Door Hardware Blog

A little clarification for remodelers out there:

A lot of older homes use the old skeleton key type lock where there is a box (called a mortise box) mounted inside the door and the knobs mount to a spindle inserted through the mortise box. We have a lot of customers that need just the knobs and spindle replaced. Here is a link to just the knobs and spindles:

http://www.directdoorhardware.com/NostalgicWare/Index_Knobs.htm

If you need to replace the whole entire set, you can purchase a new mortise box with knobs, spindles, and backplates. Find complete skeleton key locks here.  On that page you can choose from many styles, then choose the mortise function. In  my opinion, if you are replacing the knobs, you may as well replace the whole set-up and have some nice smooth functioning knobsets. Replacing the knobs does make an immediate cosmetic difference, but those old mortise boxes get worn out and tend to have a lot of play in them. A new mortise box will operate smoothly, yet feel solid. But, luckily for those of us on a budget, you can just buy the knobs seperately, or even the backplates (found here), or even just the mortise box.

Example of a skeleton key mortise box

The second kind of mortise lock is often confused with the first, so I thought I’d clarify a little in this blog post. Mortise Entry Sets also use a mortise box that slides in the edge of the door, but they do not use a skeleton key like the vintage mortise locks. The Mortise Entry Sets or Handlesets have a larger box that connects the lower knob or lever handle and the deadbolt lock above. These type of mortise locks are much more expensive than than standard tubular latch sets that most of us have in our homes. There are several advantages to mortise entry sets. One of the more popular styles that we sell are the Emtek Mortise handlesets. These locks have a larger than standard deadbolt throw for added security and lock at the doorknob or lever latch as well. These mortise locks also have an option that allows you to keep the door locked at all times so that when you leave the home it will lock behind you. The added security and smooth operation of mortise locksets make them a popular choice, but since they require more preparation than the standard lockset, they won’t work for every situation. Emtek also makes decorative plate locks in the mortise function. You’ll notice in the example below that the latch on the edge of the display is long and rectangular with deadbolt and lever latch towards the center, where a standard sideplate would have two seperate tubular latches top and bottom.

Emtek Mortise Sideplate Lock

Yeah, we carry bathroom accessories too. Of course with a name like Direct Door Hardware you can assume we sell door knobs, door hinges etc. But, since new home construction and remodels also include bathrooms and kitchens, we also sell Bathroom Accessories and Cabinet Hardware. Just this week I had two home builders place large orders for door hardware. Both realized soon after that they also needed a slew of cabinet knobs to finish their project, but had completely forgotten to order them. Luckily we had what they needed in stock and were able to ship them out immediately. Don’t get caught at the last minute without everything you need, it’s just easier to order it all at once.

Custom doors come in all sizes. 3″ thick is a big door, and most door hardware manufacturers will not have anything available to fit something that thick. Often times we have customers that have doors just a bit larger than standard thickness [1 3/8" - 1 3/4"]. Most of the time customers that have thicker doors are in the 2 1/4″ – 2 1/2″ thickness range. Luckily Emtek brand hardware has a fit kit available for most of their products to accomodate these thicker doors. Sometimes we have customers with a door even thicker. Just now I had a call from a customer who had been searching for weeks trying to find a deadbolt for his 3″ thick door. Even Emtek doesn’t cater to this, but Brass Accents does. We don’t have the option available on our website as it is pretty uncommon, but we can special order door hardware for 3″ thick doors.

Have a 3″ thick door yourself? give us a call and we can show you what is available.

Schlage is one of the biggest names in door hardware. It is found everywhere and as a result a lot of stores have product in stock that they need to get rid of. When they try to unload it, they lower the price significantly. Every once in a while we will get a request for price matching and the price they want us to match is so rediculously low that we’d be losing money to get the sale – we just can’t do that if we want to stay in business. Funny though, some of those customers that want us to price match end up buying from us anyway. Is it because we actually answer the phone when the call? Answer our emails or know about the product we sell? We often have customers call us for a price match because they just aren’t comfortable with the website they found. Reasons range from not having a secure website, to not answering their emails or phone to just not having a professional looking website. They just feel more conifdent with us because we are a main competitor in the industry.

Sometimes a competitor’s price is so low on Schlage because they have only one [unpopular] finish or they just have a few in stock. I understand why everyone is looking for a low price. I often shop around as well before buying. But I think it’s important to understand that sometimes paying a little more to buy from a reputable company that will provide customer service is worth the extra cost. These days I don’t shop around quite as much as I used to. To me a fair price from a reputable company is better than saving just a few more dollars to be uncertain about the product and level of customer service that comes with the product. Customer service is important to us and something we work on consistently to improve. I know when I shop at a website that provides a good price and great customer service, I want to shop there again. Our hope is that our customers will appreciate our customer service and remember us in the future. That being said, if you have found Schlage, Kwikset or other door hardware at a lower price let us know and if we can price match it – we will.

The Emtek brand has expanded once again. With it’s recent aquisition of Epitome brand door hardware, they offer a complete line of modern styled levers and knobs. Be sure to check out the new stainless steel levers and other modern levers and knobs – they may be just the right fit for your modern home or office.

for quite some time we have been working toward a more robust website system. We have finally made the official change. Customers can now create accounts, track orders online and keep track of their order history right on our website. I know, I know – most websites have this. However for many reasons we have remained using our basic website system because it works. And when something works, don’t fix it. Finally something on the basic website broke and it was either spend to fix it, or make the change to a better system. I think we’ve made the right choice, and so far our customers seem to be pleased with the results. Hopefully we’ll have more changes coming in the future to make the shopping experience on Direct Door Hardware even better.

Emtek makes some pretty cool sandcast hardware. The knobs and levers are somewhat irregular in shape and have some pitting and markings on them so they give you a nice rustic look. This Sandcast style has been really popular for some time. Recently, Emtek has decided to change their dark bronze finish to be called Deep Burgundy because it has a much more red hue to it than their medium bronze type finish that is probably closer to an Oil rubbed in appearance. We just had to change this finish on our website and there has been some confusion as to why. The way the finish is made is exactly the same according to Emtek, so why the change? I don’t have an answer for that, maybe it was to differentiate a little better between medium and dark bronze – we used to have customers confused about the two quite often. Anyway, if you have ordered the dark bronze before and are now looking for new hardware to match – you’ll need the deep burgundy finish.

A couple of things to keep in mind:
1 – All of Emtek’s Sandcast finishes are living finishes which means that they will change over time. The darker patina will wear over time revealing more of the base material – in deep burgundy’s case, the deep burgundy color.
2 – Also, sandcast finishes are done in lots, similar to carpet, tile or brick. As a result the finish from one lot could be slightly different from the finish of another. So if you are considering ordering any of the sandcast finishes, it would be best to order them all at once so that you can get them all from the same lot.

We have had a lot of customers over the years looking for something a little more stylish to put in their commercial buildings because most of the commercial door hardware out there is available in limited styles and finishes. One of the reasons is that some finishes that people use in their homes would not hold up under the constant use in commercial buildings. Of course we recommend using commercial hardware in a commercial building, but we have had several customers decide that they would prefer the residential hardware anyway so they can get the look that they want. There are a few problems with this. First, the manufacturer will not honor their residential grade warranty if the item is used in a commercial application. Second, if the finish chosen is a living type finish it will wear much much faster than it should. And lastly, residential grade locks are meant for residential use. Their internal components are not built sufficiently to handle all of the wear and tear and abuse that commercial locks get.

So if you are considering using residential door hardware in a commercial building, be forwarned that you might find yourself in a fix with worn out locks and no warranty to cover them. To some it is worth the risk, but i’d probably error on the side of caution and use something like Schlage Commercial Hardware that is designed for the intended use.

Having a door hinge with a non-removable or fixed pin is probably not the best option for most people.For one it costs a little more per hinge. Secondly, if you have to remove the door you also have to remove the hinges completely from the door. Why would you want a door hinge with a fixed pin? Well, probably the most common reason for this would be an exterior door that swings outward. An outward swing door will have the hinge barrels exposed on the outside of the home so a perpetrator could easily pop the pins and the door would come off the hinges. With a fixed hinge pin the door is much more secure. We also often have customers use fixed hinge pin door hinges for closets or rooms inside commercial applications where the door swings outward, but they want to be able to lock the door and keep the contents of the room secure.

We have Emtek door hinges with a non-removable pin as an option. The additional cost is around $4 per hinge. Since this option is not real common we don’t have it available online but you’re welcome to call us to place an order by phone. You can check out the available door hinges here:

Emtek Door Hinges >>

We love and appreciate our neighbors to the North. It’s too bad that it is cost prohibitive sometimes to ship up to them. We have a lot of customers from Canada call for door hardware and unfortunately the cost to ship there can be quite a bit more than our continental United States. We just had a customer recently order a significant amount of Weslock door hardware to be shipped to Canada. The order arrived and the box was damaged – soaked with water or somekind of liquid substance. As a result the boxes were all ruined and all of the door knobs and mounting hardware were in a pile in the bottom of the box damaged. Of course the customer was not happy receieving them that way, i would not be either. So we quickly sent out a replacement order and filed a claim with the shipping company for the damaged shipment of door hardware.

The shipping co. sent out a driver to pick up and inspect the package. The customer had since repackaged the items so they could be contained since the original box was obliterated. The shipping company denied the claim stating that the items were not packaged well and in a weak box. We ship thousands of doorknobs and of course we don’t send them in soaking wet boxes with all the parts in a pile at the bottom, and they are always packed in boxes sufficient for the weight of the product.

So, now we have a couple thousand dollars worth of hardware that is now just damaged miscellaneous parts that the shipping company won’t reimburse us for. Our only option was to dispute the claim, but to do that we need the shipment here in our office so we can have an area rep inspect it again. So, another $60 to get the items back to our office. Now we’re into this order 3 International shipping fees and two customs tarrif fees at around $170 each, and a loss on the cost of product, and the cost of the replacement order - not to mention an inconvenienced/unhappy  customer which probably cost us more in the long run.

It’s a little frustrating at times relying on someone else to deliver your product to the customer, but such is life in the business world I guess. Hopefully we can get the shipping company to own up to the damage and help us out on some of the cost. Stuff like this happens, this one was just particularly bad since it was international, so the shipping costs were way up there.