Builders Hardware Guides

Three Hafele plug-and-play LED light kits, 833.96.375, 833.96.376 and 833.96.377, put the driver, LED strip, Connect Mesh distributor and wireless wall switch in one box. Compare tunable white, 3000 K and 4000 K, see the parts list and follow the setup steps.

Single door or pair, push or pull side, and whether a pair opens together or independently: that decides which LCN Senior Swing 9500IQ to order. See how LCN matches the 9531IQ, 9542IQ, 9553IQ and 9563IQ to an opening, with arms, covers, finishes and controller setup.

The Don-Jo ADR-1, ADR-2 and ADR-3 share one length, gauge and door thickness. What sets them apart are the cutouts on Don-Jo's templates and, on the ADR-3, the hand. Here is how to tell them apart and read the finish codes.

PM453, PC80, PT40: each Schlage Performance Series number lists its fields in a set order. Read the function, the EL or EU electrified versions, the cylinder letter, the lever and rose codes and the finish, one field at a time.

BEA's MS31, MS41, MS42 and MS51 touchless switches differ in faceplate, power and output. Compare them from BEA's current cut sheets, read the letters at the end of the number, see the restroom versions and match each shape to its Magic Switch box.

Matching black hardware from several makers? See what BHMA 622 means, why steel hinges can be 631, and which black code Schlage, Von Duprin, LCN, Ives, Hager, Sargent, ABH, Baldwin, Emtek, Kwikset and Deltana print for matte, gloss and black suede.

Replacing a core or the cylinder of a knob or lever lock with a GMS part? See how GMS numbers its IC6, IC7 and large format cores, which construction cores it lists, and how to read a K001 code such as K001SC26DA2.

A Vacant or Occupied window can come with a new lock or go on the existing one. The makers' catalogs and price books explain V10, V20, V01 and V21 and list retrofit kits for Sargent 8200, Corbin Russwin ML2000, ACCENTRA 8800, BEST and Schlage locks.

Want doors opened by phone without a wired access control system? See which Centrios unit fits your door, what the catalog lists for latch, cylinder and keying, what the CER Smart Reader and REB unit add, and how the CEE100TD pairs with an ACCENTRA 6100.

One Camden alarm sounds as soon as a secured door opens, the other when a door is held open past the delay you set. We compare the CX-DA800 and CX-DA810, decode the KA, KD, W and -BK suffixes and list what comes in the box.