Guides
Window Hardware Checklist: Items to Confirm
Open a hardware schedule for a window and the interesting part is rarely the handle. What decides how a window performs after years of use is the roller, the hinge rating, the lock layout and the gasket that the lock pulls the sash onto. Few of those are visible in a photograph, and all of them are specified before the profiles are ordered. This checklist runs through the hardware groups in a residential window and ends with what a schedule should show.
Handles and what they carry
A handle is the part an occupant touches every day, and it carries a small load through a small fixing. On a window it drives the locking mechanism; on a door it pulls a heavy leaf. What matters for specification is the fixing and the reach: stem diameter, screw centres, and whether the handle clears the frame line when the sash is closed. The 95 series runs its own hardware line, so the handle and its cut-out are ordered with the window.
Hinges and how the load arrives
Hinges take the moving load, which on a window is the sash weight plus the wind pressure acting on it. The rating that matters is the one published for the hinge set against sash width and height. Wide or tall sashes increase the lever arm, so the hinge that suits a small light can be under-rated one size up. Check the friction stay and the hinge together, because on a top-hung or side-hung sash they share the load.
Multi-point locks against a single latch
A single latch closes one point and leaves the rest of the leaf free to move as wind direction changes. A multi-point lock drives cams at several positions along the frame, so the sash is pulled onto its gaskets around the perimeter. That helps sealing as much as security. On a sliding window the lock works at the interlock, matched to the sash so the meeting stiles close without a gap.
Rollers and sliding sash load
On a sliding window the roller carries everything. The 95 series runs ball-bearing rollers as standard, which is the right default once a sash carries an insulating unit: a wheel without bearings flattens under the weight and the sash begins to drag. Check that the roller load lands on the track bed rather than a stop, and ask for spare rollers to be listed with the order.
Closers, stays and the smaller items
Door closers, restrictor stays, locking handles and drainage caps are the items easiest to forget and hardest to add later. A restrictor stay limits how far a casement opens, which matters where a full swing meets a walkway. A closer on an entrance door is chosen against leaf weight and traffic. The 95 series uses EPDM foam gaskets, and those gaskets sit in the schedule like any other part, because they fix the sealing line along the perimeter.
Reading the schedule before ordering
A hardware schedule should list every moving part, its position, its finish and the cut-out it needs, item by item, against the sash it serves. In a curtain wall opening unit, check the schedule carries the sash hook and the anti-release cover, the parts that keep the leaf seated in the frame, because they come with the opening set. Hardware cut-outs belong in the dimensional pack; ask for that page with the quotation, with CAD available on request. Walk the schedule item by item before the profiles are ordered.
FAQ
Frequently asked
Which hardware items should a schedule list?
Every moving part: handle, hinge or friction stay, lock or multi-point gear, rollers on a slider, restrictor where fitted, plus gaskets and drainage caps. Each line should name the position, the finish and the cut-out it needs. A part missing from the schedule tends to reappear as a site question.
What rating matters on a window hinge?
The published rating for the hinge or friction stay against sash width and height. A wide or tall sash increases the lever arm, so a hinge that suits a small light can be under-rated one size up. Confirm the rating against the actual sash, and check the stay and hinge together.
Is a multi-point lock worth it on a window?
It seals as well as it secures. Cams at several positions pull the sash onto its gaskets around the perimeter, so the compression line stays even when wind direction changes. A single latch closes one point and leaves the rest of the leaf to move. The lock layout belongs with the sash in the pack.
What rollers does a sliding window need?
Rollers that carry the sash weight, which is why the Adam Alux 95 series uses ball-bearing rollers as standard. A wheel without bearings flattens under an insulating unit and the sash starts to drag. Check that the roller load lands on the track bed, and ask for spare rollers with the order.
What comes with a curtain wall opening unit?
The frame and sash set comes with the sash hook and the anti-release cover, the parts that keep the leaf seated and stop it lifting out of the frame. Both are quoted with the opening set. The hinge and lock that the hook works against are quoted against the sash weight.
Send your opening schedule
Series, glazing and finish come back as one quotation, with the full dimensional pack on PDF and CAD on request.