Builders Hardware Guides

Ordering Hafele Slido hardware for a sliding, pocket or barn door? We explain names such as F-Line18 50A and D-Line11 50P, what the sets shown include, what is ordered separately, and what the installation instructions cover page by page.

NGP numbers such as 320NA, 700NA and 115NA combine a profile number, a seal letter and a finish suffix. This guide decodes them from NGP catalogs and explains lengths, two-piece sets and older cut sheets.

Ordering Baldwin Estate or Reserve hardware by item number? Here is how to read it from Baldwin's price books: product number, 3-digit finish code and suffixes such as .PASS and .MR, Lifetime (PVD) finishes, 8BR service part suffixes, set screws, spindles and key blanks.

Ordering a deadbolt? See what single cylinder, double cylinder, classroom, thumbturn and indicator deadbolts are, how mortise deadlocks differ, and the throw, backset and grades printed in Schlage, Sargent, Arrow, Kwikset and Medeco documents, with examples from our catalog.

Ordering electrified hardware? What fail safe and fail secure mean, how Schlage, Von Duprin, Sargent, Corbin Russwin and HES mark them, and what electric strikes, maglocks, electrified locks, exit devices, request to exit switches and power supplies do, from manufacturer documents.

Ordering a Medeco cylinder or core? The part number encodes the cylinder type, key technology (such as M3, X4 or KeyMark), finish, keyway and pinning. We decode it with catalog examples and also explain Medeco key blank numbers and key control programs.

Replacing a Zoeller sump pump? Here is what model and item numbers such as M53, N98, BN98 and 98-0001 mean, how Models 53, 57, 63 and 98 compare on printed horsepower, head and flow, and what to match before ordering.

Which Altronix manual covers your unit? Links to the official guides for the AL600ULACMCB, the ACM8 board, the AL600ULX and the AL602ULADA NAC power extender, what is on their pages, and how a model number leads to the right document.

McKinney publishes its hinge templates by model and hinge height. This guide lists the template numbers for TA2714, T4A3786 and MacPro hinges, the QC, MM, MacPro CC and PoE electric hinge drawings and the older K-MCK-12HD continuous hinge template.

Ordering a Kwikset lock or part by its code? We decode numbers such as 405BL 15 SMT, 11P or 83254-001, with finish codes, SmartKey cylinders, part suffixes, backset and door thickness, from Kwikset's own price books and website.