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Builders Area Builders hardware for contractors, locksmiths and homeowners. Install guides on our blog.

Building a Murphy bed cabinet around Hafele hardware? You need the bed weight before you order the gas pistons.For the W...
10/22/2026

Building a Murphy bed cabinet around Hafele hardware? You need the bed weight before you order the gas pistons.

For the Wall Bed Fitting Set 271.95.203, Hafele sizes the pistons by bed weight: bed box and slatted frame plus mattress and bedding. A 90 kg (198 lb) bed takes 1700 N pistons (271.99.382), two per bed, ordered separately from the set. The internal cabinet height is the mattress length plus twice the bed frame thickness plus 125 mm.

Our guide also covers the Wall Bed Kits, Dynamik, table fittings and the anchoring warnings Hafele prints:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/hafele-wall-bed-murphy-bed-table-fittings-instructions?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Fitting a Pemko automatic door bottom? Start with the gap under the door. The Markar and Pemko catalog says Pemko drop s...
10/22/2026

Fitting a Pemko automatic door bottom? Start with the gap under the door. The Markar and Pemko catalog says Pemko drop seals can seal gaps up to 3/4 inch, the 420 up to 1/2 inch, as long as the gap is consistent.

All five Pemko sheets in our guide say to cut the door bottom only from the non-plunger side, without cutting the insert. The plunger adjustment range printed on the sheets is 1/8 to 3/4 inch for the 4131, 4301 and 411_SL, and 1/8 to 1/2 inch for the 420. The sheets warn against using power tools to adjust the plunger.

Our guide links the installation sheets and decodes model numbers such as 4131CRL36:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/pemko-automatic-door-bottom-installation-4131-411-420?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Assembling cabinets with Minifix or Rafix connectors? Each connection takes a housing and a bolt, and the Hafele catalog...
10/21/2026

Assembling cabinets with Minifix or Rafix connectors? Each connection takes a housing and a bolt, and the Hafele catalog lists them in separate tables, each with its own item number.

Minifix 15 cams are listed by wood thickness, the bolts by drilling distance: 24 or 34 mm from the center of the housing hole to the panel edge.

On Rafix 20 housings the recess for the bolt decides how the panels go in. Without a ridge, base panels can be inserted from the front and from above. With a ridge, only from above.

Our guide also covers dowels, panel and bed connectors and shelf supports, with the catalog page for each:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/hafele-minifix-rafix-connectors-shelf-supports?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Ordering exit trim for a Sargent 80 Series device? The same function can have a different trim number depending on the d...
10/21/2026

Ordering exit trim for a Sargent 80 Series device? The same function can have a different trim number depending on the device.

In Sargent's 80 Series catalog, function 13 trim is 713-8 on the 8800 rim device, 713 on the 8900 mortise and 713-4 on the MD8600. The -8 stands for a cross type spindle, the -4 for offset mounting tabs at the top and bottom.

If the device number starts with PE, use the trim tables of the PE80 catalog. There, trim ordered alone has a P in front, as in P706-8.

Our guide also covers pull trims, electrified ET trim and common parts, from strikes and rod kits to do***ng kits:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/sargent-8800-trim-80-series-exit-device-parts?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Replacing a Zoeller sump pump? Read the ID tag first. Zoeller's parts lists ask for the model number, and the letter in ...
10/20/2026

Replacing a Zoeller sump pump? Read the ID tag first. Zoeller's parts lists ask for the model number, and the letter in front of it matters.

M53 is automatic at 115 volts and N53 nonautomatic at 115 volts; D and E are the 230 volt versions. Nonautomatic models have no switch of their own and work with external controls, such as a piggyback float switch.

Then match the full item number, not only the model. On the Model 98 page, 98-0001 and 98-0077 are both automatic 115 V pumps and differ only in cord length.

Our guide covers revision letters, item numbers and the printed specifications of the Models 53, 57, 63 and 98:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/zoeller-sump-pump-model-numbers-m53-m57-m63-m98?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Choosing a deadbolt? Start with what each side of the door needs.A single cylinder deadbolt has a key outside and a thum...
10/20/2026

Choosing a deadbolt? Start with what each side of the door needs.

A single cylinder deadbolt has a key outside and a thumbturn inside. A double cylinder needs a key on both sides, and Schlage advises against it on homes and on any door used as an exit, calling it a life safety hazard in an emergency.

Our guide also covers classroom deadbolts, throw, backset and grades, as manufacturers print them in their documents:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/deadbolt-types-single-double-cylinder-classroom-throw-backset-grades?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w1

Replacing the cartridge in a Kingston Brass faucet? Start with the faucet model number. Kingston Brass says you may find...
10/19/2026

Replacing the cartridge in a Kingston Brass faucet? Start with the faucet model number. Kingston Brass says you may find it on the outside of the box or on your original invoice.

The cartridge number does not always follow the faucet number. The instructions for the KB131 tub and shower faucet list KBRP131HC, while those for the LS8451DL bathroom faucet list LSRPL8291HC and LSRPL8291CC. The letters count too: the LS8451DL and LS8451JX are both Concord faucets, yet the JX instructions list LSRPL8451 cartridges.

Our guide explains the HC, CC and CD endings, stem types, cartridge lengths and what to check before you order:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/kingston-brass-faucet-cartridge-replacement?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w2

Ordering a lever lock for an office, a bathroom or a storage room? The function decides what the outside lever does.Pass...
10/19/2026

Ordering a lever lock for an office, a bathroom or a storage room? The function decides what the outside lever does.

Passage is never locked. Privacy locks with a button on the inside and has an emergency release outside. Entrance and office locks also lock with the inside button, but a key opens them from outside. Storeroom has a fixed outside lever that only a key opens, and classroom is locked and unlocked with a key from the outside.

Our guide lists the common functions with the codes Schlage and Sargent use:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/lock-functions-passage-privacy-storeroom-classroom?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w1

Replacing a cabinet pull? Measure from the center of one screw hole to the center of the other, not the handle from end ...
10/16/2026

Replacing a cabinet pull? Measure from the center of one screw hole to the center of the other, not the handle from end to end.

That distance is usually the size in the pull's name. Hafele lists its Futura pull as 128 mm (5-1/16"), yet the pull is 141 mm long, because 128 mm is the hole spacing.

Our guide also covers projection, thread and screw length, and what to measure on the old pull before you order:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/cabinet-pull-sizes-center-to-center-projection-screw-length?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w1

Matching new hardware to the finish already on the door? Start with the finish code.626 and US26D are the same satin chr...
10/15/2026

Matching new hardware to the finish already on the door? Start with the finish code.

626 and US26D are the same satin chrome: 626 is the BHMA number, US26D the older US code, and most catalogs print both. 630 is satin stainless steel, 613 oil rubbed bronze.

The number can also change with the base metal. In the Hager and Ives tables, satin chrome on steel is 652, not 626.

Our chart lists the codes you will meet most often:
https://thebuilderssupply.com/door-hardware-finish-codes-chart?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social_w1

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