Recently there’s been a lot of interest from property managers trying to save money on fixing and replacing mortise locks by installing wrap around plates or remodeler plates. These are great, especially since once they’re installed people can easily replace broken locks themselves obtained off the shelf at the hardware store.
Unfortunately, the options for these plates are very limited when it comes to finish. Don-Jo is my favorite source for this type of hardware and their products are great. Their oil-rubbed bronze or 10B finish is unfortunately a different color than every other 10B in the industry though. People are spending a lot of money on these things getting installed so it’s really a letdown to some of them when they see that the plate on the door doesn’t match the finish of their locks at all.
I recently found a solution to this problem. Baldwin makes a product called a push plate that is made to put on doors where people push the door. I think the idea is to protect the door from scratches or dents. Whatever its intended purpose, these plates are wide enough to cover old lock holes and they come in a wide variety of finishes including aged bronze and oil rubbed bronze. If you want me to install one on your door I’m going to charge $75 more for this than a prefab wrap plate but it can be done.
Similar to oil rubbed is aged bronze. It is meant to look like oil rubbed bronze with a patina from years of use. Unlike real oil rubbed bronze hardware it looks terrible after a few years.
