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Repère Architectural | News

On a job, decorative hardware is rarely what anyone worries about. The pulls get ordered, they arrive, they go on.

Until the finish doesn’t match.

The lobby pulls read half a tone cooler than the ones on the floor doors. The make-up order doesn’t match the original run. Manufacturer A’s satin bronze doesn’t look like Manufacturer B’s satin bronze, even though both carry the BHMA 612 designation.

This isn’t an impression. Canadian Builders Hardware states it plainly in its own price list, regarding the 613 finish: the results vary and are inconsistent with other suppliers’ products. When a manufacturer says that about its own catalogue, it’s worth listening.

That’s a shop-floor problem, not a design problem. It gets solved upstream, by choosing the manufacturer and by writing a precise purchase order.

Plating in-house

Canadian Builders Hardware has been designing and fabricating architectural and custom hardware since 1978. The company works in brass, bronze, aluminum and stainless steel for commercial and institutional projects.

Here’s where the difference sits: plating happens in the Toronto plant, under the same roof as the machining. Nothing goes out to a third party.

Three things follow from that.

Consistency. A batch produced in March and a make-up order produced in October come out of the same tanks, to the same parameters. Pulls, push plates, hooks and stops across an entire project match with no perceptible drift. The one exception to watch is 613, an oil-rubbed finish whose variability CBH flags itself.

Lead time. Nothing ships to a subcontractor, nothing waits its turn in somebody else’s shop. When clients describe CBH as easy to do business with, that’s mostly what they mean: the chain is short.

Custom work. A finish outside the catalogue doesn’t mean talking a third party into running a trial. Powder coat and specialty finishes are available on request, as is colour anodizing on aluminum.

The CBH to BHMA cross reference

This is the table to keep at hand when writing a specification. If your spec is written in standard BHMA designations, here’s the equivalence.

Two cautions appear in the price list and are worth repeating to the client: unlacquered finishes oxidize over time, and clear coated finishes are not warranted against scratching, chipping or fading.

Finish drives price

Often overlooked at budget stage: in CBH’s pricing structure, finish is not a cosmetic detail without consequence.

Satin finishes serve as the base. Bright versions and antique finishes sit higher, with uplifts reaching 50% on brass and bronze. Bright stainless sits well above satin stainless.

A finish change requested mid-project isn’t neutral. If the budget is tight, let’s discuss finish at specification stage rather than at revision.

Standard and non-standard

This is CBH’s second strength, and it’s rarer than people assume.

Plenty of manufacturers publish a catalogue and then treat anything outside it as an expensive exception. At CBH, custom work is part of the catalogue. Custom-length vertical pull series, offset pulls in custom lengths, horizontal push bars and special patch fittings all appear on the list, priced on application.

A pull at a given length, a non-standard centre-to-centre, a profile adapted to an unusual door, a piece reproduced for a heritage building: none of that is an exotic request. They’re orders.

For an architect, that’s the difference between adapting the drawing to what exists and having what was drawn actually made.

The service people forget: refinishing

CBH accepts a client’s existing hardware for repair or refinishing.

For a heritage building, a lobby where the original pieces should stay, or a property where the hardware is still excellent but the finish is tired, that opens a route few people consider: replate rather than replace.

Some conditions apply. Material must ship completely disassembled, each part itemized on the purchase order, with the target finish stated. Seals, cartridges and plastic components shouldn’t be sent. A minimum invoice and an environmental surcharge apply to refinishing orders.

If you have a project like this, let’s talk before ordering new.

What to watch when specifying

Specify the finish, not just the BHMA number. Two manufacturers can deliver very different “satin bronze 612.” If matching matters, request a physical sample and name the manufacturer in the spec.

Consolidate the order. The consistency advantage disappears if pulls are ordered in January and matching hooks in June, from two different suppliers. Order the full package at once.

Keep a reference sample. For a building likely to see additions or replacements, retain an uninstalled piece as a matching reference. The facility manager will thank you in ten years.

Specify the lacquer and plan the upkeep. Type 304 stainless can show discolouration from airborne contaminants, a phenomenon that mostly affects exterior pulls. A rinse with fresh water followed by a wipe dry, done regularly, handles it. Plated pieces need a soft cloth and mild soap, never an abrasive and never a chlorine or ammonia product, both of which permanently damage the clear coat.

The short version

Special-Lite, Simonswerk and Glassopolis solve performance problems. CBH solves a consistency problem, and that’s often the one most visible once the building is handed over.

A Canadian manufacturer since 1978, a Toronto plant, plating in-house, the ability to produce both the catalogue and the one-off, and a refinishing service for what’s already installed. It’s an uncommon combination.

CBH products are distributed across Canada through distribution partners. We represent Canadian Builders Hardware across Quebec and the Ottawa and National Capital Region. For finish samples, a custom piece, a refinishing project or specification support, get in touch.

Full catalogue: canadianbuildershardware.com