Why Choose a Double Cylinder Deadbolt over a Single Cylinder?

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Another great question. First lets go over exactly what each type of deadbolt is and then we can get in to why you would use one over the other.

 

Single Cylinder Deadbolt

This style of deadbolt is definitely more commonly used on exterior doors. It’s simply a keyed cylinder to lock/unlock the door with a key from the outside and will have a thumb turn on the inside.

 

Double Cylinder Deadbolt

A double cylinder deadbolt has a keyed cylinder to unlock the door with a key on the outside (just like the single cylinder) as well as on the inside. Yes, that means that you will need a key to unlock and lock the door from the inside.

A double cylinder deadbolt is great for the doors that have partial glass. The reason being in case there was an intruder and they wanted to break the glass so they could unlock the deadbolt from the inside and enter, they won’t be able to because it would require a key to enter.

 

The more obvious choice may seem to be the double cylinder because it’s got two keyed cylinders and is more secure right? It really is a great deadbolt to have, but be aware that a double cylinder could possibly be a fire hazard because you or any other member of your family would require a key to get out. You may have to pick your battle with this style. Either you feel more secure with a double cylinder because you have partial glass, or you feel more secure without double cylinder because it may be a fire hazard. When customers ask us which is better, a single cylinder or a double cylinder, we mention the fire hazard thing so they are aware that it could be dangerous if you need to exit, but that it really does bring ease to others because of its security. Like I said, you have to pick your battle.

Why is One Manufacturers Product More Than Another’s When The Style is Similar?

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A great question! I know that may be a little confusing. There are quit a few different door knobs, lever handles and other door hardware that look very similar but are from different brands and some brands may be more expensive than others.

similar egg knob

For example this Emtek Egg knob and this Sure-Loc Egg knob (shown above). They each look very similar to eachother but if you click on them the price is not so similar. It’s around a $60.00 difference. What is the reason for this? The Emtek hardware and the Sure-Loc hardware and other brands for that matter are all made differently and with different material. We are talking about Emtek vs. Sure-Loc in this case, so the Sure-Loc door hardware are made of zinc die cast and they are all hollow where the Emtek door hardware are made of solid brass material. Making the material from Emtek a little more higher in quality from the Sure-Loc. Don’t get me wrong, Sure-Loc is a great quality and can do it’s job well, but some people are a little picky when it comes to how solid their door hardware is, and that’s what Emtek is. And this is generally the case with all door hardware on the site, the higher priced hardware such as Baldwin, Emtek, Linnea, Omnia (just to name a few) are all made of solid material making it more durable and maybe more smooth function and of course the quality. It’s not always necessary to have this type of hardware in your home if you are ok with it. Other brands such as Sure-Loc, Weslock, Schlage, and Kwikset (to name a few) are great quality as well, and more simple and maybe better for fitting in a tight budget. These brands offer good hardware for a more affordable price. Other reasons that can effect the price of similar pieces of hardware could be because of the warranty coverage, the brand name reputation, product origin, distribution channels  and all of the door hardware manufacturers we work with set their own pricing based on everything we said above.

What Door Hardware Do I Need On Interior French Doors?

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It can be so confusing to know what to order for a set of french doors. And it’s true, it can be a little tricky if you aren’t familiar with all the different functions and such. French doors on the inside of your house will have a door that’s fixed and the other operable.

The fixed door will need to have a latch, called a flush bolt or a more decorative one called a surface bolt (these bolts come in all kinds of shapes and sizes and finishes to match your existing door hardware), that you can unlock that will be located at the top and/or bottom of the door to keep the door shut in place. And when you unlock it, it will allow you to open the door. Depending on what you want the french doors to look like, you can choose to order a dummy function door knob/lever (these are available with any style of door knob or lever handle you decide on) so it matches the operable door. Some people decide it’s not necessary to order a dummy door knob, as it doesn’t function and is only mounted to the surface of the door, whereas others choose to order the dummy function either because they believe it looks nicer or sometimes people like it because then you do have a handle to pull it open when the flush bolt is unlocked. A good thing to note when ordering the dummy function is that some brands only ship one singe dummy door knob/lever, meaning you will only receive one for one side of the door. Look for double dummy, which will come with two for each side of the door. If you are looking for what kind of hardware to order for double closet doors, read this post.

For the operable door, it’s most likely bored with a hole to fit the door knob or lever. Lots and lots of doors already come this way with standard door prep. For an interior french door you will want to order a passage or privacy function door knob or lever. A passage is a door knob that functions but has no type of lock at all, whereas the privacy will have a privacy push/turn button to lock the door knob in place for privacy. You will find privacy functions on a bathroom or bedroom door. It just depends on what type of room these french doors lead to and your preference.

If you are looking to find what kind of door hardware to order for exterior french doors check out an earlier post all about that here.

Have a Thicker Door and Need to Find A Handleset to Fit?

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Handlesets are great for any entry door. It’s secure, it’s easy to use and it’ll dress up your front door. You can choose from a wide variety of finishes that will coordinate with all the rest of your door hardware throughout your house. Not only is there a wide variety of finishes, but you also have different styles of handlesets to choose from, such as double sided, two point locks, emergency egress/interconnected handlesets, and mortise locks. If you have french doors, dummy handlesets are available for the inactive door. It’s fun to be able to pick and choose all the different styles and all the different interior door knobs and levers that can make your front door either unique, or you can match the rest of your hardware throughout your house. Make sure to order from the same brand if you want your finishes to match. Anyway, enough about all the different styles and options you can choose from, what happens if you have a thicker door than normal? Are there options for a door that’s thicker than the standard size door (up to 2″ is generally standard door thickness)? You bet there are options! Quite a few styles and designs to choose from. Which means just because your door is thick, doesn’t mean you don’t get all the options that you may get when ordering for a door that has standard thickness. The options are a little fewer as far as design goes, because not all brands will carry hardware to fit thicker doors.

Emtek offers lots of different handleset to fit doors up to:

2 5/8″ thick

2 7/8″ thick

3″ thick.

*NOTE: Please make sure to measure your door to be sure the door thickness before you order, because if your door is actually standard door thickness (1 3/4″ up to 2″ thick is standard) and you order for a door that’s over standard thickness like the 2 5/8″, 2 7/8″ and 3″ thick, it will not fit your door.

Fire Marshal Approved Locks

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Interconnected Door LockIn Basic Terms:

Press down on the lever and deadbolt and lever latch retract simultaneously.

 

 

You may have heard of interconnected locks before, also known as emergency egress locks. These special handlesets are designed to easily unlock the door. Basically it’s a lock where the deadbolt and knob (or lever) latch are linked with a device called and interconnect device. An interconnect device is an internal mechanism that deactivates the deadbolt lock when you turn the door knob/lever from the inside to open the door. There are a couple different styles available so be sure to verify how your existing door is prepped before you order so you can be sure it will fit correctly (to find out more information about two different types of interconnected locks click here and read the information given at the bottom of this page).

 

 

It’s important, in some applications, that their locks are Fire Marshall Approved. Which basically means that occupants can exit the building easily in case of emergency. With these interconnect locks or emergency egress locks, you can easily open the door in a single action making it really convenient when exiting and that’s especially important if there were some kind of an emergency. It’s designed to open even if the door is locked!

 

 

From Baldwin, Emtek, EZSet, Kwikset, Schlage and Weslock Brands, there are Residential Style Interconnect (or Emergency Egress) Locks, Or there are Interconnect Locks for a commercial applications.

 

 

*NOTE: These Interconnected locks meet the requirements of most Fire Marshals, but the user may need to check with their own local authority to verify.

 

 

Interconnect locks have been uses in hospitals, group homes, apartment buildings and other public access places, but you could easily use them for your own home if you wish. It does make for an easy exit.

 

 

You can find a ton more information on emergency egress (interconnected) locks here.

 

Door Hardware Options for an Exterior Door

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It’s important to feel safe and secure when it comes to an exterior/entry door. I don’t think anyone would feel comfortable installing a regular door knob with no type of lock on an exterior door, I guess unless you live out in the middle of nowhere and I am guessing that probably means you leave your keys in your car too. Anyway, not everyone lives where there are no neighbors in sight. So it’s important to find a lock(s) that makes you feel comfortable when leaving the house for the day or maybe days.  Believe it or not there are a lot of door lock options for an entry/exterior door, not just your basic door knob that has a key.

 

Picture 21292

The most common combination is probably a basic single cylinder deadbolt with a passage function knob or lever. A passage function means it has not type of lock on the door knob or lever, the deadbolt is how you would keep your door locked. You could choose a double cylinder deadbolt if you wanted, but that mean’s it will be keyed on the outside as well as the inside. It’s not recommended for most doors, as it could be a fire hazard.

 

Picture 21292

Another good choice would be to find a deadbolt that you like and pair it with a keyed door knob or keyed lever.

 

sideplate-lockSideplate locks are a little fancier option with so many different plate options and you get to pair it with your choice of door knob or lever and choose whatever of the many finishes. These work basically like the first option (deadbolt and passage function knob or lever) except it has a fancy plate in between. Sideplates are from Emtek. The picture above shoes a sideplate with a CC of 3 5/8″ (which is not standard prep). 5 1/2″ CC sideplates are available on the right hand side of this page.

 

TE_46_Brighton_MB

And last but not least, you can also find many many styles of Handlesets. These are pretty popular as well for a front door, maybe not so much for a back door or side door, but the front door it’ll sure make a statement. Most handlesets will only have the above deadbolt to keep the door locked, but if you are wanting added security and have 2 locks you can check out the two point handleset locks.

Don’t forget to check out the keyless locks, which could take place of several of these options.

 

Schlage Residential Knobs and Levers ANSI Rating

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Schlage residential door hardware is a super popular brand. You can find this brand almost anywhere, even your local Home Depot or Lowes should carry the Schlage residential door hardware – although they wont have as many options as far as design and finish go, but they will have a few basic designs to choose from if you aren’t too picky. Schlage is a great brand to have in your home or maybe even your office. Schlage residential knobs and levers (most of them anyway) have an ANSI rating of a Grade 2. For those of you who need or want more information on ANSI rating, read on – I will go into more detail for you.

ANSI may not mean much to most people shopping hardware for their home, but it can be pretty important for the people looking for hardware on a commercial application. ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute. ANSI is an agency that tests and sets standards for lots of different things. BHMA, or Builders Hardware Manufacturers is a similar agency. The difference is that BHMA only tests and sets standards for door hardware alone, whereas ANSI can test on almost anything. When I say tests and sets standards, this just means basically they give each door hardware item (or any item if we are talking ANSI) a grade such as grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3. I’m sure you have probably heard of that before.

Grade 1 is the highest grade. This is the grade that those commercial application people are looking for. The hardware with a grade 1 is used on public buildings like hospitals and schools etc. So basically the Grade 1 is for most of the commercial hardware that you will find.

Grade 2 is more of a light commercial grade. You can find this type of hardware used on apartment buildings, or office building, like a dentist office for example. So like I said, most of the Schlage residential hardware is a Grade 2.

Grade 3 is the simple hardware you will find in a home. Most homes wont need a grade 1 or 2 for a home because the doors are not used quite as often so it’s not necessary. If you are familiar with some of the brands we carry, Kwikset residential is a grade 3. Sure-Loc would probably fall into this grade, if it were graded.

Superior Multi-Point Patio Door Lock Trim Replacements

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config1_tuscany

Do you have the Superior brand multi point or patio doors? Are you looking for some options to replace the hardware? Emtek offers tons of options of exterior and interior trims, called Emtek Multi Point Lock Trim sets, that attach right to your existing mechanism. There are tons of back plates and tons of levers after you find what backplate suits your style. These are assembled the way you choose. With whatever back plate, with whatever lever, with whatever finish and function.

 

If you go to the Emtek Multi Point Lock Trims page you will find several configurations, these are important to look over before you order, to make sure the correct trims will be sent to you and will fit your Superior doors (or any other brand of door). Configuration 1 is the one you should be looking at if you have Superior doors. If you don’t have Superior doors, find your brand of door listed under any of the 7 configurations.

 

config_1

You will want to make sure your existing mechanism matches up to this configuration. If for some reason it doesn’t, the Emtek trim sets we send wont fit properly. It’s important to know that these are ONLY the trims, meaning they DO NOT include the interior locking mechanisms of the door – the mechanisms should be provided from your Superior door manufacturer. These will include a trim for the exterior side of the door and a trim for the interior side of the door.

 

With all the options of backplates, levers, and finishes you should easily be able to find something that will fit the style you love for your Superior Doors. That’s what makes Emtek so great, because you don’t easily run out of options. Emtek’s hardware is made of solid brass as well, so it’s sturdy and functions smoothly. Be sure to call if you have questions or need help ordering!

What is the CF Mechanism?

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Maybe you have seen a ton of great hardware already from Emtek, but have you seen the new(er) CF mechanism they came out with? Now your question might be “What in the world is that?”…  It’s only something that’s awesome, something that’s genius, something you all will probably want! CF is short for ‘Concealed Fastener’. In other words this system that is oh so genius is a super sleek design with no exposed screws. I say again… you can’t see the screws! Brilliant! This makes all of their modern, stylish, unique, awesome designs of door hardware even more sleek.

 

All of Emtek’s Brass, Stainless Steel, Bronze, Crystal and Porcelain interior passage and privacy locksets are available with the CF mechanism feature. You can see all of the door knobs and levers with the CF mechanism here.

 

There is no handing required on any CF mechanism, not even for the levers. You don’t have to worry about if your door is a right hand or left hand with the CF mechanism. It’s also easy and simple to install. These are designed to fit standard door prep and a door thickness of 1 3/8″ to 1 3/4″, but if you have a door thickness that is up to 2 3/4″, Emtek offers special accommodations to fit it, just make sure you specify when you order and we will make sure to send you the right items.

 

What’s also pretty cool about this new feature is that it also includes a 28 degree latch.

 

CFMechanism-28-degree-latch

Standard latches will require you to turn the door knob or push the lever down (like the picture above shows) a lot more than it would require you to turn a door knob or lever with a 28 degree latch. You will love how smooth it operates. It’s just something more convenient to have that Emtek has offered with the cool CF mechanism! It doesn’t seem like you could go wrong with choosing the CF mechanism, does it?

 

 

 

What Door Hardware Do I Need for Exterior French Doors?

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French doors or in other words double doors are commonly seen on many front entry ways of many homes now. We get asked quite a bit what type of hardware do you need to order for a set of double exterior doors? Exterior meaning you will want the door to have a keyed lock for security, but what else? Lets break it down to be little more simple.

French doors will have a fixed door and an operable door. It’s important to know which door is the active door and which door is fixed door, in other words is the active door on the left or on the right? This is important, because some levers and some handlesets require handing of the door. Here is a chart to help you figure out if your door is left hand or right hand.

Simple_handing

If you want both french doors to open you can order either a few flush bolts (which are the most common) or surface bolts (which are more decorative) that are installed at the top and bottom of the fixed door to lock the door in place and then you can simply unlatch it when you want the fixed door to open.

The most obvious piece of door hardware you may think to order is a keyed lock set. That being a keyed door knob, a keyed lever or a keyed handleset. If you decide to go with a keyed door knob or lever, you will also want to purchase a deadbolt to go above the door knob or lever. Any of these you decide to go with will be installed on your active door. Handlesets are nice because the deadbolt is already included and they look super nice on exterior doors, but these are a little more expensive.

For the fixed door, remember your flush bolt or surface bolt liked I mentioned earlier. If you check out your french doors, the operable door should have a hole bored for the keyed lock set you chose to go with and the fixed door may not have a hole at all. You can choose whether you want to order a dummy set – a dummy door knob, dummy door lever handle, or a dummy handleset. Some people don’t order anything for the fixed door and it looks just fine, but then others like both doors to look symmetrical. It’s up to you!

*NOTE: Make sure that if you are ordering a dummy it is a set, because some dummy door knobs or levers are shipped with only one for one side of the door, in this case you will need to order 2 dummies for the fixed door.