Recently I was helping out another team during their final crunch time to get out a draft of their CD package to the client for review. (Project is a $9 mil house restoration for a long time client.) I was given the task of selecting all of the door hardware, and coordinating it with the existing hardware we want to restore. In projects I've worked on in the past, we've either had a small enough door scope that the hardware has been fairly straight forward (maybe 20 doors max) or on our largest projects, we've had a door hardware consultant. This project is in the mid-range for us, about 50-60 doors total, therefore the budget didn't accommodate a hardware consultant. Needless to say, I fumbled my way through as best as I could and provided something to the PA to review and correct at a later date.
Question: how did you go about learning about door hardware? Do you have any good resources (books, websites, etc.,) to recommend or that you use for reference? Do you have a good system you use to organize the info while you are working out the hardware sets? (Create a spreadsheet, word doc, only use BIM, etc.,?)
Thanks in advance!
senjohnblutarsky
Aug 2, 18 10:20 am
I learned it by doing and following some old specs.
My current company utilizes spec writers from hardware companies. They provide the service for free, but then assume no liability if things are wrong. So, you're still going to need to review everything and know what you're looking at.
wurdan freo
Aug 2, 18 11:12 am
vendor with grey hair can be a great resource.
shellarchitect
Aug 2, 18 2:02 pm
agree, the big door companies will be happy to write your specs and provide door hardware sets for free.
I assume the residential is the same as commercial when the scale is that large
JLC-1
Aug 2, 18 3:06 pm
50-60 doors is not that large, and at that price is not really comparable to commercial door hardware, you should be looking at italian and german manufacturers of custom hardware - very few in the US, restoration and rockymountain perhaps. my guess is your budget only for door hrdwr is around 90k.
thatsthat
Aug 2, 18 4:13 pm
Good idea to look at Italian and German manufacturers. I'll see what I can find. We have a list of reproduction places we use which is fine as a go to.
SneakyPete
Aug 2, 18 5:04 pm
If you can afford it, Sun Valley Bronze.
JLC-1
Aug 2, 18 5:24 pm
Ha! Sun Valley looks very similar to Rocky Mountain, but yes, these are the types I'm talking about.
SneakyPete
Aug 3, 18 10:47 am
Sun valley is what we spec so during VE we end up at R
ocky mountain.
shellarchitect
Aug 2, 18 3:47 pm
JLC-1 - Would I've generally used Alligion for door hardware, would they prepare hardware sets for Residential?
I assume that they would to keep a relationship going....
JLC-1
Aug 2, 18 4:04 pm
I wouldn't use a commercial hardware in residential to start with, but if the client approves, why not.
thatsthat
Aug 2, 18 4:10 pm
I'm not sure of the budget breakdown for the door hardware for this project since I'm not the PA on it. Just helping out for a few days here and there near the deadlines. I assume more of the budget for the hardware is going towards restoring the existing hardware since there are historic knobs and locks that we are looking to keep intact and functional. In main spaces, where reproduction hardware is needed we are going with Ball and Ball (we use them a lot) and more general hardware (deadbolts, lever locks, etc.,) from Sargent.
The 50-60 range is exactly why we don't have a consultant or a rep chiming in. It seems to be few enough that the PM for the project assumed we could handle it in-house.
We don't really accept residential project very often so I am much less familiar with how that works. Frankly this is barely residential in that the house is owned by an institution and is used for fundraising events and includes extensive catering space, a separate outbuilding for public bathrooms, and a small 2-suite hotel. So it's kind of a mixed bag programmatically which is partially why I had so much trouble with the door hardware selections.
JLC-1
Aug 2, 18 4:43 pm
When in doubt, it's commercial. Sounds like a cool space though.
thisisnotmyname
Aug 2, 18 4:48 pm
With enough advance notice, the Sargent rep in my area will do a hardware schedule for even the tiniest small job. You seem to know what manufacturers you want, I think their reps would help you put your hardware schedule together.
thatsthat
Aug 2, 18 4:58 pm
JLC - thanks!
thisis - good info! I'll have to find the Sargent rep in our area since we use their stuff anyway. I think we had a good hardware consultant a few years back, not sure what manufacturer he was with since I did not work with him personally, but he has since retired. :(
bowling_ball
Aug 3, 18 1:33 pm
If the vendor wants the sale, they'll put together the specs for you, whether that's 1 door or 1000. This goes for any product really. Take advantage.
starrchitect
Aug 3, 18 1:51 pm
Don't know how much experience OP has or how he landed that responsibility , but I learned it as part of my internship when "paying my dues".
Recently I was helping out another team during their final crunch time to get out a draft of their CD package to the client for review. (Project is a $9 mil house restoration for a long time client.) I was given the task of selecting all of the door hardware, and coordinating it with the existing hardware we want to restore. In projects I've worked on in the past, we've either had a small enough door scope that the hardware has been fairly straight forward (maybe 20 doors max) or on our largest projects, we've had a door hardware consultant. This project is in the mid-range for us, about 50-60 doors total, therefore the budget didn't accommodate a hardware consultant. Needless to say, I fumbled my way through as best as I could and provided something to the PA to review and correct at a later date.
Question: how did you go about learning about door hardware? Do you have any good resources (books, websites, etc.,) to recommend or that you use for reference? Do you have a good system you use to organize the info while you are working out the hardware sets? (Create a spreadsheet, word doc, only use BIM, etc.,?)
Thanks in advance!
I learned it by doing and following some old specs.
My current company utilizes spec writers from hardware companies. They provide the service for free, but then assume no liability if things are wrong. So, you're still going to need to review everything and know what you're looking at.
vendor with grey hair can be a great resource.
agree, the big door companies will be happy to write your specs and provide door hardware sets for free.
I assume the residential is the same as commercial when the scale is that large
50-60 doors is not that large, and at that price is not really comparable to commercial door hardware, you should be looking at italian and german manufacturers of custom hardware - very few in the US, restoration and rockymountain perhaps. my guess is your budget only for door hrdwr is around 90k.
Good idea to look at Italian and German manufacturers. I'll see what I can find. We have a list of reproduction places we use which is fine as a go to.
If you can afford it, Sun Valley Bronze.
Ha! Sun Valley looks very similar to Rocky Mountain, but yes, these are the types I'm talking about.
Sun valley is what we spec so during VE we end up at R
ocky mountain.
JLC-1 - Would I've generally used Alligion for door hardware, would they prepare hardware sets for Residential?
I assume that they would to keep a relationship going....
I wouldn't use a commercial hardware in residential to start with, but if the client approves, why not.
I'm not sure of the budget breakdown for the door hardware for this project since I'm not the PA on it. Just helping out for a few days here and there near the deadlines. I assume more of the budget for the hardware is going towards restoring the existing hardware since there are historic knobs and locks that we are looking to keep intact and functional. In main spaces, where reproduction hardware is needed we are going with Ball and Ball (we use them a lot) and more general hardware (deadbolts, lever locks, etc.,) from Sargent.
The 50-60 range is exactly why we don't have a consultant or a rep chiming in. It seems to be few enough that the PM for the project assumed we could handle it in-house.
We don't really accept residential project very often so I am much less familiar with how that works. Frankly this is barely residential in that the house is owned by an institution and is used for fundraising events and includes extensive catering space, a separate outbuilding for public bathrooms, and a small 2-suite hotel. So it's kind of a mixed bag programmatically which is partially why I had so much trouble with the door hardware selections.
When in doubt, it's commercial. Sounds like a cool space though.
With enough advance notice, the Sargent rep in my area will do a hardware schedule for even the tiniest small job. You seem to know what manufacturers you want, I think their reps would help you put your hardware schedule together.
JLC - thanks!
thisis - good info! I'll have to find the Sargent rep in our area since we use their stuff anyway. I think we had a good hardware consultant a few years back, not sure what manufacturer he was with since I did not work with him personally, but he has since retired. :(
If the vendor wants the sale, they'll put together the specs for you, whether that's 1 door or 1000. This goes for any product really. Take advantage.
Don't know how much experience OP has or how he landed that responsibility , but I learned it as part of my internship when "paying my dues".