Door Knobs

I remember the first time I really thought about how gross things are. It was after a particularly nasty flu season, and I was staring at my front door knob, the one everyone in the house touches a dozen times a day. It hit me: are door knobs fomites? It’s a question that sounds a … Read more

I once spent a ridiculous amount of money on a fancy, brushed nickel entry knob for my old house. It looked amazing in the showroom, but after a year, the finish was flaking off, and it felt cheap every time I turned it. That’s when I started wondering if there’s a fundamental difference in how … Read more

I swear, the first time I tried to pick out hardware for my own place, I nearly had a meltdown. All these fancy terms, finishes, and “solid brass” claims that turned out to be… well, not exactly solid brass. It makes you wonder, when you see those beautiful, aged brass doorknobs, are door knobs brass … Read more

I was helping my buddy Sarah out with her mobile home renovation, and we hit a snag. She needed to replace a couple of interior doorknobs, and she’d grabbed some shiny new ones from the big box store. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. We spent a solid hour fiddling, getting frustrated, and muttering about how everything … Read more

I stood there, screwdriver in hand, staring at the mangled mess of my front door. I’d decided to swap out the old, brassy knob for something a bit more modern. Simple, right? Wrong. Turns out, asking ‘are door knobs interchangeable’ is a question with a much more complicated answer than I bargained for. I’d assumed … Read more

I remember the first time I heard someone ask if door knobs were illegal in Vancouver. It sounded absurd. I mean, what are you supposed to do, rip doors off their hinges every time you want to go in or out? I chalked it up to a weird rumour, another internet myth floating around. But … Read more

I remember the first time I tried to install a fancy new door knob set. It looked slick, felt solid in the box, and the instructions made it seem like a five-minute job. An hour later, I was sweating, cursing, and staring at a knob that wouldn’t turn, let alone lock. I’d bought a beautiful, … Read more

I remember staring at a brand-new, shiny doorknob set I’d bought online, convinced it would be a simple five-minute swap-out for the tired old one in my bathroom. An hour later, sweat dripping down my forehead and the new knob stubbornly refusing to sit flush, I was convinced the universe hated me. That’s when the … Read more

I remember staring at that wonky doorknob on the guest bathroom for about six months. It’d been loose since we bought the house, a little wobbly dance every time you turned it. My partner, bless his heart, insisted it was a massive job, requiring specialized tools and probably a plumber and an electrician who’d charge … Read more

I remember the first time I spent a ridiculous amount of money on what I thought were solid brass cabinet knobs. They looked gorgeous in the catalog, all warm and substantial. Then they arrived. They felt… light. Almost hollow. And after a few months, a faint metallic tarnish started peeking through the supposed ‘brass’ finish. … Read more

I once spent an entire Saturday afternoon wrestling with a new doorknob, convinced I was just an idiot. The old one had worked fine for years, and this shiny new brass beauty was supposed to be a simple upgrade. Turns out, the new knob had a slightly different backset, and my door frame was having … Read more

I remember staring at that new doorknob in its fancy packaging, convinced this was going to be a five-minute job. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. Not because it’s rocket science, but because the instructions were written by someone who clearly builds doorknobs for a living, not for people like you and me. When you’re standing there … Read more

I swear, I almost bought those ridiculously ornate crystal door knobs about five years ago. Saw them in a magazine spread, all sparkly and pretending to be trés chic. My wallet was already weeping just thinking about it. The promise was that they’d instantly ‘lift’ my plain interior doors. Yeah, right. So, let’s cut to … Read more

I still remember the first time I installed a new doorknob. It was on a shed I was fixing up, and I just grabbed the standard knob from the hardware store, assuming it would be fine. It wasn’t. The height felt just a bit off, and every time I used it, I felt that subtle … Read more

I remember staring at my first Danelectro reissue, a Lipstick pickup Strat copy that cost me less than a decent pedal. It looked the part, sounded… well, it sounded like a Danelectro. But the knobs. They were these weird, wobbly plastic things that felt utterly out of place. My brain, conditioned by years of Telecasters … Read more

I remember the first time I really stared at a Danelectro pedal. It was that seafoam green Dog-Ear, and I remember thinking, man, this thing looks like it was built in a toy factory… which, to be fair, isn’t entirely wrong. But then my fingers brushed against the control knobs, and a question popped into … Read more

I remember the first time I saw one of those little plastic doodads dangling from a hotel room doorknob. My initial thought was, ‘Okay, this is getting serious.’ Then, a couple of years later, I found myself staring at one in a rental property I was staying at, wondering if it was some sort of … Read more

Look, I’ve been there. That moment when you realize your flimsy little knob lock isn’t exactly Fort Knox. I once spent a solid hour fiddling with a cheap one, convinced I’d somehow jammed it, only to discover it was just… that bad. So, the question ‘are cipher locks a drop in replacement for normal knobs?’ … Read more

I remember the first time I had to swap out a doorknob on my own. It was a cheap rental property, and one of the knobs was wobbly enough to give me a minor panic attack every time I used it. I figured, ‘How hard can it be?’ Turns out, fiddling with that mechanism, trying … Read more

I remember the first time I saw one. A bright blue, almost translucent bubble shift knob, catching the light like a trapped sapphire. Looked cool, right? I figured, hey, more weight means a smoother shift. Who wouldn’t want that? So, I slapped one onto my old Civic, full of optimism. Then I actually tried to … Read more