STAPLE HARDWARE
INTRODUCTION
1. The hardware used in building construction may be classified as staple and finished. Staple hardware may be considered as including such materials as nails and spikes, bolts and screws, sash weights, and other materials of this character, while finished hardware may include such devices and appliances as locks and latches, hinges, door and window trimmings, and the various metallic fixtures used in equipping the different classes of buildings. To this last classification the term builders’ hardware is frequently applied.
Strictly speaking, glass cannot be considered as hardware; nevertheless, it is frequently supplied to the builder through hardware supply houses, and it is so closely allied to the hardware of building construction that the subject of glass, its trade terms, and other information relating to its characteristics, will not be out of order in this Section.
While little consideration is given to the hardware on the average building, there is no more important part of the construction, nor one to which greater attention should be given. On the quality and the selection of proper hardware depends the avoidance of the petty annoyances often found in buildings where this subject has not received proper consideration.
The architect should be well informed regarding this subject, and should be in a position to know the kind and quality of hardware that, when specified, will give the best results. He will find that a thorough knowledge of builders’ hardware will assist him materially in writing comprehensive specifications for this portion of the work. Consequently, the writing of the hardware specifications will receive attention in this Section, and the proper manner of estimating, or “taking off,” hardware will also be considered.