Made built-in cabinets. Getting around to make the pantry door and the face frame is 1/4" more narrow on the bottom than the top. Too late to fix it. I bought 1/2" overlay hinges. Will that mask the problem? I really want to avoid having to scribe the door or anything.

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Zenmedic t1_iu1e81t wrote on October 27, 2022 at 8:51 PM

I come from many generations of cabinetmakers and furniture makers. The most useful advice I've been given from my late grandfather was "hang it and bang it". Be it off square walls, uneven floors or even maker error, sometimes you just need to put it up and make adjustments on the fly to make the most appealing result.

The hinges will certainly buy you some flexibility, and if they're good hinges, you will be able to make some adjustments. It may not be perfectly level or square, but in finishing, visual trumps objective measurements for most things.

It's hard to give more advice than that without pictures of what the installation looks like (may be options for fill strips, trim pieces, etc).

penguinsNJersey OP t1_iu0uips wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:44 PM

Thinking out loud - can I just offset the hinges maybe by 1/8" and hope the eye wont notice the other 1/8"?

TheOtherSide5840 t1_iu0vhjm wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:50 PM

This would probably work so that no one else notices. You will notice it everytime you look at it - if you can live with that then I would go with your idea.

penguinsNJersey OP t1_iu0vvgj wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:53 PM

That's the forever-problem of DIY. You always notice, but no one else ever will.

JooosephNthomas t1_iu1q8qf wrote on October 27, 2022 at 10:14 PM

1/8 is in that visible range also. If a guy isn't looking he probably won't see it but yes you will know it is there.... ask my brother how many times we had to cut and reweld his fender on his motorbike because it was level in mounting but the fender was crooked. So we had to mount it uneven and eye ball it in. He knew it was crooked and just couldn't live with it.....

Chances are if you are happy at the end it doesn't matter.

nummij t1_iu2rfkh wrote on October 28, 2022 at 3:00 AM

Fwiw I find anything larger than 1/32 to be visible. Even a 32nd is usually visible to the builder(me). I’m also a recovering perfectionist so keep that in mind.

Tek_Freek t1_iuit9ys wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:29 PM

Same here. Drives me nuts. I walk into someones house and see all that crap but I can't say anything.

bms42 t1_iu0vcgo wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:49 PM

There's really no way to answer without seeing the cabinet in place. Context matters.

Petd80 t1_iu1dj7n wrote on October 27, 2022 at 8:47 PM

Yeah different hinges is the answer. You’ll get a slightly different face frame reveal but after a week you’ll never see it again.