Open a door, and you’ll be pulling down the handle for a matter of seconds. For a four-bedroom home, there’s at least 12 internal doors. It can be exhausting thinking about the number of times you’ll be opening and closing a door and pulling down door handles!
While door handles are relatively small items, they need to be fit for their purpose to function.
We’ve come up with a handy (excuse the pun) guide to help, so you are aware of the difference between cheap and expensive door handles.
Design
Cheap door handles are often poorly designed. The quality of the hardware depends on materials, internal components and the way it’s manufactured. You can get a good idea of the quality knowing where it’s made. Australia, Europe and the USA are known to produce door levers of a high-standard.
Inexpensive handles may be difficult to grasp because of the shape and material. Latches may get stuck, and the hardware may be obtrusive.
We’ve all walked past a door handle that has become caught on your clothing. Who hasn’t knocked themselves on the hip from a door handle that juts out too wide?
Smooth rounded designs with no sharp corners or edges that may snag are a good choice.
Too light and flimsy
A cheap, lightweight handle may not give you enough leverage to open a heavier door. There’s a trend for grander entrance doors so your choice of door handle needs to be sturdy enough to perform its function.
Door hardware should be certified to standard ISO 9001. With handles produced overseas, sometimes quality assurance can lapse. You should be able to open a quality door handle with an elbow when carrying several bags of groceries.
Door handle material
Door handles are made from different materials such as brass, bronze, aluminium, stainless steel – to provide a great finish and longevity.
For entrance doors, especially if you live on the coast, you’ll want a door handle finish like chrome, nickel, and high-grade stainless steel. These types of materials will withstand all the weather elements. From heat and humidity, heavy rain to the salt coming off the sea air.
Solid metal may be more expensive and last longer than plated metal and retain its finish longer and won’t peel or flake. Hollow products are more prone to damage.
Is it the door handle or something else?
Finally, many door handle problems are down to the latch or installation – not the door handle itself. A poor quality latch will cause a door handle to sag. Nearly 90% of problems with door handles arise from shoddy DIY and poor installation. Door handles are touched more than anything else, so it might be worth getting them installed by a professional.
Do you have a better grasp on door handles now? If you need further advice, come and talk to the experts at Door Stop. We have a no quibble seven-year warranty on all our doors and offer 0% interest.
We have two showrooms, one in Osborne Park, the other in Joondalup - and exceptional Google reviews - a near-perfect 4.9 out of 5.
