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interior door hardware: dummy sets and strike plates

15 years ago

I'm hoping someone could explain some of the fine points of how dummy sets should be installed. We are about to order on-line and I'm afraid of making a mistake. Before I talk to customer service I want to be armed with information and experience you might have. Here are a few questions:

1. We have double closet doors that swing out rather than bifolds. The carpenter has already installed a ball catch for each door that is at the top of the door jamb. When I was filling out the form for the order on the website it asked me to specify the type of face plate and strike plate I wanted for the dummy set. I was under the impression that a dummy set would consist of 2 surface mounted levers (or knobs) with a rosette behind each one and that one half of the "set" would be mounted on the right hand door, the other half mounted on the left hand door. Because the lever will not be workable (no twisting or turning of an internal mechanism) why would I need a face plate or a strike plate? Am I misunderstanding the term "dummy"? I thought a dummy was just there because some way of opening a door is required and the dummy is what we use in modern society rather than just pounding a nail into the door surface.

2. We have several other closets that have a single door but that are walk-in. Would it be appropriate to use a dummy set on these doors with one half of the set mounted on the outside and the other half on the inside? Or should these doors have a passage set with that workable twisty mechanism that requires a face plate and a strike plate? The carpenter did not put a ball catch in the overhead jamb for these doors so I guess that is his way of saying that he's expecting to install a passage set.

I keep mentioning the carpenter and I would ask him except he is on vacation for another 10 days and I'd like to get all of this ordered now so I can keep him busy when he gets back. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. TIA

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Comments (3)

kudzu9
15 years ago
I have always understood the term "dummy" in this context to simply mean a door knob/lever that did not rotate or have a lockset, and it sounds like your understanding is fine. Maybe the assumption at the web site you're dealing with is that nothing is installed and you need all the hardware. Take a look and see if the site has a phone number, and then pose your questions directly to them. Maybe you can even get a better price if you don't need all the parts.
sue36
15 years ago
1. Your understanding is the same as mine.
2. We used a passage set in that instance, not a dummy set.
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iliya1
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Our house has the same type of closets as yours. For the double-door closet, you need a dummy knob on each door, with a ball-detent catch at the top of each door, as you have now. We used Baldwin solid brass egg locksets throughout the whole house. The dummy knobs attach from the front of the door with two screws and a trim piece covers them. The knob goes on last. There is a small amount of routing that had to be done to get them to fit the doors.

For the walk-in closet doors, you need a standard lockset, either with or without privacy lock. If the closet is large, I'd probably install one with a lock. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

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