Happy new year to you too mr deeds. Who's arsed Mazball/Lennie/75/Dirtydoo? Er any professional tradesman wanting to do a proper job would be, I guess that rules you out then. Also I guess that someones else to be arsed would be that rather important part of a business transaction namely the customer.
990mm - 1000mm from floor on new build depending on method statement (And then measure from door head to make a storey stick) unless matching to handle heights on existing doors. It's not necessarily a good idea to match new handle height to existing lock keeps where older style of door and locking (Read surface mounted) were used, so common sense will tend to dictate location. Guidelines surrounding handle heights exist for the sake of practicality in daily use, but - unless fitting surface mounted locks - it's unwise to strike a lock mortice through a ledger joint (fox tailed or otherwise) unless you want to run the risk of having a door stile gradually or suddenly part company with it's ledgers and panels.
Hey chippys, I've come to this thread a bit late (13 years) but I'd like to offer a few comments: Peter Brett has written several books on carpentry and joinery, that are used by colleges as part of their course (used to be C&G, now GNVQ). In one of his books he states the position of handle spindles, hinges, letterbox plates and door viewers. Except for the hinge positions (150mm from top, 225mm from bottom) the measurements are recommendations; there doesn't seem to be a building regs regarding the position of handles (for good reason). He states that on a FLUSH DOOR 6' 6" (1981mm ) with or without glazing, the position should be 990mm from the bottom of the door, not the floor. This of course is midpoint of the door. If some doors were 1981mm and others were 80" (2032mm) the height from the bottom of the doors should be the same. However, what do you do if you are replacing doors in a house, where one room is hard boarded, underlayed and carpeted, and the next room is sanded and sealed floorboards? Measuring from the floor or bottom of door means you could be 25mm different in height! (When I was working on house conversions, I would make the door lining/frames 6' 7" from the floorboards to the underside of the head. I left 3/4" for carpet and 1/4" for clearance under the door). With different floor finishes, it would be a good idea to measure from the underside of the doorframe (not the door)as one chippy says. As long as the doorframes are roughly level. How you ascertain that they are level, I don't know - laser? On Victorian style doors, you should ALWAYS fit the handles in the CENTRE OF THE MID RAIL (which of course isn't in the middle). 2 reasons: If you look at the websites of door suppliers, you can see that they always fit tubular latches, sash locks and bathroom locks in the midrail. THE DOES NOT WEAKEN THE JOINT, whether it is m & t or dowelled. If it's a fire door with rails and styles, and the client wants round handles, the spindle hole should be set back further from the edge of the door. (This is known as the BACKSET, that's why Victorian locks are LONG). The door stops on a fire door are 25mm thick; if you don't set the round handles further back, then when you turn the handle, your knuckles would rub against the doorstop - not enough clearance. If you fit a bathroom lock, then fit the round door handles on the style, you risk having the round base of the handles partly off the style (which looks awful) or you drill too deep, and the sashlock breaks through into the panel - woops!!! If I was replacing door handles, I would put the new ones in the same position as the old and change the striker/keep plate (unless the customer wants different). Everybody on this post is right, more or less. You should think long and hard when pricing and sizing up a job, I like my customers to be satisfied with my work and I consult them every step of the way. Hope my 40 years as a carpenter/builder helps. Kev
Peter Brett is THE authority on carpentry and joinery, he has written many books that are used by schools and colleges. They're all on Amazon.
Who honestly cares? It should be common sense. 990 works out centre of the door if nothing's been trimmed off it, as 99% of doors have a good chunk cut off the bottom in domestic settings I usually measure from the top of the door, or match up to existing receiver cutout.
His books are very formally worded and doesn't go into depth on a couple of job scenarios. I prefer Les Gorings manual of first and second fixing myself.
It doesn't really matter and usually as Jord says it's matching to existing handles or keeps. Mine are 1260mm from the floor because that suits the style of door.