We want to have custom made a medicine cabinet (48w x 35h x 4d) to be
placed in the wall. One carpenter said regular mirrored doors that
swing open are preferable to sliding mirrored doors, and he gave some
reasons I found not convincing. What are the reasons for preferring
sliding doors? Also, he said European hinges would secure the regular
doors--my experience with European hinges has been awful. Why would
European hinges be preferred over any other kind?

"frasercrane" wrote in message
news:dKxBg.2978$Jg1.2941@trndny05...
We want to have custom made a medicine cabinet (48w x 35h x 4d) to be
placed in the wall. One carpenter said regular mirrored doors that swing
open are preferable to sliding mirrored doors, and he gave some reasons I
found not convincing. What are the reasons for preferring sliding doors?
Also, he said European hinges would secure the regular doors--my
experience with European hinges has been awful. Why would European hinges
be preferred over any other kind?

I've had minimal, but good experience with the European hinges. One
advantage is they don't require a face frame for mounting and thus, give
more open space. Sliders that side don't always slide smooth. They
sometimes bump things sticking out inside knocking them off a shelf. I'd
prefer an opening style door myself.

frasercrane wrote:
We want to have custom made a medicine cabinet (48w x 35h x 4d) to be
placed in the wall. One carpenter said regular mirrored doors that
swing open are preferable to sliding mirrored doors, and he gave some
reasons I found not convincing. What are the reasons for preferring
sliding doors?

Because he is a carpenter and probably doesn't have the tools/expertise
to make sliding glass doors work smoothly. That said, sliding mirrored
doors without rollers usually don't work that well because the aluminum
tracks oxidize in a moist bathroom or the grease gums up.

Also, he said European hinges would secure the regular
doors--my experience with European hinges has been awful. Why would
European hinges be preferred over any other kind?

There are many types of european hinges (made in china) that give great
flexibility in how the cabinets are built and how the doors are mounted
(overlay, inset, etc.)

A few things to consider:
what is in the wall? (plumbing, electrical, ventilation, etc)
what is on the other side?
(I have an large inset medicine cabinet that made hanging shelves in
the opposing closet difficult)
having the carpenter build/install the cabinet then have a glass shop
come out and install the mirrored sliding doors

Life is too short to settle for things you don't want.