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Going Broke the Hardware Way

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Oh my wallet is hurting after this one.

Slowly but surely we are trying to change out the trim and door color.  I think I complained about the color (put pinky to edge of mouth) one million times.  And the other thing that kinda goes hand in hand with that is changing door hardware.  It’s a slow and tedious and EXPENSIVE project.  Since we have lived here THREE YEARS (I demand to know who has the remote control for time!), it is nice to finally have the moolah saved up (we knew this was gonna be expensive three years ago and we still didn’t know how much all the other things in this house would cost…like air conditioning…so it’s a good long time to set up an envelope system for things like ‘new hardware’ and ‘future couch’ and toss a few bucks into each here and there over the course of 30+ months).  Right now we are on the first floor…the floor that has seven interior and eleven exterior (not counting the front two doors which have the big honkin’ hardware).  Yes.  The number of exits on this floor is incredible.

Since this house was a foreclosure, it had a variety of hardware.  We think that what happened is that the previous owners had certain hardware.  Then we heard that the bank had hired some less-than-stellar and pretty dishonest crews for some renovations…to fix the place up to sell it.  Those crews apparently had other homes that they were working on…so we believe that they were exchanging some of this house hardware to put it in those renovations.  That would explain the mismatched interior hardware….

I like that ‘collected over time’ look for some things but not door hardware.  We decided to go with the Kwikset Ashfield in Venetian Bronze for all the interior door handles.  It’s really a quite heavy and substantial feeling door handle.  I normally just go with whatever I think looks the best but Jeremy convinced me that the ‘feel’ of the door handle is important too.  Other doorknobs can be like going to shake hands with Hulk Hogan and he gives you the little ole lady fingertip grip…not the firm, heavy but not-too-tight-in-case-you-have-arthritis (mom!) kinda shake.

All the exterior doorknobs we are switching to the Kwikset Juno set.  It is nice because we can set all of our exterior knobs to be keyed to one key.  When you install fourteen exterior doorknobs…one key is really nice.

Most interior door handles run about $30-$35….and the exterior cost between $55-$60.  So for our first floor alone, that is about $850.  for hardware.  Let’s all have a moment of silence for that one.

Now let’s talk hinges…because OHRIGHT that total doesn’t include changing out the door hinges.  That would be too easy on the ole wallet.

So our story about the hinges is this…right now we have three different types of hinges…the brass, the gold and the painted.

Off to the hardware store we went and found some really nice 3.5″ for the interior doors and we also picked up 4″ hinges for the exterior doors. (the local Home Depot AND Lowe’s even gave us the contractor pack price for all the hinges even though we bought the last two packs they had of the 3 packs and then the rest of them were individually packaged…it’s always worth asking!).

The interior door hinges cost about $8 for a three pack – so we spent $48 there.  And then the exterior hinges cost us just under $3 a piece so that brings the exterior hinge total to about $110 there…only to find out that the exterior hinges don’t work with our doors.  Apparently our exterior doors are all Therma-Tru brand doors…which is nice because they are all fancy…but the hinges are different and need to be ordered separately.  My wallet is having cold sweats just thinking about that.

Long story short…we are looking at spending at minimum a cool Cleveland on what amounts to metal.  for. our. first. floor.  Youch.

The good news is…we no longer have deadbolts without bolts.  Because, true story, those were taken.  And honestly…I don’t care if gold or brass is making a comeback…I like my doorknobs like I like my chocolate covered chocolate (that should be a thing btw)….the darker the better!

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Comments

  1. My wallet hurts for you. I love the hardware you chose though. Just replacing our front door honking handle was enough of a pain in the rear (and wallet) for me! 🙂

  2. Completely agree on all of this – we need to do this in our house as well (we’ve been there 6 months). All of our doors have different knobs and all of the doors are different! Drives me nuts.

  3. Ouch! That definitely hurts spending so much money on metal! You’ve definitely got me beat on doors; I thought my five exterior and 13 interior was bad! As much as it hurts to spend that much money, you’ll love having matching and working handles. We’ve only done the exteriors so far and it makes a huge difference!

  4. Expensive switch, but it will be worth it once everything is matching again.

    Question, though: are you not worried about not replacing the hardware on the other levels at the same time, in case the items you choose aren’t available anymore when you go to get the hardware for the next level of the house?

  5. We just did that too! (Thank you Menards for your 11% off sale & gift cards) It’s so pricey for something that seems so small… but we have wonderful gold fixtures everywhere and I’m sick of them! It’ll be a nice change.

  6. Yes! Yes! Yes! I just bought my first home which is in great shape but almost all of the hardware is brass. I’m going to live with it for a while but it has to go! I’ve already purchased high heat spray paint so I can makeover the fireplace.

  7. That is painful on the wallet, but will look great! We replaced all the interior doors in our house a few years ago and forgot to consider hardware in our budget. Man, that was a big ol’ unexpected expense!

  9. I really hope you don’t have any issues with the Kwikset! We used them as the deadbolt and handle on our front door. The handle quit working one day, so while waiting to change it, we were just locking the deadbolt. We got home late one night after a long trip, and the deadbolt had quit working too (you put in the key, and can’t move it at all)! My firefighter husband had to kick through our wooden front door, setting off the alarm system (reassuring) and sending the police to check on us. I have no idea what happened to those locks to cause them to both fail, but I hope you don’t have any problems, they do look great!

  11. Ugh, we started doing this too. Our whole house is full of brass fixtures that were installed poorly…one by one we are replacing them all. So expensive. Have you tried http://www.handlesets.com/? We got a great deal on ours. I think with coupon codes and a sale I think we saved 20% on our first order of Kwikset knobs and such.

  13. We have the same exterior doorknob sets! I love them. 🙂 We ended up switching out a couple of the deadbolts for the ones with the key lock on the inside (because 2 out of 3 of our exterior doors have glass panes on the top half–better safe than sorry given that there have been a few break-ins in our area!). It is crazy how much you can spend on hardware though, huh? I plan on spray painting (likely using ORB) our interior hardware to save money in that regard (if it were our “forever home” I would likely replace them, but we’ll likely move in the next 3 years or so). 🙂 By the way, I just read your post about Christmas and wanting to serve the community with your family during that time. This is so my heart as well. It’s nice to hear there are like minded people out there in the blogosphere! 🙂

  15. Wow, I know it can get expensive, but you’re right, that is a bigger project than it seems!

    I’m curious, how did you ask for the discount for the hinges? Do you wink and nudge or do you simply ask for a contractor discount?

    I want to replace all my light and outlet switches so they are all the same color so I’ll have the same small project/bigger budget result.

  16. I changed out all our doors to the same levers and love them! (I found mine 50% off at Lowe’s though, and only had to buy 4, so it hurt the wallet a lot less). The ability to have one key is so nice, isn’t it??

  17. Eww…brass is making a comeback? Say it ain’t so. I recently replaced all of my ugly, crusty brass knobs with ORB ones and the difference is amazing. I don’t have as many doors as you but it still adds up. I bought 3 or 4 every few weeks and just added them bit by bit. It didn’t feel like as much of a hit to break it up like that. Have fun installing!

  18. Oh, I feel ya! We have many fewer doors, but we’re needing to take care of the issue sooner rather than later as none of the interior doors in the whole dang house actually latch. Including but not limited to bathroom doors. I’m really ready to be able to pee without the cat pushing the door open and jumping up on my lamp.

  20. I hear you!
    We have slowly been replacing doors and hardware. We had so many different doors (flat one, 6 panel ones) and all different hardware too.
    So we have been doing the two panel doors from Lowes and black knobs and hinges. I am LOVING it!!!!
    I really want to do black hardware in the kitchen too! Good thing my hubby works for a kitchen company and can get them cheap for me 😉

  23. Ughhhh I feel you on this one. We had to do the same thing, and ended up buying it all on Amazon. It does, however, look fantastic once it’s done! 🙂

  25. I get that door knobs are expensive and you have a big house but I have a hard time believing your ‘poor old me I’m broke act’. You spend money like it’s water and and you own 2 houses. Maybe you shouldn’t have bought a bounce house & macbook if you’re door handles were breaking the bank. You’re not broke.

  26. I work at a commercial door, frame and hardware supplier. If you think that’s expensive, try paying $850 for just ONE exit device. A lot of times the door and frame are “cheap”. It’s the hardware that’s expensive! If you want something more heavy-duty, I’d suggest commercial next go around, we can order your deadbolt with a 2-3/8″ backset, which is for a residential door. Door nerd much? Haha.

  27. Yoouuuuccchh. A painful project, indeed. I’ve started to do door hardware one room at a time to help keep the cost more manageable. The outside doors are especially hard on the wallet. I feel ya sister.

  28. I sprayed all my knobs, hinges, latches, and latch plates oil rubbed bronze, with a primer and clear coat steps thrown in for durability. Everything has held up great for 3+ years, even with 4 crazy kids! I would definitely try painting your hinges. If it blows up, you can always buy new ones.

  29. Ugh. I felt the same way when we had to spend $700+ on two tiny custom doors for our closets.

    But, it had to be done.

    Your doors are going to look amazing. Sometimes it’s the small things that make a big impact, right?

    🙂

  30. I literally just finished putting that exact hardware and hinges on all of our doors two days ago. It’s a big investment, but It makes a huge difference in updating a home. It’s been on the top of the to-do, save up for list for my last 2 houses. I agree with Jeremy on the feel of the handle. Btw, took me 2 solid days to changes out all the hardware! After the first door, I was like “wow, that was fast”, but 30 doors later I was wondering if I was ever going to finish. Still worth it though!

  32. We changed all the door handles and the dead bolts, but the hinges were difficult. We decided to take the old ones off and spray paint them.

    We have never looked back. Worked great!!!

    Try it! Do a few at a time and let dry outdoors. BAM! It is brilliant!

    B.

  33. Didn’t you have some sort of keyless entry system? Am I confusing you with another blogger?…

  35. Our deadbolts didn’t have bolts and the shapes were all different – otherwise I would consider it. I do think I will try to paint the hinges for the exterior doors but I’m not 100% sure it will last the test of time (& Bower boys!).
    xo kb

  36. Gaaaah! That’s crazytown. I cannot even. WOW.

    See how articulate I get when I’m shocked? It’s like I didn’t even get my degree in communication. But on the bright side, they’ll look so much better now. I agree that the collected over time look doesn’t really work with doorknobs.

  37. We have been in our new home, the dream home that requires elbow grease, but hey we’ll get there, home, for two weeks. It’s brass all the way over here. Yeah. Brass door handles and hinges on every single door in the whole house. And the air vent covers. Brass too. Beat up brass at that. And none of the bathroom doors lock….Ugh!

  41. Make sure you scrap the old knobs and hinges. Make sure you separate them if some are solid brass. For the best price, call the scrap yards ahead of time and get the prices.

    We scraped over 2k worth of needless reno metal last year and about 3k the year before.

    Make sure you ask questions. There are a lot of categories. Brass, copper, lead, mixed metals, cast iron, sheet metal. I’m thinking your knobs and hinges will go mixed metals unless they are solid brass.

    I once had someone give us 6 doors for free. They had solid brass handles and kick plates that we scrapped. We reused the hinges and two of the doors. We priced the doors at Lowes and they are over 200 bucks each. It was a great score.

  42. Sharing the painfully high cost of door hardware is not the same as saying “I’m broke”. My husband and I just spent over $900 having a new water heater installed. Did it break the bank? Nope. Did we complain about the price? You betcha!

    And Katie, all of our hardware is silver + brass (as in silver knobs with brass hinges…yuck). I’m still trying to talk my “frugal” husband into switching to oil-rubbed bronze (and we don’t have nearly as many doors as y’all!). 🙂

  43. We sprayed all of the interior door hinges when we replaced our shiny brass door knobs. They have held up well.

  44. My jaw just hit the floor when I read eleven (or thirteen) exterior doors. I knew y’all had a lot, but OUCH! The new handles look great, though. It’s amazing how something so simple freshens up a space. When we changed ours out in our last house, I stared at them in glowing pride for days! 🙂

  45. That’s insane. Who even makes a house that needs so many doors? We finally made the upgrade and it’s amazing how many years it takes off a house. Also… 3 years?! Can’t believe I’ve been reading you for that long 😮 It’s been a delight 😉

  46. Try ebay. My husband and I bought a foreclosure and replaced all of the hardware in oil rubbed bronze, even for the kitchen cabinets and kitchen faucet sink. It was a 1/3 of a the price we would have paid retail. Same thing with flooring. There are a lot of trust worthy vendors out there.. Some even close enough for pickup.

  47. Those will look so nice! We replaced all our hinges & knobs last year. We also have Therma Tru doors. We put the doors in shortly after we moved into our house. We just used ORB exterior door hinges on them that we picked up from Lowe’s to replace the silver ones that came with the doors. We went with the ORB ones too. Worked great. I bought the squared edge ones and chiseled out the wooden frame side so those were squared and put them in. The first time replaced all the handles after we moved in we first went with levers then about 4 years ago we adopted a dog. He was opening the doors with the lever handles so this time we went with round knobs. Those seem to be dog proof so far! 🙂 We still have 2 exterior doors to replace the hinges on. I’m just waiting till it warms up a bit to do it!

  48. I laughed when I read this post title because I so feel your pain! I’m still living with brass on my french exterior doors, and a variety of porcelain, glass, and metal of some kind, throughout our 1940s home and keep saying that’s next on the list. But, most recently I very boldly removed the “big honkin’ hardware” from the front door when I painted it inside and out. And, yes, when I replaced it, I forgot how several pieces went together. Now, it won’t close without locking it and I HATE to spend the money to replace it!

  49. I just get the person who works in that department and show them how many are left and how many we need. Usually they give you the contractor price if it is listed on the tag…especially if you are buying a lot 🙂
    xo – kb

  50. I know right?!
    We have one in the garage…one in the hall to the garage…one in the office, two in the dining room, two front doors, two in the reading room, one in the living room hall, two in the living room to the deck, one in the kitchen, one in the entertainment room, two in the workroom, one in the basement mudroom 🙂 SOoo technically seventeen exterior doors…they require fourteen deadbolts…
    xo – kb

  51. We actually have started purchasing the ones for the upstairs (that would be the Ashfield only) and have considered putting a different set on the basement level (like either reusing some of the mismatched stuff for the interior doors).
    xo – kb

  53. I’m a Realtor and sell foreclosures. Those ugly gold door handles, and missing deadbolts were not put there by mistake. The bank hires a field service company to rekey the property, and instead of actually getting a locksmith they usually have some dude drill out the locks to get it, then replace the handles with $5 gold handles. Because they don’t know how to actually rekey a lock, they remove the deadbolt instead of replacing it with a matching key set to the handle because it’s cheaper. And the bank only requires 1 entry to be rekeyed for access so that’s why not all the doors were done. Mystery solved! 🙂

  56. Ditto what Erica said. My hubby worked for one of those ‘renovation’ companies, which ended up being mostly Section 8 housing. But that’s exactly what they do. As cheap as possible. They have a contract to do certain things only. And they don’t do *anything* beyond what they are contracted for, else it cuts into their profits.

  58. Does replacing the hinges make a difference? I have always just painted over them, like the people before me.Im thinking now I should replace.

  59. We had the same issue and switched out ours to a very similar knob. We saved on the hinges by spray painting them with a flat black. It worked awesome! Took a little elbow grease and sometimes hours of soaking (to get the paint off) but they looked great. And they all held up really well, because how often do you handle or touch your hinges?!

  63. ^ We had this happen to Schlage locks! Our door knobs and deadbolts. It was the weirdest thing. They worked when we installed them. Of course they completely stopped working when my parents were house sitting (and taking care of our pets) and we were several states away for a work trip!

    We only have three exterior doors and that was pricey enough in my book, ha ha!

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