Being the new proud owners of an established home is a common occurrence. You could go through the expense and headache of building. A time consuming costly exercise. Or you could simply buy an established home. Literally saving on landscaping, and all the interior details. Your new established home comes with the works. You just need to provide your own furnishings.
As a general guide a door schedule is used to identify hardware and cover all door details in a house. The schedule provides the door requirements. Covering all doors means no missed doors. Knowing what each door needs is also cost effective. A door schedule will save you money and time.
As a general guide when you buy an established home most new home owners do not look too closely at door hardware. If a door opens without thought they are happy. But after awhile when the excitement has settled, they sit back and look. Those door handles are not really desirable. The kitchen cabinet handles are old school. Even after painting walls there is still those nagging handles.
The First Step Forward
Lets sit down and open our eyes. Are you looking at those handles thinking you would like to change them? They don't suit my home. Then do something about it. Preparing a door schedule allows you to scrutinize the situation and obtain quotes. Examine cost benefits, review and repair items where needed. Doorway scheduling is all about reviewing your floor plans. Replacing the door hardware, and attaching the right door hardware. Taking into consideration the position, use, and configuration.
By preparing a door schedule not only will you list all doors, but you can review, tally, and plan the nest steps. Having a tally of door handles and cupboard handles required gives you the information to seek quotes and examine products. If you can walk into a showroom and say I need 12 door handles sets or 24 cupboard knobs, what's your best price, you are ahead of the game.
Standing in a showroom overwhelmed with the amount of options is not the best time to start thinking how many cabinet knobs do I need? Having your schedule with you solves that problem immediately. You now have the opportunity to ask about those items and knowing the quantity required.
How To Start A Door Schedule
The first thing to decided is what your door schedule is for. You may find you have a number of door schedules for your home: a schedule for door handles, a schedule for cabinet handles, a schedule for repairs. You can even do a schedule for windows if you want.
As a general rule it is always advisable to take pictures of the existing hardware. Especially if you are not sure about something. A picture can paint a thousand words. Two or more pictures from different angles is recommended. Close up is not advisable as it may not provide sufficient scope or perspective.
The Door Handle Schedule
A door handle schedule should incorporate door functionality. Door functions are going to be:
lockable (door must be lockable i.e. entry door, garage door, back door)
passage (i.e. internal doors to bedrooms)
privacy (usually bathrooms and toilet doors)
dummy (typically double doors, closet doors)
sliding (balcony, patio)
wardrobe (walk-in)
You may also consider such items as hinges, door stops, type of lock, type of privacy, door seals, even door closers. All these can be discussed with your door hardware professional consultant at the showroom.
The Cabinet Handle Schedule
The cabinet handles schedule like your door hardware schedule will consider door functionality. More importantly the type of cabinet handle be it single fix or double fix.
Single fix refers to a single screw fix or one hole exists in the cupboard door. A double fix refers to a cabinet handle with two screw fixings or two hole in the door.
cupboard or draw handle
single fix or double
lockable or latching
You may also consider such items as hinges, and type of lock or latch. These can be discussed with your door hardware professional consultant at the showroom.
The Repair Door Schedule
The repair door schedule is a schedule to identify any sort of repair required on each individual door. This may be simply repainting the door, or replacing the door if there is damage. The door frame may be damaged. The door may not close easily.
It does not need to be exact or detailed. Use the repair schedule as your guide when you find a handyman that can do the work. Rather than just randomly point to a door and say it sticks, fix it! The schedule provides you with a means to identify all doors needing some work. A lot like a to do list but specific to each door in your house.
The beauty of a repair door schedule is that you can ask the handyman what they think. You don't have to have it fixed now but having confirmation that it does or will need fixing can be advantageous. The schedule also allows you to obtain a quote on each item. Allowing you to budget if need be.
Starting Your Door Schedule
The process of starting your door schedule is simple. Once you have decided which door schedule you are undertaking, use method and direction as your guide. I prefer working to the left.
On a sheet of paper mark headings in columns so that you can record details for each door.
It is always advisable to name your doors i.e. Jacks Bedroom, Main Bedroom etc.
If in doubt, take a picture :)
Sample Door Schedule:
Door/Room | Function | Handle | Hinged | Doorstop | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entry | Lock | Pull Handle | Yes | no | hard to close |
Master Bedroom | lock | door handle | yes | yes | ok |
Kids bathroom | privacy | door handle | yes | no | hard to close, lock broken |
The Process
A door schedule must include every door in and around the house. Start first by making your way around the outside of the house. Looking and recording details for each external door. When the outside is complete I would start at the Entry door inside the house and make my way around to the left. As I enter each room, work your way around to the left in that room.
Open each door and as you do ask:
does it open easily?
does it squeak?
does it scrape the floor? (look at the floor for signs of scraping)
does the handle turn smoothly?
does the latch retract? (the latch is the thing that pokes out on the edge face of the door)
is the handle attached to the door firmly?
can I lock this door easily? (warning: do not lock the door without the keys in hand!)
does the privacy lock and unlock? (warning: do not lock the door and close it standing outside!)
does this door need a door stop? (does the handle knock the wall?)
does the sliding door slide smoothly?
You may have other questions as you go door by door. Make notes and reference each and every door. Even if the door is perfect, make a note for future reference. It will help.
Follow this process for cabinet door schedule and your repair door schedule. Apply the same principle if you decide to undertake a window schedule.
Of note: when undertaking cabinet handles use a ruler to measure the distance of the screw holes on two fixing handles. The measurement should be taken from the centre of each screw. Alternatively measure from the outer side of each screw on the handle (not the cupboard). If in doubt take a picture of the two fixing handle aligned with the ruler. Similar to a crime scene photo for forensics.
When Scheduling Task Is Completed
When you have completed each schedule have your partner or other significant person to follow it round the house as you did. You need to ensure that you got ALL the doors and that any issues you found (or missed) are confirmed.
Now you have your schedule you can do some calculations. How many handles do you have of a particular function. How many cabinet handles do you have of one fix or two fix. It is useful if you can go to your door hardware consultant and tell them you have 14 passage handles, 3 lock handles, 4 privacy and two dummy door handles.
Taking pictures to bring along with your schedule is important in identifying any concerns or issues that may arise in the process of selecting new door hardware. Not every door handle is the same. Not every lock is the same. A picture can help identify and provide helpful information your consultant will need to show you what you can use.
Conclusions
Scheduling of an established home is a relatively easy task or though time consuming. The benefits are less time wasted when you miss a door. You will have quantities noted, problems listed, issues raised. This will help your consultant establish what is needed, any concerns you may have, advice on what you can and cannot use.
Having quantities may provide bulk buying discounts on your purchases. Knowing the quantity will make it easier to compare prices. Any issues raised about repair concerns can alleviate problems now rather than during the remodeling.
New build scheduling is based on floor plans whereas established home scheduling is based on structures already in place. At Architectural Design Hardware we do door scheduling. We could come to your home and do a schedule for you. A task that would cost you but it is also something you could do quite easily yourself for free. Not that we would mind.
We hope this article has given you some insight into creating a door schedule of your established home. You can replace those door handles and cabinet handles that have been used in this house by previous occupants. You only have to take the first step forward. See you in our showroom.
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