If you are thinking about using a Baldwin Estate series full mortise entrance lock on your home, there is certain information that we will need to be sure you get the correct lockset and mortise body for your specific needs. A full mortise lock requires very specific door preparation and it is important that certain measurements are taken to assure you can use the particular trim that you are interested in. 

1. DOOR SWING (HANDING)
This is very simply the way the door opens when viewed from the outside. All door handing should be done from the outside of the door. The graphics below illustrates door handing. On a double door entrance, we need to know which door is the ACTIVE or working door when viewed from the outside. Also, with mortise locksets it is very important to note if the door swings INTO the house which is most common, or swings TOWARDS you when operated from the outside.

2. DOOR THICKNESS
This is an easy one. Simply measure how thick the door is from front to back on the lock stile. Standard stock exterior doors in the US are 1 3/4" thick, but it's important to double check this. Custom doors can be almost any thickness, but doors that exceed 2 1/4" thick are problematic. If your door is greater than 1 3/4" thick, you may need special parts such as an extended strike plate to assure the lockset works properly. We have parts to make up extended door applications.

3. BACKSET AND STILE DIMENSIONS
Baldwin exterior mortise locks use a large self contained body that has to be cut into, or "mortised" in through the edge of door. Click HERE to view a detailed close-up of a standard full size mortise body. Baldwin's many varied trim designs, such as the 6963 Bristol, or the 6560 Lexington are all different widths. It is important that we know how wide an area you have on your lock STILE, as seen in the graphic below. We also need to know what size holes (if any) you have in your door. It is ALWAYS better to order a door with NO hole preparation if you are thinking about a Baldwin full mortise lock. Many door manufacturers can actually pre cut the lock mortise for you if you tell them that you wish to use a full mortise lockset. Otherwise, a competent installer can do the installation work at your home starting from scratch. That is what we have done for many years.

The Baldwin mortise trimset (trimset refers to the brass inside and outside style such as an Edinburgh or a Springfield) that you are interested in is going to be situated on your door stile either 2 1/2" from the edge of the door, or 2 3/4". Those are the most common and practical backsets in general use. Therefore if you know how wide the trimset is (for instance a 6963 Bristol is 3.375" wide on the outside) you can lay out on your door the measurements and be sure what you select will fit. Measure over from the door edge 2.5" or 2.75". That point will be the CENTERLINE of your new handleset. If it fits on at that point without hitting or touching any obstruction such as a molding, or raised panel, you should be able to fit that particular trimset.

If your door has holes in them already, you may be able to still use a full mortise lockset but it will require a competent installer. It will have to be laid out carefully to cover as much of the existing holes as possible. Also, assuming you have standard 2 1/8" holes in your door you would obviously have to select a Baldwin trimset design that is WIDE enough to cover those holes. You can't select a narrow trimset like a 6562 New York that is only 1.6" wide and use it on a door with 2 1/8" holes. But Baldwin makes quite a few styles wide enough to cover 2 1/8" holes, we can help you choose.

Remember, at Baldwin Brass Depot you only deal with installation experts. We can help you out with any questions, we have installed many HUNDREDS of these locks. NO other dealer can say that.