Guide
How to Measure Cabinet Doors for Replacement
Measure the width and height of each existing door, not the opening, from the widest points, to the nearest 1/16 inch. Write every door down, check the overlay, and enter the sizes as measured.
Draft: this page is waiting for review by the nuDoors team.
How do I measure a cabinet door for replacement?
Measure the door itself, not the opening. Hold the tape straight across the widest points of the door for the width, then top to bottom at the widest points for the height, and write both down to the nearest 1/16". Do this for every door and drawer front, because doors that look the same are often a little different. nuDoors makes each door to exactly the size you enter.
What you need
- A steel tape measure marked in 1/16"
- The printable measuring sheet or your phone's notes
- A list of every door: a typical kitchen in our 2026 estimates has 14 doors and 6 drawer fronts
Step by step
- Number the doors. Work left to right, upper cabinets then base cabinets, and put a piece of painter's tape with a number on each door and drawer front.
- Measure the width. Straight across, left edge to right edge, at the widest point.
- Measure the height. Top edge to bottom edge, at the widest point.
- Write it down as width x height, for example 15 1/2 x 30 1/4.
- Measure the drawer fronts the same way. A drawer above a door is its own piece.
- Note the extras: glass doors, lazy susan doors, side panels, toe kicks and filler strips.
- Double-check any door that is not the same as its neighbour.
Watch: Replace your cabinet doors. Learn how to measure in 5 minutes.
Do I measure the door or the cabinet opening?
The door, when you are replacing doors you already have. Your existing doors already cover the opening by the right amount (the overlay), so copying their size keeps the same look and the same hinges. Measure the opening only when a door is missing or you want a different overlay: then use the door size calculator.
How do I check my overlay?
Measure the width of a door and the width of the opening behind it. Overlay per side = (door width - opening width) / 2. A 1/2" overlay is common on face-frame cabinets; full overlay doors cover most of the frame. See cabinet door overlay explained.
Watch: How to measure your existing kitchen cabinet door overlay
How accurate do my measurements need to be?
To the nearest 1/16". Round to the closest mark rather than always up or down, and measure twice. Because every nuDoors door is custom, a door cut to a wrong measurement cannot be returned, so the double-check is worth the minute it takes.
What sizes can nuDoors make?
Doors from 5" to 36" wide and 5" to 96" tall; drawer fronts from 5" to 48" wide and 4" to 24" tall. Doors over 24" wide or 50" tall can be made but are not covered for warping, so consider two doors for a very wide opening.
Common measuring mistakes
- Measuring the opening when you meant to measure the door
- Rounding every number up "to be safe" (it makes every door too big)
- Skipping the drawer fronts or the small doors above the fridge
- Mixing up width and height: always write width first
Ready to order?
Enter your sizes in nuGO, our step-by-step order wizard, or start with a photo in nuVision to see the new doors on your kitchen first.
Sources
- nuDoors, How to Measure (nudoors.com/measure-for-nudoors) and the nuGO measuring step.
- nuDoors manufacturing limits and warranty terms (nudoors.com/policies-guidelines, sections 16 to 20).