Common Cabinet Door Measurement Mistakes to Avoid

The $800 Lesson I'll Never Forget

My third year painting cabinets, I measured a full kitchen. Twenty-two doors. Wrote everything down, double-checked my numbers, sent the order. Felt confident. When the doors arrived two weeks later, I was excited to get started.

Then I opened the first box.

Four doors were wrong. Not a little wrong. Completely wrong. Off by an inch or more. I stood there holding a door that obviously wouldn't fit, trying to figure out what happened.

I'd measured the old doors instead of the openings. Those old doors had been trimmed years ago to fit around a dishwasher that had since been replaced with a different model. The doors fit their cabinets, but they weren't the right size for the openings anymore. I trusted the existing doors because they were there, and it cost me $800 and a weekend of my life reordering and waiting.

That was the last time I made that mistake. And in the years since, I've seen every measurement error you can imagine. From contractors who've been doing this for decades to first-time DIYers, everyone makes mistakes. Here are all the ways I've seen measurements go sideways, so you don't have to learn the expensive way.

Mistake 1: Measuring the Old Door Instead of the Opening

The problem: Existing doors may have warped over time, swelled with humidity, or been trimmed to fit around obstacles that no longer exist. The door that's hanging might fit that cabinet perfectly and still be the wrong size for a replacement.

I've seen doors trimmed to clear a light switch that got moved during a remodel. Doors trimmed to fit around refrigerators that were replaced with different models. Doors that warped so gradually nobody noticed, but they're now 1/4" narrower on one end than the other.

The fix: Always measure the cabinet opening and calculate door size from overlay. Never assume the old door is correct. The opening is the truth. The door is just what someone installed once.

How to verify: Measure the opening width at top and bottom. Measure opening height at left and right. If these numbers don't match, something has changed. Use the smaller dimension and note the discrepancy.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to Account for Overlay

The problem: Ordering doors the exact size of the opening, not accounting for how much the door extends past the opening edge.

This is the most common mistake from first-time door orderers. They measure the opening at 12" x 30", so they order a 12" x 30" door. That door will be too small because it doesn't account for overlay.

The fix: Add overlay to your opening measurements. For full overlay, add approximately 2.5" total to width (1.25" per side) and 2.5" to height. For partial overlay, add less. For inset, the door should be slightly smaller than the opening.

Overlay Type	Add to Width	Add to Height
Full overlay	2" to 2.5" total	2" to 2.5" total
Partial overlay	1" to 1.5" total	1" to 1.5" total
Inset	Subtract 1/4" total	Subtract 1/4" total

See our complete guide to cabinet door overlay explained for detailed calculations.

Mistake 3: Inconsistent Measuring Reference Points

The problem: Measuring some openings at the face frame edge, others at the box edge, and others at random points depending on what was convenient in the moment.

A contractor called me last month confused about why his doors weren't lining up. Some were perfect. Others had huge gaps. Others were too tight. Turns out he'd had two different guys measuring on the same job, and they were measuring from different reference points. One measured at the frame, one measured at the box. Neither was wrong, but mixing them created chaos.

The fix: Pick one reference point and use it consistently for every single measurement. I recommend measuring at the face frame edge because that's where the door meets the cabinet visually. But the method matters less than consistency. Every measurement, same technique.

The template method: Create a simple spreadsheet or form with labeled columns. Opening number, location, width, height, notes. Fill it in methodically. Don't measure one opening and then walk across the room before writing it down.

Mistake 4: Assuming Openings Are Square

The problem: Assuming all openings are perfectly square when they're often not, especially in older homes.

Houses settle. Cabinets shift. Face frames warp. An opening that was square in 2005 might not be square today. If you measure only the top width and the left height, you might miss that the bottom is narrower or the right is taller.

The fix: Measure diagonals. Hold a tape measure from top-left corner to bottom-right corner. Then measure top-right to bottom-left. If these diagonal measurements differ by more than 1/8", the opening isn't square.

For out-of-square openings:

• Note the discrepancy on your order
• Consider whether the door needs to be trimmed on-site
• Use the smaller dimension if you're ordering standard doors

Older Sarasota homes are notorious for settling. I've seen openings that were a quarter inch out of square, sometimes more. The doors fit, but the reveals looked uneven until we adjusted the hinges to compensate.

Mistake 5: Transposing Width and Height

The problem: Writing 24" x 30" when you meant 30" x 24", or vice versa. Listing width as height and height as width.

This sounds like a ridiculous mistake until you're measuring your twentieth door at 4pm after being on your feet all day and your brain just stops cooperating. You measure 24 across. You measure 30 up. You write 30 x 24 because that's what your tired brain produced.

The fix: Always write dimensions as W x H (width first, then height). Use a template that has labeled columns. Say it out loud as you write it: "Width is 24. Height is 30." The verbal confirmation catches errors your eyes might miss.

Better yet, use a measurement form that has separate fields for width and height, so transposition isn't even possible.

Mistake 6: Mixing Up Cabinet Positions

The problem: Accurate measurements that don't match up with cabinet locations. You measured 22 doors, but when they arrive, nobody knows which measurement goes with which cabinet.

The fix: Number your cabinets on a sketch before you measure anything. Draw a simple floor plan showing the kitchen layout. Number each cabinet opening: Upper 1, Upper 2, Upper 3... Lower 1, Lower 2, Lower 3... When you measure, reference those numbers.

I learned this from an installer who'd been doing kitchens for thirty years. He draws a simple sketch before touching a tape measure. Numbers every opening. Writes measurements next to the numbers. Takes an extra five minutes. Saves hours of confusion when doors arrive.

Pro tip: Take photos of your sketch next to the actual cabinets. If there's ever a question about which measurement goes where, the photo settles it.

Mistake 7: Forgetting to Note Hinge Side

The problem: Not documenting which side should be hinged. Doors arrive, and you're guessing whether the left or right side should have the hinge bore.

For boring hinges, this isn't the end of the world because you can often adjust. But for doors with pre-bored hinge cups, wrong side means reinstalling or reordering.

The fix: Mark L or R for left or right hinge side on every measurement. Stand facing the cabinet to determine. If the hinges are on the left when you face the cabinet, mark it L.

Convention: Hinge side is named based on which side has the hinges when you stand in front of the cabinet facing it. Left hinge means the left side has hinges and the door swings open to the right.

Mistake 8: Not Accounting for Appliance Interference

The problem: Measuring doors that will interfere with appliances when opened. The measurement is accurate for the opening but doesn't account for the refrigerator handle, the range hood, or the microwave that prevents full door swing.

The fix: Open and close existing doors (or simulate with a piece of cardboard cut to size) to check clearance with:

• Refrigerator doors and handles
• Range hood and vent
• Microwave or over-range appliances
• Light fixtures
• Adjacent cabinet doors
• Windows and window frames

Note any clearance issues on your measurement form. Doors might need to be narrower than standard overlay would suggest to clear adjacent obstacles.

Mistake 9: Ignoring Drawer Fronts

The problem: Measuring all the doors carefully and completely forgetting about drawer fronts.

Drawer fronts have dimensions too. They have overlay. They need to be measured with the same care as doors. I've seen orders where someone measured 25 doors perfectly and forgot to measure the 8 drawer fronts entirely.

The fix: Include drawer fronts in your measurement process from the start. Number them on your sketch just like doors. Measure them the same way: opening size plus overlay equals front size.

Drawer fronts often have different overlay than doors because they stack vertically with small gaps between them. Measure what you have and match it, don't assume drawer overlay equals door overlay.

Mistake 10: Rounding Measurements

The problem: Rounding 15-3/8" to 15-1/2" because fractions are annoying.

That 1/8" matters. Over 30 doors, inconsistent rounding creates visible alignment problems. Doors that should line up don't. Gaps that should match don't match.

The fix: Measure to the nearest 1/16" and record exactly what you measured. Don't round. Don't approximate. If the opening is 15-3/8", write 15-3/8".

Most cabinet doors are made to 1/32" tolerance or better. Your measurements should be at least as precise as the manufacturing capability.

Our Measurement Review Process

Every order we receive goes through measurement review before production:

1. Check for common errors: We flag measurements that look suspicious, like doors that would be 6" wide or 48" tall for a standard base cabinet.

2. Flag unusual dimensions: Anything outside normal ranges gets a second look. Sometimes unusual is correct. Sometimes it's a typo.

3. Call to verify if something looks off: Last week we called a customer about a door that measured 8" wide. That's unusually narrow for a cabinet door. Turns out he'd missed a digit. Should have been 18". One phone call saved a remake and two weeks of delay.

4. Confirm overlay type: We verify full vs partial overlay before cutting anything. Mixed overlay in an order is possible but usually indicates confusion about what the customer actually has.

This review catches mistakes before they become expensive problems. We'd rather spend five minutes on the phone than five days making the wrong doors.

Tools That Help

Digital tape measure: Shows exact dimensions on a screen. Harder to misread than analog.

Measurement app: Take a photo, mark dimensions on the image. Creates a visual record that's hard to confuse.

Spreadsheet template: Columns for cabinet number, location, width, height, overlay type, hinge side, notes. Forces consistency.

Graph paper sketch: Simple kitchen layout with numbered openings. Doesn't have to be pretty, just functional.

When to Get Professional Help

Some situations warrant professional measurement:

• Very old cabinets with non-standard dimensions
• Complex layouts with angled cabinets or unusual configurations
• High-value orders where remake cost would be significant
• Any time you're uncertain about overlay or dimensions

We offer measurement verification as part of our service. Send us your measurements and photos, and we'll review them before you commit to an order.

Learn the basics in how to measure cabinet doors or visit our cabinet door measurement service page.

Need Measurement Help?

Call 941-417-0202. We'll walk you through the process and verify your measurements before production starts.

That $800 mistake was the best investment I ever made in learning how to measure properly. I've never made it again. I've helped hundreds of customers avoid making it at all. Don't spend $800 learning what I already know.

Just ask.