Hardware & Gadgets

Selecting Quality


Cost conscious shoppers tend to gravitate to the extremes, like the lightweight Price Pfister faucet, left, and the palace-worthy Barber Wilsons set, right. The challenge is to uncover values between high and low.

By Marco Pasanella
The New York Times©

We are a nation of high and low shoppers. The Pradaphile is also the Target bargain-hunter. We want our dream or we want a cheap alternative. But in the search for value, what about the Great American Middle Ground — the middle of the market, long neglected? The challenge for today's renovators, as they walk the miles of aisles in big box stores, is uncovering the secrets of the vast in-between.

The top-of-the-line item may offer instant gratification; at the low end lies the satisfaction of the great deal. I maintain that the middle of the market is the homeland of value and not the backwater of compromise. But now that Home Depot has arrived in Manhattan, with 20,000 products stacked on its shelves, the middle has never seemed wider or more bewildering.

I went shopping over the last weeks for an item that homeowners typically view as a high or low proposition: bathroom sink faucet sets. I examined a range of traditionally styled chrome models. At the high end was one made by the venerable English firm Barber Wilsons ($1,130), whose faucets are used in Buckingham Palace. At the lower end was a set made by Price Pfister ($235), available at big box stores. For my money, the winner was a set by the Chicago Faucet Company, at $528. (According to plumbing lore, Frank Sinatra carried a Chicago Faucet set on tour and had it installed in every hotel room.)

Chrome-plated taps by the Chicago Faucet Company are made with substantial solid brass.

Two dome lights: one by Sea-Dog Line, left, is just 5 inches across and a similar fixture by Urban Archaeology measures 13.5 inches.

Above from right, hidden inside an inexpensive Price Pfister faucet, are plastic parts, which allow only a modest water flow. Center, a luxury brass faucet by the English manufacturer Barber Wilsons has sturdier workings and so does the chrome faucet by Chicago on the left.

Here is what I learned: Weight is the quickest gauge of value. "If you want to know what is good, pick it up," said John Christou, an owner of George Taylor Specialties, one of New York's best regarded plumbing suppliers. At four pounds, the Barber Wilsons is chunky. Of course, its weight is not apparent once it is installed, but the consequences of that extra heft are significant. The Barber Wilsons' sturdy nickel-size throat allows a generous water supply. By contrast, the lightweight Price Pfister has a mere pinhole to protect its plastic innards from cracking under pressure. As a result water gushes from one and trickles from the other, though both use the same pipes and have similar-size spouts. The lift test is particularly critical in big box stores where the shelves can be stocked with lower-quality versions of well-known brands. The Speakman showerhead, a sturdy American brand, which George Taylor sells for $125, is $29 at home-improvement chains. If you pick them up, the difference is clear: the expensive version is chrome-plated brass, while its economy double is chrome-plated plastic.

These bargain fixtures drive plumbers crazy because the parts fit together poorly, and they tend to break during installation. "I tell my customers that I'll give you the money you save if you don't make me put in this junk," said Michael Esposito, a plumber based in Brooklyn.

With its surfeit of chunky metal, the Barwil begs to be touched. Compared with the articulated balls that cap the ends of the English taps, the Price Pfisters handles look like blobs.

Of course, to make the alluring shapes requires fine casting, laborious hand polishing and a fat price tag.

Barwil may be the real English thing. But I wonder: Is it a pose to make the same product virtually the same way for 100 years, in defiance of technological advances? Is Barber Wilsons more nostalgic than authentic, like those British carmakers who stuck to their notoriously unreliable 6-volt batteries long after better versions came along?

"One of the markers of true authenticity," said Dave Glassman, director of marketing for Restoration Hardware, "is a sense of timelessness."

Turns out that the middleman was the real heavyweight. At 9.3 pounds, Chicago's solid brass castings outweigh Barber Wilsons'. The muscular spouts and bases are single-forged pieces rather than the junky amalgams of washers and tubes that characterize the cheaper stuff.

Chicago does not offer polished nickel, the fashionable finish for the design set over the last couple of years. Nor does it make matte nickel, which some homeowners have turned to because of nickel's tendency to tarnish. What Chicago does sell is that overlooked standby: chrome. With good chrome plating, you do not have to worry about tarnish, and you can easily match products from one brand to another.

I feel like a Honda salesman for bringing this up, but reliability is an important component of value. Barwils break infrequently, but when they do, you have to wait three weeks for a potentially costly part. By contrast, Chicago supplies inexpensive replacement pieces in a matter of days, and new parts will work on a 60-year-old model. Chalk up another one for the man in the middle.

The result is a product with the sturdiness and solidity of a great American design. Costs are minimized by keeping to simple interchangeable shapes, which are authentically all-American rather than dumbed-down versions of English ones.

"They don't have silly plastic trims and doodads that will make you want to rip them out when you get sick of them," said Randy Polumbo, a contractor whose clients include Santiago Calatrava, the architect and engineer.

To go for the middle is not to be indiscriminate. Despite their uniform quality, not every Chicago design is a winner. Dig past those models reminiscent of elementary-school bathrooms to discover the real gems. When mining value from the overlooked, it pays to have a little patience.

Value does not require blind lust for luxury or bargain fever. The faucet that will make you happiest is the one that does not leak.

The same applies to architectural hardware. At first glance, the French Bull's-Eye ($70) by Nanz Custom Hardware, the Barwil of cabinet pulls, bears more than a passing resemblance to Restoration Hardware's Gilmore pull ($5.95). Both are relatively flat on top with lines on the sides. But up close you can see that the Nanz version, modeled after turn-of-the-century drum-shape knobs, is an astounding combination of ogees, steps, astragals and coves compared with the Gilmore's simpler profile.

Carl Sorenson, an owner of Nanz Custom Hardware, estimates that more than 50 percent of the manufacturing cost is in the handiwork required in the final finishing to get into all those crevices. More straightforward shapes can be finished by tossing them in a tumbler overnight.

Is it worth the extra $64 a knob? Side by side, there is no denying that the Nanz looks almost jewel-like while the Restoration Hardware model looks, well, like a cabinet pull. Do you need it? Nope. Then again, I do not need an old Ferrari, either.

Neither pull is historically correct. On the other hand, both work in traditional and modern rooms.

Where Nanz hardware is about refinement, Urban Archaeology aims for "big, boastful and made to last," said Gil Shapiro, its founder. And you can see it in products like the 13 1/2-inch diameter Berkeley Semi-Dome light made from a huge casting with dramatic venting to handle the heat from two 100-watt bulbs.

At $2,040, it is definitely out of my price range for a light meant for a bathroom. In my own home, I opted for a $17.50 Sea-Dog Line light designed for use on boats. Granted, it is only five inches wide, stamped out of stainless steel and uses a low-voltage bulb. Designed for marine use, it feels more authentic than the overbuilt version. The saving allowed me to line a hallway with them and still have $1,970 leftover to spend (perhaps for a boat).

The point is, sometimes good is good enough. Do you really need the top-of-the-line Viking range blistering your walls with its 35,000 B.T.U.'s? Or is a less expensive G.E. Profile adequate for roasting a duck? As with blood pressure and Oreo cookies, the sweet spot often lies in the middle.

A Cure For Key-juggling


Perhaps it is perfected. Time -- and consumers -- will tell. But certainly Kwikset's biometric lock is interesting.

By Anne Eisenberg

The New York Times©

It is a common juggling act on the doorstep: rummaging for the house keys with one hand while balancing a bag of groceries with the other. Now a manufacturer is aiming to streamline household entry with a deadbolt lock that reduces the need to fish for keys. Instead, the lock opens with the swipe of a finger.

The lock is a scanner that stores the fingerprints of authorized users. If your print matches the stored ones, the bolt slides open smartly with a crisp, satisfying clack, welcoming you home the biometric way.

The lock looks nothing like the bulky commercial scanners that read entry cards in building lobbies. It is small, close to the size of a standard lock, and comes in upscale finishes like antique bronze and silvery nickel, suitable for home décor. The sensor is hidden in a teardrop-shaped overhang below the keyhole.

The lock, called SmartScan, is made by Kwikset of Lake Forest, Calif. and costs $199. The device is powered by four AA batteries and requires no wiring. It works by emitting radio waves that detect distances between the ridges and valleys of a finger just below the surface of the skin, said Michael Maridakis, the chief electronic engineer for the hardware and home improvement group of Black & Decker, which owns the Kwikset brand.

Because the scanner reads subdermally, it is not affected by dirt or oil on the fingertips. “It will even work for fingers that have minor cuts and scratches,” Mr. Maridakis said.

He said the lock’s batteries would last about a year if you used it about 20 times a day. The deadbolt also works with standard keys that accompany it.

The SmartScan can also be programmed to grant temporary access — for someone to enter your home from 8 to 10 a.m. on a particular day, for instance, to take the dog for a walk. The lock holds about 50 different fingerprints.

Before installing the lock, I looked into the security of biometric locks, especially after reading about the research of Stephanie Schuckers, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y. She has fooled other biometric locks with devices like fake fingers made from Play-Doh and gelatin. An episode of the television show “MythBusters,” too, showed ways to get past other biometric locks.

Professor Schuckers, it turns out, is not worried about the security of residential biometric fingerprint locks. “The risk is no greater than someone taking your keys and making a copy,” she said. “In fact, it’s a lot harder to fool the system with a fake finger.”

Over all, she said, biometric locks tend to improve residential security. “Keys get lost, but you always have your fingerprint with you,” she said.

Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technical officer of the security company BT Counterpane in Mountain View, Calif., says that while biometric locks may not be appropriate for guarding Air Force One, they are suitable for use in homes.

“Honestly, who’s going to get a photo of your fingerprint to trick the scanner?” he said. “If I had a photo of your key, I could fool your lock. I can also get a rock and throw it in your window.”

Biometric door locks have an advantage, he said, because they store information locally, not centrally, where it might be hacked. “The fingerprint reader says, ‘Yes, it’s you,’ ” he said, just as other such readers can do for applications like authorizing owners of cell phones and computers. “It’s a great idea,” he said. “I’m amazed there aren’t more of them.”

Reassured, I did a test run. A friend set up the lock in a room inside my house, taking out the existing door knobs and latch, sliding the new deadbolt into the hole and screwing in the housing for the biometric controls. The process took about 20 minutes.

From the outside, the deadbolt looked much like any other, except for the overhang below the keyhole. The assembly on the back of the door, though, was different: it held the four batteries, an L.C.D. display screen and a keypad used to program the lock.

After the deadbolt direction was set, using the keypad and following the instructions on the L.C.D. screen, I “enrolled” my fingerprint by swiping it three times across the sensor. Once registered, I opened and closed the bolt several times successfully. (To close the lock, you tap the sensor three times.) Pleased with my quick progress, I went to bed.

Pride goeth before a fall. When I returned the next morning, my memory of the exact motions I’d used to open the door had evaporated. I swiped and swiped, but the door wouldn’t budge. Many speeds and angles can be used in swiping a finger, I gradually realized, and I could no longer recapture the technique I’d used the night before.

Humbled, I started from scratch, but this time I paid close attention to the positioning of my swipe, and followed the advice of the instructions and frequently asked questions in the manual: I placed my thumb on the cylinder as a pivot to control speed and angle, and noted where my thumb was. I put the first joint of my finger under the teardrop, and noticed where that first joint was (facing up).

Once I had recorded the first fingerprint, I enrolled the same finger again so the scanner would have a choice. I also lowered the default “high” security setting, which requires 20 matching points in the fingerprints, to “normal,” which requires 15.

Then I tried again, and all entries and exits proceeded smoothly.

My difficulties were not surprising, said Professor Schuckers, who says that biometric devices, like any other new technology, require training. “You have to learn how to run the lock just as you had to learn how to run your cell phone,” she said. Standard locks are easy to use because people have already put in time to learn them. “We are all trained how to use keys, from when we are young,” she said.

IT has been two weeks since my lock was installed, and it continues to work, although I worry that I will lose my touch, like a shortstop who can no longer throw reliably to first base, or the person who’s swiped an I.D. or subway card through a turnstile for years, but suddenly faces a “please swipe again” display.

So far, though, the only problem is that the lock occasionally won’t close when I tap it. When that happens, I wiggle the mechanism a few times and start again, and all is well. That tip, by the way, is also in the frequently asked questions, which I now read respectfully.

Form A Tight Bond With The Right Glue

By James Cummings
Cox News Service ©

Many of the repair jobs done around the average house involve taking something that has fallen apart -- a window frame, cup handle, toy or chair, for example--and putting it back together.

Often the quickest, easiest way to hold things together is with a bit of glue. Two broken pieces held together with glue are sometimes stronger than the pieces were originally.

There are glues made for just about every conceivable fastening job, and that can be a blessing or a curse. The problem is that it's easy to get confused and buy an adhesive that won't work well for the purpose you have in mind.

Here are a few tips on using and choosing glues.

The basics:

Glues are compounds that are applied as a liquid, paste or putty between two surfaces that are to be held together. As the glue dries and hardens, it bonds the surfaces together.

Each type of glue has a characteristic setting time and curing time. The setting time is the initial period it takes the glue to dry, and it can be anywhere from a few seconds to a few days. But the glue doesn't reach its full strength until its curing time has passed.

You usually have to apply pressure, either by hand or with a clamp, to hold parts together until the glue has set. After the joint is set, you have to avoid putting any stress on the joint until the glue is fully cured.

For a glue to hold, the pieces being joined have to be clean. Wood should be free of paint, varnish and wax. Never glue with the pieces resting on a work surface that has sawdust, grease or other contaminants that can get into the new joint.

Glued surfaces must be dry. Some glues will hold underwater once they have cured, but they should be applied dry. Other glues will fail in damp or humid conditions.

The glued parts must fit snugly. Before gluing, push the parts together to be sure edges butt firmly and joints have good contact.

Usually more is better when it comes to glue. Put on a generous amount and wipe away the excess, following package directions. Instant bonding glues are an exception; they should be used sparingly.

Generally adhesives work best at room temperature. When using them outdoors, it's often best to wait until a day that's at least 65 degrees.

The best guide to using an adhesive is found on the package the product comes in. Read and follow all package directions to the letter.

Some adhesives require that you wear gloves and/or provide ventilation as you use them. Again, the package should be your guide.

Glue types:

There is no one glue that is best for every application. Choose the glue for the job you have to do.

- Epoxy: This type of glue comes in two parts--a resin and a hardener. The resin and hardener can be either liquid in tubes or putty. Mix equal amounts of the two components, apply the compound to the joint and clamp. Setting times run from five minutes to an hour, and curing times usually run a few hours to a few days. Epoxies are good for most materials and are particularly good at holding together dissimilar materials, such as plastic and glass.

- Wood glue: These glues, generally yellow in color, are used in carpentry, furniture-making and wood repairs. They are squeezed directly onto the surfaces to be joined, clamped and left to cure overnight. They form a rigid, water-resistant bond.

- Instant bonding glue: The scientific name for this type of adhesive, sold under names such as Superglue and Krazy Glue, is cyanoacrylate. To use it, you squeeze a drop or two on the surfaces to be joined and hold them in place for a minute or less. The glue cures in 1 to 12 hours. Instant glues come in liquid form for plastic, metal and rubber, and gel form for porous materials such as wood and leather. Wear gloves to keep from gluing your fingers together and never point an instant bonding adhesive toward your face.

- White glue: Products such as Elmer's Glue-All are polyvinyl-chloride based. They are cheap and easy to use and clean up with soap and water. They're water soluble and shouldn't be used where they will get wet.

- Contact cement: This type of adhesive is used primarily for attaching veneers, such as attaching plastic veneer to countertops or repairing wood veneers on furniture.

- Hot-melt glue: These glues come in sticks that are melted in a glue gun. They're good for fast repairs on leather and fabric and are sometimes used in crafts. The bonds aren't very strong, though, so hot-melt glues might not be best for permanent repairs.

Build Extra Support for Hanging Pictures, Towel Bars and Shelves

By Mike McClintock
Special to The Washington Post ©

When you're having a really good day, there will be a wall stud exactly where you want to hang a picture, or even a pair of them in the ideal spot for a towel rack or grab bar.

But when the framing layout isn't so remarkably convenient, you're left with the somewhat unnerving need to rely on Molly bolts and other hollow-wall fasteners.

How big should the Mollies be, and their pilot holes, and the bit that drills them? And if the fasteners don't seat securely -- they often don't -- might they hold only a fraction of their advertised load?

Instead of worrying about a shelf collapsing or a grab bar pulling loose, some people build in extra support -- the kind of inexpensive bracing and nailing surfaces behind the drywall that are easy to include but left out by many builders.

During a major renovation (and new construction, of course), there are many places where these basic built-ins pay off.

Framing support in walls:

The location of towel racks and grab bars can be planned ahead of time while framing is exposed, and horizontal nailers added to provide support later on.

It also makes sense to think ahead about the locations of shelves, a large mirror and anything else that could strain the limits of a Molly driven into nothing but a half inch of gypsum drywall.

Short pieces of 2-by-4 work well as nailing support, turned on edge, set flush with the faces of the framing and nailed (better yet, screwed) through supporting studs at each end. Measure and cut the short sections to fit snugly between studs.

If the pieces are too long or too short, the studs will twist, which can build in enough stress to pop drywall nails and open taped seams between panels later on.

To avoid splitting the nailer (even a beefy piece of 2-by-4), set or clamp the support in place and drill small pilot holes for the screws or nails.

If you can't anticipate the exact position of a mirror, shelf or other wall-mounted fixture, use a 2-by-6 or even a 2-by-8 for the nailer instead of a 2-by-4. The extra size can come in handy if you need to move the location up or down a bit to center a fixture, for instance, in a grid of ceramic wall tile.

The obvious last step is to record the location of the nailers. Forgetting this seems truly dumb, but even experienced contractors sometimes lose the locations under new drywall, or mark locations on rough subflooring or some other surface where the information disappears as finishing materials go down.

Strengthening passageways:

The upper corners of doors and wide passageways between rooms are like magnets for cracks. You can sand and spackle the damage, but the crack often opens again, generally angling up and away from one or both of the corners.

Problems stem from movement in the frame -- often because the opening is not topped by a heavy, solid header but by an economical piece of construction called a ladder.

In a non-load-bearing partition, it's easier to build this light frame (like a ladder set horizontally) and fix it in place across the opening to support drywall and trim.

You can strengthen passageways and prevent cracks by installing let-in bracing across the corners. Traditional let-in bracing is made from 1-by-4 lumber recessed into the framing. The quick version (it's just as strong) is made with L-shaped lengths of perforated metal.

To install them, snap a chalk line diagonally across the corner and several adjacent studs. Then cut along the line with a circular saw, setting the depth of the blade to slightly more than the width of one side of the metal strip. Insert one side of the L-shaped metal in the cut and secure the other side with screws through the perforations over every framing component.

The best fix for a passageway crack when you can't open up the framing is to embed fiberglass mesh tape in the patching compound.

Bonus wall built-ins:

Here are three extra steps to take while wall framing is exposed. In the partition walls of bathrooms, bedrooms or any room where privacy is paramount, add insulation batts (even on interior partition walls) for sound-proofing.

In bath partitions that carry drainage lines, consider framing with 2-by-6s instead of conventional 2-by-4s. This allows you to pack insulation around large-diameter and intrusively noisy drainage lines.

Also in baths, locate shower and tub plumbing in a partition wall with an access hatch. Use a partition in the bath, one that encloses a tub-shower for example, or a common wall partition to an adjacent hall.

The hatch can be a piece of drywall, just like the rest of the wall, but trimmed around the edges and held with a few screws.

With a hatch, if you need to work on the plumbing or change a mixing valve at some point, you won't have to tear out tile to do it.

The third extra, for any exposed framing, is to drill small holes through studs or joists to string telephone, intercom and other lines (advanced smart-house cabling is another matter) so you won't have to tack them along baseboards or door and window trim.

Don't run these lines in shallow recesses cut into the surfaces of studs. In that position, they could be damaged by drywall nails.

House Numbers Offer An Up Front Image Of A Homeowner's Taste

By MARIANNE ROHRLICH
New York Times

Stainless steel numbers are based on those used by the architect Richard Neutra in the 1930's to 50's. The numbers, four inches high, are $60 each from Design Within Reach, www.dwr.com or (800) 944-2233.

For the safety conscious, one variety emits a red glow that is visible from 100 feet. And for those inclined to design their own numbers, Weston Letters, a North Hollywood company, will make aluminum, bronze, stainless steel or copper numbers (not shown) in custom sizes based on original artwork. The company also stocks 41 typefaces, including Helvetica, Futura and Bodoni, in 12 finishes; $15 to $225 for a polished bronze 14-inch-high number from (818) 503-9472 or www.westonletters.com .

1. Six-inch-high numbers each come with a solar panel and shine all night after exposure to minutes of daylight. They are $16.99 each from www.polsteins.com or (877) 880-8877.

2. Metropolitan house numbers are six inches high and two inches wide. They come in various finishes; $10.50 each from Atlas Homewares, (800) 799-6755 or www.atlashomewares.com .

3. Stainless steel numbers are based on those used by the architect Richard Neutra in the 1930's to 50's. The numbers, four inches high, are $60 each from Design Within Reach, www.dwr.com or (800) 944-2233.

4. Above: Twirling Twig, rustic-looking numbers on ceramic tiles, are $19.95 each from (509) 535-1237 or www.rusticconnection.com . Below: Rennie Mac ceramic tiles, with craftsman-style numbers, are $19.95 each from (509) 535-5098 or www.crafthome.com.

5. Hand-cut numbers on legs can be planted in the front garden. The numbers, either painted steel or copper, are four and a half inches high; $185 from (214) 249-6785 or www.chaenomeles.com .

6. The Pinecone Address Plaque is cast in recycled aluminum from a wood carving and has a copper-color finish; $85 from Smith & Hawken, www.smithandhawken.com or (800) 940-1170.

7. Mission house numbers, five and a half inches high in bronze or pewter, are $10.50 each from Atlas Homewares.

The Quest For Quality	Form A Tight Bond With The Right Glue
Build Extra Support for Hanging Pictures, Towel Bars and Shelves	House Numbers Offer An Up Front Image Of A Homeowner's Taste
A Cure For Key-juggling