Sizing cabinet doors / face frame ?

[Lincoln Myers]

I am planning on purchasing doors and drawer front for a new bathroom vanity, though the question would be the same if I were making them myself I suppose.

I will have a 48" W vanity. How much of a gap (overlay?) is typically left between doors/edge, drawers/door etc. when building a cabinet? Basically, what size should the yellow space be in the attached diagram?

Is there a space that makes the math easy for then sizing the drawer fronts and doors?

Thanks
- Linc

[Rod Sheridan]

I use 2mm...............Rod

[John Gregory]

I see a gap and an overlay as two separate things. gap would be for inset doors and drawers, where the door or drawer front is slightly smaller than the opening. Overlay would be doors and drawers that are wider and taller then the opening. If your openings are 12" X 6" for example, and you want a 1/2" overlay on all sides of the drawer the drawer front would be 13" X 7"

[frank shic]

lincoln, the answer is: whatever you want it to be. a 1/2" overlay for the doors and drawer fronts is fairly common on face frame cabinets and it will make the math pretty simple for you. just measure the inside dimensions of the opening and add 1" to the height and width. make sure that you buy the correct hinges to account for the 1/2" overlay.

[Lincoln Myers]

Thanks for the replies. Is it true that I need (should?) build my face frame before ordering/building the doors? Or can I order the doors based on my design, accounting for the 1/2" overlay all around?

Thanks,

-Linc

[glenn bradley]

Since the doors will be pre-made, I would do the frames after they arrive. This allows you to 'adjust' dimensions on the frame if required.

[Scott Loven]

don't you mean 11.5" drawers and doors? .5+11.5+.5+11.5+.5+11.5+.5+11.5+.5= 48 inches.
or .5+11+1+11+1+11+1+11+.5=48 so that you can open the center doors and not hit the drawer or the wall. Check the doors in your kitchen and see hoe much they overhang the face frame. Also different hinges have different overlays.
Scott

[Glenn Clabo]

Linc...I believe most custom doors are +/- 1/16" so I'd not be too worried about buidling the faceframes before you get the doors. Just remember (write down?) how you finished them.

[Dave Falkenstein]

If your 48" wide vanity is actually three cabinets, right, left and center then make your three interior stiles twice as wide as the two exterior stiles. This face frame design is quite common, and gives you the added space you need for the drawers and doors to clear each other, assuming you are using overlay drawer fronts and doors. Same issue on the interior rails - leave room for clearance and balance the clearance dimension so it looks consistent both vertically and horizontally.

[Joe Chritz]

Personally I would use a 1/2 space everywhere.

1.5 in rails and stiles with 1/2 overlay should give you a half in clearance from edge to door and between doors.

If it is fitting between two walls then you may want to shorten up the drawers and make the outside stiles 2.5 inches for some extra clearance. Although I haven't had a problem with mine.

Something like this pic? Yes I know the bottom drawer fronts are out of whack and the top is nasty. Those are temps until replacements make it farther up the to do list.

Joe