Door hardware guides

Commercial door hardware: the complete guide

Everything on a commercial door: hinges, locks, exit devices, closers, stops, plates and seals, plus the standards and codes that decide what is allowed.

Door hardware sets: what they are and how to assign them

What a door hardware set is, how sets are numbered in spec section 08 71 00 and the door schedule, an example set, and the mistakes that cause reorders.

Door handing: how to determine LH, RH, LHR and RHR

How to determine door handing from the outside, a door handing chart for LH, RH, LHR and RHR, and which hardware is handed and which is reversible.

Door hardware finishes: BHMA codes and US equivalents

What 626 and US26D mean, a BHMA to US finish code chart for door hardware, and how to keep finishes matching across hinges, locks and closers.

Door schedules: what columns to include and a template

What a door schedule needs: door, frame, rating and hardware set columns, how it ties to the hardware schedule, and a door schedule template you can adapt.

ADA door requirements: clear width, hardware and closers

ADA door requirements from the 2010 Standards: 32 in. clear width, hardware 34 to 48 in. high, 5 lbf opening force, closer speed and threshold heights.

Hollow metal door frames: profiles, anchors and frame depth

How to specify hollow metal door frames: single and double rabbet profiles, knock down vs welded, frame depth, gauge and anchors for each wall type.

Fire-rated doors and frames: labels, hardware and NFPA 80

What makes a fire-rated door assembly compliant: labeled doors and frames, positive latching, self-closing, listed hardware and NFPA 80 annual inspections.

Door undercut: standard clearance and fire door limits

How much to undercut a door: typical clearances, the NFPA 80 limit for fire doors, ADA threshold heights, and when a transfer grille works better.

Astragals for Pairs of Doors

What an astragal is, overlapping vs split astragals, when fire-rated pairs need one, and the hardware an astragal forces you to coordinate.

Kick Plates and Door Protection Plates

How to size and specify kick plates, mop plates and armor plates, which materials hold up, and the 16 inch rule for protection plates on fire doors.

Continuous Hinges

When to specify a continuous hinge, geared aluminum vs stainless pin and barrel, fire-rated use, electrified options and the install details that matter.

Flush Bolts for Pairs of Doors

Manual vs automatic vs constant latching flush bolts, egress code limits on pairs, fire-rated pairs, and the coordinator and strike details to check.

Door Silencers (Mutes)

What door silencers do, how many go on a single door vs a pair, why they are left off when a door has gasketing, and how to keep them on the submittal.

Ball Bearing Hinges for Commercial Doors

When to specify ball bearing hinges, how many hinges a door needs by height, standard hinge sizes by door width and thickness, and when to use NRP pins.

Door Coordinators for Pairs of Doors

What a door coordinator does, when a pair needs one, how it interacts with astragals, flush bolts and closers, and the mounting conflicts to check.

Door Stops and Holders: Wall, Floor and Overhead

How to choose between wall stops, floor stops and overhead stops, when a door needs a holder, and why fire doors cannot be held open mechanically.

Exit devices and panic hardware: types and when code requires them

Rim, surface vertical rod, concealed vertical rod and mortise exit devices compared, plus panic vs fire exit hardware and when the IBC requires it.

Lockset functions explained: storeroom, privacy, passage, classroom and office

What each lockset function does: passage, privacy, storeroom, classroom, office and entry. A plain table of lever behavior for writing hardware sets.

Master key systems and keying schedules: how they work

How a master key system works: grand master, master and change keys, cross keying risks, restricted keyways, and how to run a keying meeting and schedule.

Mortise vs cylindrical locks: durability, cost and where each fits

Mortise vs cylindrical (bored) locks compared: ANSI A156.13 vs A156.2, grades, durability, functions, door prep, cost and where each belongs.

Electric strike vs maglock: how to choose for access control

Electric strikes vs magnetic locks: fail-safe vs fail-secure, why fire doors must stay latched, maglock egress requirements, and power transfer options.

Classroom security locks: lockdown from inside without breaking egress

How classroom security locks work, how they differ from classroom and storeroom functions, and the egress rules that apply to school lockdown doors.

Door closer types and sizes: arms, mounting and code

Door closer types compared: regular arm, parallel arm, top jamb, concealed and floor closers, plus closer sizes, ADA closing speed and fire door hold-opens