hole that allows for adjusting the cupboard door to correct the problem without using shims.


Ideally, the hinge and plate combination that you choose should adjust the cabinet doors in the following directions:

1) From side to side
2) From front to back
3) Up and down

Steps for adjusting face-frame cabinet doors with European hinges

a) Hang all of the doors

b) Stand back and look them over real well and begin to in vision in your mind what is going to happen in the entire run of cabinet doors as you adjust one door to the next. This will give you a good idea as to where you should begin to adjust and how things are going to end.

c) Using a Phillips screwdriver, always start the hinge adjustment process by aligning the door in the proper height position.

d) Next, make the necessary adjustments from side to side or left to right.

e) Last, make adjustments in and out if the cupboard door is not touching the face-frame either at the top or the bottom. This is the part of the adjusting process that may require you to insert shims if the hinge plate doesn’t have an adjusting screw or over-sized slotted screw hole.

After adjusting a few kitchen or bathroom cabinet doors you will begin to get the feel for how this is done. Take your time when making adjustments to your cupboard doors. This is not something that the home-owner can just breeze through. There are going to be some challenges. Just remember to not over adjust any screw in either direction.