Hi I am looking over my daughter's school with an eye to advising the principal on a new lock system. Once we have a general direction in mind we will approach local suppliers. Here is what we have now: About 2/3rd of the building keyed with a Schlage master system. The locksets were installed in 1958 and are showing their age. practically all of the locks are cylindrical locksets (knobs). The main entrance panic bars and rest rooms are equipped with mortise cylinders. The remaining 1/3 of the building (the new wing) is equipped with a Best master system. My gut reaction is to build on the interchangeable system, and scrap the old Schlage hardware. We may have to do this in stages for financial reasons. All told there are about 75 locks in the system. Due to the age of the system its safe to assume that all keys are not accounted for. My questions are:
- If I recommended Best cylindrical locksets what series would be appropriate for a K-8 class room setting, a few offices, closets etc? What would the estimated unit cost per lock and cylinder be?
- Is there another brand of lock which will take the Best cylinder but is more economical than the Best branded hardware (of roughly equivalent rating)? What would the estimated unit cost per lock and cylinder be?
- I would propose a fairly simple GMK system with a master for class rooms and closets and another master for administrative& utility areas. Any thoughts? recommendations?
- Are lever sets required (recommended) for ADA or other reasons?
- The Best website has a link to Hirsch access controls. Does anyone have any experience with the Hirsch system? I like the idea behind the scramble keypad and if it would be possible to have one source of supply for locksets aand access controls so much the better.
Thanks very much..I appreciate your input.
Jim