Beautiful Door Ironmongery, Fitted with Precision

In almost every case, yes. Hinges, latches and handles are fitted to the door and frame rather than being part of the door's structure, so a tired or mismatched set can usually be removed and replaced without touching the door itself. The main exception is where an existing mortice has been cut to a non-standard size or in a non-standard position — we check this on site before quoting, rather than assuming it will be a straightforward swap.

We work from a single specification — one finish, one handle style, one backset measurement — and apply it consistently to every door in the property, rather than fitting room by room. This is particularly worthwhile where doors are visible from the same hallway or landing, so the eye reads the whole run as one considered scheme rather than a series of individual choices.

Satin and matt finishes — satin brass, satin chrome, matt black — tend to hide fingerprints and light scuffs better day to day than a high-polish finish, which shows every mark until it develops its own patina. Solid brass and stainless steel also wear more gracefully than plated finishes, which can show through to a different base metal at high-contact points after many years of use.

Yes — this is a large part of the appeal of the work. Reeded or beehive knobs, traditional escutcheons, and narrower backset latches all read correctly on a Victorian or Georgian door in a way that a contemporary lever handle simply does not. We select ironmongery to suit the age and character of the door and the house, not just whatever is easiest to fit.

A latch holds a door closed without keeping it locked — the standard choice for most internal doors. A lock function adds a key-operated bolt, typically specified for a home office, a store cupboard, or an external door. Bathroom and WC doors usually take a privacy function instead, which locks from the inside only and can be released from the outside in an emergency.

Not strictly, but it reads far better when they do. A brass handle against chrome or black hinges tends to look like an oversight rather than a choice, so we specify hinges in the same finish as the handles and latch plates as standard, and only mix finishes deliberately where that is genuinely the intended look.

A single door with new hinges, a latch and a handle set is typically a half-day job once the ironmongery is on site. A whole-house refit across a dozen or more doors is usually a day or two, depending on how much of the existing hardware and mortices can be reused. We confirm a realistic time estimate as part of the written quote.

Yes — all our door ironmongery fitting is covered by our standard workmanship guarantee, confirmed in writing with your quote. If a hinge, latch or handle were ever to work loose or operate stiffly as a result of our fitting, we would come back and put it right.