How to Install Door Hinges on Any Door in Your Home

The first step of your project heavily depends on whether you are replacing existing door hinges or installing new ones in a door frame without a mortise. A mortise is a carved section of the wood in the exact shape of the hinges. The mortise allows the hinge to lay flush against the door and the door frame and keeps your door from getting jammed shut.

If you are replacing a door hinge, you'll need to remove the door first and look at the shape of the mortise. Match the hinges you buy with the shape of the mortise for a proper fit. If you’re installing hinges on a new door that doesn’t have mortises, you’ll need to use a router to hog out the material. Be extra careful during this step—make sure you set up guards and set your router bit depth to the exact width of one hinge plate.

Additionally, if you see significant damage in the screw holes or mortise after removing the door hinge pins and plates, fill in the old area with wood putty and start from step two. If your mortise is in good shape and you're replacing hinges with the same size and variety, keep your door in place and skip to step five.

Measuring from the center of the hinge, place your top hinge 5 inches from the top of the door and the bottom hinge 10 inches from the bottom of the door. If you need to add a third hinge for thick and heavy doors, add this directly in the middle of the top and bottom hinge. Use your tape measure to mark these points with a pencil. Hold one side of the loose hinge at the center of your mark and let the other side of the hinge swing open. The pin of the hinge should face in the direction in which the door will swing. For example, if the door swings inwards, you should see the hinge pin on your side when you close the door. 

Be sure to check local safety regulations if you're adding an egress door, as some localities dictate which way the door should swing.

“One good thing to learn is the ‘hand’ or ‘handing’ of a door, meaning whether it has a right-handed or left-handed swing,” says Bob Tschudi, Angi Expert Review Board member and a general contractor in Raleigh, NC. “Open the door and stand with your back to the door jamb with the hinges or where you want to put the hinges. If the door swings to the left, it’s a left-handed swing. If it swings to the right, it’s a right-handed swing.”

On both the door and the door jamb, hold the hinge in place on the mark and trace its outline with a pencil. You will also need to know the thickness of your hinge, as it's important to cut the mortises as close to its depth as possible so it sits snugly in the spot. Most hinges are about 1/16 of an inch.

You can also hold the hinge temporarily in place with a single screw and use your utility knife to cut around the exact outline of the hinge for accuracy.

If you haven't done so already, cut along the pencil line with your utility knife to the intended depth of the mortise. 

Angled slightly in the direction of the cut, lay the chisel on one short end of the scored mortise and lightly tap the end with a hammer. Make sure you've recently sharpened your chisel for an exact cut.

Move slowly and carefully, as you don't want to remove too much wood from the new mortise. Don't stress too much if you do, however, as you can always fill in the extra space with wood putty.

Remove extra wood and splinters from the hole by scraping the chisel on the inside of the mortise until it's smooth. Test the depth and size of the mortise by placing your hinge in the slot.

You can also use a router with a 1/4" router bit and a temporary guide to cut out the bulk of the mortise. Just be sure to set your router bit depth to the width of the hinge plate. Since the router can only cut rounded corners, you may need to complete the mortise with a hammer and chisel if you’re working with hinges that have a squared edge.

Once you have the mortises the size and smoothness that you hope for, hold the hinges in place and mark the screw holes with a pencil. Use a drill to add pilot holes to each spot to ensure the screws go in straight.

Take extra care to choose a drill bit that’s thinner than your hinge screws. The pilot hole will help prevent splitting, but if you drill it too big, your screws will pull out easily after your door is attached.

Now you're ready to attach the new hinges to your door and door jamb. If you are using pin-door hinges with removable pins, we recommend installing the two sides of the hinge separately during this stage. Be careful not to let the hinge pieces shift while screwing them in. Use a screw gun or screwdriver to attach the hinge plates to the door and jamb, and then lift the door and slide the two sides together. Secure the hinge with the pin before closing.

Hammer in the hinge pin until it meets some resistance, but don’t force it all the way in. You should aim to get the pin at least far enough in to catch all of the rings on both sides of the hinges, but seating it all the way in could cause unnecessary tension and may lead to a squeaky door.

“Most hinges come with screws, which are often shorter than you would expect. They are least likely to damage anything outside of the door frame,” Tschudi said. “However, for heavier doors, it could cause them to sag over time. For these doors, we use at least one long screw in each hinge.”

If you're working with a different type of hinge, like a ball-bearing door hinge, start work on one hinge at a time. For example, start by screwing both sides of the top hinge into the door and jamb before moving to the bottom hinge.