Builders Hardware Guides

Ordering a BEST padlock for a BEST keying system? Here is how the 11B, 21B and 41B numbers work: shackle diameter and height codes, key retained T or non-key retained L, the M1 and M5 chains, the shroud option and the 7-pin core housing.

A BEST number such as 7KC37AB15DS3626 or 8K37D4AS3626 spells out backset, core housing, function, trim, strike and finish. Read the 7KC, 8K and 6K code by code, check the door prep BEST lists and see how they relate to the 9K.

Adding or replacing a dormakaba Simplex pushbutton lock? See which series suits the door, from the 1000 knob and L1000 lever to the 8100 mortise and 5000 lock or exit trim, which take a key override core and which sheet covers drilling and the code.

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.

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.