Choose The Best Exterior Door Hardware

If you are building a new home or needing to replace your current exterior entry door set you will find that there is an abundance of door hardware to choose from. It can be a little overwhelming but you can eliminate some of the options by deciding some key factors right from the get go.
What style of home do you have? Is it a colonial, or a rustic cabin? Door Hardware comes in every imaginable house style and you want your hardware to coordinate with the style of your home. So although that heavy iron handleset might look great in the store it might look a little out of place on a colonial style home.

1. Via House of Antique Hardware
2. Rocky Mountain Hardware
Handleset, Door Lever Handle or Door Knob: Most of us are familiar with the door knob. The door lever is very popular because it so much easier to use both for people who have their hands full and for people with arthritis, plus they look great and they are ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant. As the name implies, the handleset has a handle with a thumb latch on the exterior and whatever sort of handle you want on the interior.


1. Keyed Entry Door Knob Set
2. Keyed Entry Door Lever Set
3. Keyed Handleset
Size of your current hardware and number and placement of your deadbolt: If this is your current home and not your future home then you will want to take a good look at your current hardware and notice where it covers the material beneath the hardware, because you might end up with exposed wood (or whatever you door material is) that is unfinished and therefore you might find you also need to refinish your door, and maybe you are prepared to do this, but if not they you will want the same size and shape you currently have or something larger. Also unless you want to be boring a new hole in the wood frame to accept a new or additional deadbolt you will want to make sure these are going to align up in the same places. In the photograph below you can see how each handleset covers a different part of the background and how by changing one for the other the background covered by one may be exposed by another.

Via Pinterest
Finish color of the hardware. Take a look around and take notice what your other finishes are near your door, for instance the light fixtures on your porch, the stair railings, a door knocker, kick plate and the doorbell. Also what are the immediate finishes you see as you enter your home, your foyer light fixture, interior door knobs and door hinges. You will want all of these to coordinate with each other.

Via Doorware.com

What is the finish warranty and the mechanical warranty? A lot of finishes are meant to weather over time and get a wonderful patina that you really want but other finishes deteriorate in not such a nice way and you don’t want that. All things outside take a beating from the rain, wind and especially the sun and therefore the finish warranty is especially important on the exterior door hardware. There are lifetime finish warranties available so just be sure to ask what the finish warranty is as well as the mechanical warranty.
Once you have thought about these things and are more sure about what you want then it is time to go shopping. New door hardware provides security for your home but it is also like jewelry for your door. It can be beautiful and functional all at the same time. A while back I wrote a post What Does Your Front Door Say About You And Your Style which shows some examples of great door hardware, be sure to take a peek if you didn’t get to see it before.

Linking to:

From My Front Porch To Yours
The Dedicated House
Common Ground
Nancherrow