Door knobs?

Schlage or Kwikset and why.

  • Total voters
    10
mommucked

mommucked

Endeavoring to persevere
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Location
Rural Apex n.c.
Schlage or Kwickset? Got one that's about wore out, getting tired of jiggling the key to unlock the door and the knobs on both sides are sloppy and the screws are tight.
 
mommucked said:
Schlage or Kwickset? Got one that's about wore out, getting tired of jiggling the key to unlock the door and the knobs on both sides are sloppy and the screws are tight.
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Schlage are better built. Not bulletproof, but more reliable on average than Kwikset.
 
@99ncxj works at Kwikset so I give them the nod. Ive had both and the difference is negligible.

I've had a few issues with the Schlages on house #1, which were primarily related to their magic rekeying BS (which they have updated to new version and is probably irrelevant now). Also the Lowes copy key often hangs up and won't unlock, but I blame the copy for that, though now the original does the same.

The Kwikset key locks on the shop have been flawless.

The Kwikset smart keypad locks on the new house are fantastic, but the battery life is a little lower than I expected at about 8-12 months.
 
mommucked said:
I'm thinking about getting a lever handle so we can open the door with an elbow or a hand with both hands full of groceries and my huge lunchbox.
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just try and make sure there is a return on the handle to keep a belt loop or pocket from catching behind the lever.
 
mommucked said:
I'm thinking about getting a lever handle so we can open the door with an elbow or a hand with both hands full of groceries and my huge lunchbox.
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The lever is key when your hands are full of groceries. Open the door with your ass. On the flip side a smart dog can also open them even though they lack our frontal lobes and thumbs.

Edit... I'll cast my vote for schlage. They have always given me less trouble long term than my kwikset locksets.
 
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mommucked said:
I'm thinking about getting a lever handle so we can open the door with an elbow or a hand with both hands full of groceries and my huge lunchbox.
Click to expand...
That’s what we went with last time and I couldn’t imagine anything else now. It’s been really convenient. Highly recommend.
 
I have Schlage locks, both standard keyed and electronic. Never had an issue with them and the electronic lock is still on it's original set of batteries.
 
We have Schlage in our house with the lever handle and they are great except our dog has been known to open doors that swing in our out. Not really Schlage’s fault that my dog is smarter than a lot of people I know.
 
I don't much care for either anymore. Schlage went to this weird spring-cap top on their knob and lever handle cylinders, not to mention the failed smart key program @jeepinmatt was talking about. Really a pain in the ass to work with, but granted your not going to be working on them very much. Kwickset completely fucked themselves with the smart lock (sorry @99ncxj). If you ever see one took apart, its a wonder they last as long as they do.

I actually prefer the off brand locks like Gate House and such. Most of them are built like Schlage used to be over a decade ago. Nice solid brass cylinders with brass plugs and traditional pins in a traditional layout just the way Linus Yale intended (I never understood why a company would make the main parts of a lock out of 2 different metals).

All of this to say, I may be a little biased. I've been a locksmith for now over 20 years. It is literally all I've ever done. I work everyday with commercial, grade 1 locks and thats what I reference most of the time. Pretty much any of the above will work just fine, and probably for years in a residential setting. If you get 10 years out of a lock in a high traffic door of your home, not many are complaining about that. I'm just used to locks lasting a little longer but have a price tag of 10x. (I worked on a lock just this week that was installed in 1953).
 
I’m about the replace the EZsets in my back doors. They’ve always been gritty and sometimes hard to turn no matter how good I clean and lube them. On one of them, the pin (I don’t know what it’s called) that is up against the bolt broke. I can’t find a suitable bolt replacement so I’m replacing the set.

I’d like to key them alike with the rest of the house so I’ll likely get a set with the rekeying function.

nothing to add, but a good time for me to see this thread.
 
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