A Beginner's Guides to Door Handles, Locks and Hinges

Our team receives lots of calls from customers needing advice on which products are best to use when fitting a door. To help, we have added a new page to our website guiding you through the process step-by-step. From this page, you will be able to choose from our wide selection of door handles online before adding from the choice of locks, latches and hinges most recommended by our expert architectural ironmongery team.

The selection of door handles available from Mercer & Sons is comprehensive and three main producers are featured, chosen for their continued and proven dedication to quality and craftsmanship. All three of these manufacturers are extremely well-known and -respected in the door furniture sector; choose from big names like Karcher Design, Carlisle Brass and the newly-available Excel Architectural Hardware.

The next step is choosing a lock or latch, depending on the type of door. Mortice locks, also known as sash locks, are available as 3- or 5-lever versions; 3-lever mortice locks are suitable for medium-security internal doors such as for offices and the tougher 5-lever sash lock can be used for external doors to provide maximum security. The mortice locks recommended in our guide are produced by Union, a company with an impeccable reputation for quality built on more than 170 years of experience. Internal latches, typically used for bathroom doors, produced by Zoo are remarkable in their forward-thinking design and superior functionality and each is engineered and designed by the company’s talented in-house team.

When it comes to door hinges, our recommendation is hard to beat. Produced by Hoppe, a company formed in 1998 and now market leaders in the window and door furniture sector, the Stainless Steel Double Ball-Bearing Butt Hinge is fire-rated to BS EN1935 and carries the essential CE Mark of quality, proving their tough, durable qualities and supporting a door-leaf weight of up to 120K.

So, if you need to fit a door and want to select door furniture of the highest quality at the lowest price, check out our new page - ‘All you Need to Fit a Door’.

Since Excel Architectural Hardware was established almost three years ago, the company have gone from strength to strength. Their vision, ‘to bring innovation and excellence to the architectural hardware market’, continues to inform their work as they develop new systems and solutions, all of which are now available from Mercer & Sons at our trademark competitive prices.

The Excel Architectural Hardware range centres on an exciting collection of aluminium door handles, all of which have been exclusively designed to effortlessly combine style with functionality. Formed from solid, durable aluminium and available with a satin or polished chrome finish, each handle is fixed using the integral rose which, made from tough zinc, has an 8-hole fix and bolt-through screws to ensure installation is quick, easy and reliable every time. Particularly popular is the Excel ULTIMO Square, a striking design with an unusual square rose.

Strong, secure door latches are also produced by Excel Architectural Hardware, such as the innovative Smart Latch Backset. Available in a choice of sizes and fitted in minutes, these latches have helped to establish the company on a global scale.

Bathroom turns manufactured by Excel Architectural Hardware are just as stylish and sophisticated as the company’s signature door handles. An eclectic range offers either square or circular turns, each with its own finish designed to suit any aesthetic, classic or modern. These bathroom turns are perfect for large-scale commercial projects, maximising cost-effectiveness without compromising on quality.

Escutcheons add the perfect finishing touch to a door, sealing the look and making it seamless. Choose from an expertly-designed selection that will complete the new, attractive and secure door furniture created using products from Excel Architectural Hardware supplied by Mercer & Sons Architectural Ironmongery Lancashire.

Content writer for Brick technology Ltd, Blackburn, Lancashire.