Buildmat's Guide to Choosing Door Handles for a New Build vs Renovation

Key takeaways

• In a new build, the opportunity is to spec everything once and get it right across the whole home. 
• In a renovation, the constraint is the existing door. Bore hole, backset, door thickness – these all need to be checked before you order anything. Photos aren't enough.
• Finish is a different kind of decision in each context. In a new build, you're setting the whole palette. In a renovation, you're either matching what's already there or committing to replace it all.

We talk to customers doing new builds and customers doing renovations every week, and the questions they ask look the same on the surface — finish, function, budget — but they come from completely different starting points. Whether you're starting with our full door handles collection or trying to match what's already on thirty doors in a 1970s home, what you need to think about first is different.

A new build is a blank slate. You can spec everything to suit the hardware. A renovation is an existing building, with existing doors, that may or may not cooperate with what you want to put on them.

At a glance: new build vs renovation

Factor	New build	Renovation
Bore holes	Standard 54mm — all new hardware fits	Measure first — older homes vary
Backset	Set during door install — your choice	Must match existing latch (60mm or 70mm)
Door thickness	Specify upfront, typically 35–40mm	Measure each door — can vary room to room
Finish consistency	Easy — specify everything at once	Match existing or commit to full replacement
Hardware schedule	Done once, ordered in bulk	Door by door, often staged
Door hinges	Specified to suit new door furniture	May need replacing if upgrading heavier hardware
Door frame condition	New — no surprises	Check for settlement or warping first
Budget	Total cost planned upfront	Prioritise high-traffic doors first

Choosing door handles for a new build

The forgiving part of a new build is that you can get the spec right from the start. The less forgiving part: the consequences of getting it wrong don't show up until installation, when the carpenter's already on site.

Start with a hardware schedule before you choose a single handle

A hardware schedule is a door-by-door list of everything: handle type, function — passage, privacy, or entrance — finish, and accessories like door stops, door hinges, and flush pull handles for sliding doors. Most builders work from a hardware schedule. If yours doesn't, make your own.

We work through hardware schedules with customers at the Buildmat Selection Centre all the time. The value isn't the form itself but that filling it out forces you to think about every door in the house before you've placed an order.

The most expensive mistake we see in new builds isn't choosing the wrong handle but forgetting a category entirely. A customer recently arrived with every internal lever selected and no plan for wardrobe sliders, flush pulls, door stops, or the garage access door. By the time those gaps came up during installation, it meant a second order, extra freight, and delays for the carpenter. Once everything's on paper, the gaps are obvious. 

Finish first, function second

A new build is probably the only time in your life you can run a single finish across every internal door handle, coordinated with your tapware, cabinet handles, and appliance pulls. That level of cohesion is one of those things that's hard to describe but obvious when you're standing in the finished space.

Right now, black door handles are our most popular overall — they work with almost any contemporary palette. Brass door handles are the pick for warm, natural material schemes. Brushed nickel door handles are the most versatile — PVD-coated, durable, and they sit comfortably between warm and cool. Bronze door handles suit design-forward builds where the brief has some character to it.

Finish preferences in new builds follow the material palette of the home more than people realise. Oak flooring, warm stone, off-white cabinetry — almost always satin brass or brushed nickel. Darker joinery, black window frames, sharp contemporary detailing — matte black. The customers who end up happiest are the ones who bring flooring samples, cabinet handle samples, and tapware into the same conversation rather than choosing door hardware in isolation.

Function (don't under-spec the boring doors)

This is where new build customers most often get caught out. Every door needs a confirmed function before you order.

• Passage sets for doors that don't need to lock — living rooms, hallways, kitchens. Most common type in any home.
• Privacy sets for bathrooms, toilets, and bedrooms. Must have an emergency release on the outside.
• Lever door handles over door knobs for most Australian homes — easier for kids and elderly users, and required for accessibility compliance in many applications.
• Flush pull handles for sliding doors where a lever won't work — recessed into the door face.
• Dummy door handles for french doors, wardrobe doors, or any surface where you want the look without the mechanism.

The doors people forget are never the front door or the bathroom. It's the walk-in robe, the laundry, the garage entry, the linen cupboard, the home office. Individually they feel like small decisions. Across a whole house, they're a meaningful chunk of the hardware schedule. We ask customers to walk through their floorplan room by room and mark every door with its function before we start the spec. It takes fifteen minutes and prevents a lot of callbacks.

The full picture: it's not just handles

Don't spec handles without speccing door hinges, door stops, and wardrobe handles in the same conversation. Mismatched finishes on door stops and hinges are exactly the kind of detail that's visible every day and almost impossible to fix without replacing the whole lot.

We can supply cabinet handles, door pull handles, and appliance pulls across the same finishes as our door hardware. Getting everything from one place removes the risk of finish variation between product batches, which is more common than people expect.

Material (what's inside the handle)

Zinc alloy is the most common material in quality lever door handles. It's strong, holds finishes well, and doesn't degrade under regular use. Solid brass is heavier and denser — some customers want that weight for entrance door hardware specifically. PVD on either material is significantly more durable than powder coat or plating. For any external door hardware, PVD is the minimum we'd recommend.

Choosing door hardware for a renovation

The starting point here isn't what you want but what's already in the door.

Measure the door before you order anything

Three numbers determine whether a handle will fit an existing door: bore hole diameter, backset, and door thickness. In a new build, these are standardised. In a renovation, particularly in anything built before the 1990s, they vary.

• Bore hole: the hole through the door face where the handle mechanism sits. Standard in Australia is 54mm. Older doors can be different.
• Backset: the distance from the door edge to the centre of the bore hole. Most common sizes are 60mm and 70mm — both exist in Australian homes. Get this wrong and the latch won't engage properly.
• Door thickness: standard doors run 35–40mm. Heritage timber doors can be thicker. Some lever sets have limited thickness ranges.

We've had customers order handles based on a photo of their existing door and return them because the backset was wrong. Five minutes with a tape measure prevents that.

One customer renovating an older home in Brighton East sent us photos of a beautiful mid-century timber door and assumed any modern lever set would fit. When the measurements came through, the backset was non-standard and the bore hole had been modified at some point in the door's history. What looked like a straightforward swap turned into a much more specific hardware search. Older homes do this. The measurements always tell you more than photos will.

Check the door frame while you're at it

A door that doesn't close cleanly has a frame problem, not a handle problem. Get that looked at before you invest in new hardware. Door hinges are also worth checking — if you're upgrading to heavier solid brass lever handles on a door that's currently fitted with lightweight hinges, the hinges may need to come with it.

The finish question: match or replace?

This is the conversation we have with renovation customers more than almost any other. There are really two options: match the existing finish across the doors you're not touching, or commit to replacing all the hardware in the space.

Partial replacement — new handles in one room, old handles on adjacent doors — rarely looks deliberate unless the finish gap is very subtle.

The renovations that look most cohesive are the ones where the owner picked a direction and stuck to it. We see customers try to save the existing chrome handles while bringing in matte black or satin brass elsewhere. It sounds economical. In practice, it makes the old hardware look older and the new hardware look like an afterthought. Even in staged renovations that happen over three or four years, having a finish plan from the start makes the result look like one coherent project rather than a patchwork.

If you're going to stage the work, pick something you can commit to. Black door handles, brass door handles, and brushed nickel door handles all have strong longevity in Australian interiors — none of them are going anywhere.

Sliding doors and anything non-standard

French doors need dummy door handles on the inactive leaf with flush bolts to hold it in position. Flush pull handles for sliding doors need to match the existing track and door weight. Not all flush pulls are interchangeable. If you're replacing hardware on anything that isn't a standard hinged door, bring the existing handle in or send us photos and dimensions first.

While you're in there, check the security

A reno is a good time to look at your entrance door hardware. If the property has original front door handles, it's worth knowing whether the existing deadbolts meet current Australian standards. Our smart door locks range is worth a look if you're interested in keyless entry or want to be able to give tradespeople temporary access codes.

Choosing door handles: what's true regardless of the project

Keep the finishes in the same family

Lever door handles, cabinet handles, tapware, appliance pulls — they don't need to be identical, but they need to coordinate. The most common mistake we see is matte black door hardware against chrome tapware. Both are strong finishes. Together they compete.

Function matters more than aesthetics on the doors people use most

Entrance doors need proper entrance sets. Bathrooms and toilets need privacy sets with an emergency release. Those aren't the places to cut corners. Passage sets on the laundry, the linen cupboard, and the guest bedroom are fine.

Buy quality hardware for doors that get used every day

Door furniture gets touched more times per day than almost anything else in the house. The brands we stock – Lockwood, Zanda, Alma, Momo, Yale — are the ones we've seen hold up over years of real use. We don't carry hardware we wouldn't put in our own homes.

The difference between a budget door handle and a quality one is rarely obvious on installation day. It becomes obvious after a few years of operation. The mechanism feels looser. The finish starts to wear at the grip point. A quality handle, on the other hand, still feels solid a decade later — same action, same finish. We see enough of both to know which is which, and we'll tell you honestly which products in our range we'd choose for a high-traffic family home versus one that doesn't see much use.

See our door handles in person

Most door hardware problems get solved before an order is placed, not after. The customers who end up frustrated are almost always the ones who ordered online without measuring, or chose a finish without seeing it next to the other materials in their home. The customers who come into the Buildmat Selection Centre, bring their samples, walk through the hardware schedule with us — those are the ones who get it right first time. It's one of those decisions that's worth spending an hour on.

Our Selection Centre is at 45 Warrigal Rd, Hughesdale. Browse our door handles collection online first to narrow it down, then book an appointment here.

Not in Melbourne? Call 1300 123 122 or email [email protected] with your plans and we'll work through it with you.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to measure my existing doors before ordering replacement handles?

Yes, every time. Bore hole diameter, backset, and door thickness all need to match. Standard Australian doors have a 54mm bore hole and a 60mm or 70mm backset — but older homes don't always play by those rules. Ordering without measuring is the most common reason handles come back to us.

Can I mix door handle finishes in different rooms?

You can, but it needs logic. Mixing within a single room or on adjacent doors without a clear reason rarely looks deliberate. When in doubt, one finish throughout the home is the lower-risk call.

What's the difference between a passage set and a privacy set?

Passage sets operate freely from both sides with no lock — for living rooms, hallways, kitchens. Privacy sets have a snib or push-button lock on the inside with an emergency release on the outside. Required for bathrooms, toilets, and bedrooms.

How do I choose handles for sliding doors?

Flush pull handles are the standard choice — recessed into the door face, no protruding lever. Match to door thickness and the existing routed cavity if there is one. Not all flush pulls fit all tracks.

Do door handles need to match tapware?

Not exactly, but they should coordinate. One or two finish families across the whole home is the standard approach. Chrome tapware and bronze door hardware is the combo we'd steer most people away from. Brushed nickel on both is a safe pairing. Matte black throughout is the most common setup we see in contemporary new builds right now.