Iver Sarlat door hardware buying guide
Sarlat is the sculpted lever in the Iver range: a shaped brass lever with a gentle curve, made for a modern house that wants a little more form than a plain bar. It comes on a round rose, a rectangular backplate and an oval backplate, in passage, privacy and entrance kits, and it is the range that offers an inbuilt privacy version with the lock inside the rose. This guide covers the door parts only. It sets out the kits, the sizes that decide fit, the finishes and coatings, and how to choose and fit a Sarlat set. The brand overview is on Iver, the door ranges are compared on Iver door hardware, and the matching cabinet pulls are on Iver Sarlat cabinet handle.
What the Sarlat looks like
The Sarlat lever is sculpted, with a curve that gives the handle a defined shape without ornament. On a round rose it reads as a compact modern lever, and on a backplate it reads as a longer, more architectural piece. It is made in solid brass, so it has a solid weight in the hand, and it sits comfortably in houses with timber joinery, painted walls and warm metal fittings.
The three plate styles change the look a good deal. A round rose is the lightest, 52mm across, and it leaves most of the door face clear. A rectangular backplate is 240mm long and 38mm wide, and it runs down the stile. An oval backplate has the same length with softer ends and is 40mm wide. The choice is partly taste and partly the door: a narrow stile suits a round rose, and a flat door suits either backplate.
The kits
Every kit is complete, with the latch or lock, the fixings and the instructions. There are four kit types.
The passage kit latches the door without a lock and suits hallways, living areas and laundries. The privacy kit with a privacy turn adds a small turn on the inside so the door can be locked from within, and suits bathrooms, toilets and bedrooms. The inbuilt privacy version puts the locking mechanism inside the rose, so there is no separate turn. Its rose is wider at 58mm to hold the mechanism, and it suits a bathroom where a clean plate matters. The entrance kit locks with a key. It uses a euro mortice lock with a 60mm backset, a key and thumb turn so the door can be locked from inside without a key, and two keys in the box. It comes on a backplate with the lock built in, or on a round rose with a separate high security lock.
For sets by function, see passage door handles, privacy door handles and entry door lock sets.
Sizes that decide fit
Every Sarlat kit suits doors 35 to 60mm thick, which covers most internal doors and many external ones. The backset is 60mm on every kit, the common size on interior doors, so most replacements fit the existing hole. The kits use 85mm centre to centre spacing, which suits standard door preparations for euro and privacy locks.
The lever projects 56mm from the door on a round rose and 53mm on a backplate, so it is a relatively close lever. The round rose lever is 129mm long, and the inbuilt privacy lever is 132mm. The backplate fixing centres are 205mm. If a door opens against a wall or a cabinet, a handle that projects 53 to 56mm needs about that much clear room, and a stop is a sensible addition. See door stops for options.
On a panelled door, check the plate length against the stile. A 240mm backplate needs a clear run of that length, so measure the stile and the distance to the first panel moulding before you order. On a narrow stile, choose the round rose.
Tie bolts and fixing
Sarlat kits are fixed with tie bolts, which are long bolts that pass through the door and pull the two sides of the handle together so the lever does not rock in use. Tie bolts are supplied to suit 55mm thick doors, and the screws supplied are solid brass, which lets the finish match and avoids rust in coastal areas. Brass screws are soft, so drill a pilot hole and finish the last turns by hand. If the door is thicker than 55mm, check that the bolts reach through the full thickness.
Fire tested kits
The Sarlat passage and entrance backplate kits are tested for up to 2 hours of fire rating, which suits projects that need compliant door hardware. A fire rating belongs to a tested assembly of door, frame and hardware, so a rated handle on an unrated door does not make a rated door. If your project needs a fire door, check the product page and the specification sheet for the exact kit, and confirm the door and frame with the certifier.
Finishes and coatings
The Sarlat is made in signature brass, satin nickel, brushed brass, brushed gold and matte black. Signature brass and brushed brass are warm tones, brushed gold is a lighter gold, satin nickel is cool, and matte black is neutral and suits most colours. The coating depends on the piece: brushed gold is a PVD coating, which is a hard layer applied in a vacuum chamber that resists wear, and the brass and nickel pieces are lacquered. A lacquered finish should be wiped with a soft damp cloth and never scoured, since scouring wears the lacquer.
Choose the finish by the other metal in the room. Satin nickel sits well with stainless steel and chrome tapware, and signature brass and brushed gold suit timber and warm paint colours. Matte black works with most colours. See brushed brass, matte black and brushed nickel for the wider choice in those finishes.
The inbuilt privacy kit in detail
The inbuilt privacy kit is the one that sets the Sarlat apart. The lock button or turn is part of the rose, so the door face carries only the lever and a single plate, with no separate fitting beside it. The rose is 58mm wide, compared with 52mm on the other round rose kits, because it holds the mechanism, and the lever is 132mm long with a 56mm projection. The result is a tidy bathroom or bedroom door with one clean plate on each side.
Choose inbuilt privacy where appearance matters most and the door is used by adults who know how the lock works. Choose the separate turn where you want to see at a glance whether the door is locked, or where the household includes small children who need a release that is easy to find. Test the release from outside the day the lock is fitted, and keep the release tool where the household can reach it.
The round rose entrance kit with a separate lock
The round rose entrance kit pairs the Sarlat lever with a separate high security lock, so the lever and the lock work independently. The lever is 129mm long and projects 56mm. The lock is a euro mortice lock with a key and thumb turn, a 60mm backset and two keys in the box. Because the lock is set apart from the lever, the door carries a small lever on a round rose and a separate lock above or below it, which is a common arrangement on a front door and reads as a deliberate pairing.
This kit is the right choice on a door with a narrow stile, where a long backplate would not fit, and on a door where you want the lock position to be set to suit the door frame. Mark the lock position with a level, cut the mortice pocket, and check that the strike lines up before you fit the lever.
Key and thumb turn explained
The entrance kits use a key and thumb turn cylinder. The key locks and unlocks the door from outside, and a thumb turn locks and unlocks it from inside, so anyone in the house can leave without a key. This is the usual choice for a front door and for most family homes, because the door can always be opened from inside in an emergency. The two keys in the box cover most households, and extra keys can be cut from them. Keep a spare key with someone you trust and not in a place that can be reached from outside.
If the door has glass close to the thumb turn, a person outside could break the glass and reach the turn. In that case, a different cylinder is worth considering, so check the door before you choose.
Doors the Sarlat suits
The Sarlat suits flat and panelled doors in timber, MDF and painted finishes, and it works in modern houses and renovated period homes. On a four panel door, check that the plate sits clear of the panel moulding. On a flat door the plate sits flat. For an external door, the entrance kits are the right choice, and for internal doors the passage and privacy kits cover every need. The range suits doors 35 to 60mm thick, so one range covers the house, and if a door is thicker than 55mm the tie bolts need to reach through it.
Planning a house room by room
Walk through the house and list every door by function before you order. The front door takes an entrance kit, and the back door may take a second one. Hallways, living areas, laundries and pantries take passage kits. Bedrooms, bathrooms and toilets take privacy kits, with inbuilt privacy where a clean plate matters and a separate turn where a visible lock is useful. Write the door thickness beside each entry, and note any door that is thicker or thinner than the rest. This list stops the wrong kit turning up for a bathroom door, and it makes it easy to order the whole house in one finish.
Order the whole house at the same time. Iver kits are made in batches, and a lever bought months later in the same finish can differ slightly in tone from the first.
Setting out a run of doors
In a hallway with several doors, consistency matters more than any single choice. Set every lever at the same height, use the same plate style and finish, and fit every privacy kit with its turn on the same side. A row of doors with handles at slightly different heights is noticeable, so mark the height once with a tape and a level, and carry it along the wall. If a backplate is used on one door in the run, use it on every door of the same type.
Retrofit checks
Before you order for an existing door, check four things. The thickness of the door at the latch. The backset of the old latch, measured from the door edge to the centre of the spindle hole. The diameter of the hole in the face of the door. Whether the old latch is still in good order, since a worn latch is worth replacing while the handle is off. If all four agree with the Sarlat numbers, the set swaps in, and the old marks are the only thing to touch up. If the existing hole is a different size, check the specification before you drill, since a larger hole leaves a gap around the rose.
Reading the product names
The names follow a pattern. In Iver Sarlat Lever Rectangular Backplate Entrance Kit with High Security Lock Signature Brass, the range is Sarlat, the handle is a lever, the plate is a rectangular backplate, the kit is an entrance kit with the lock on the plate, and the finish is signature brass. A name with Round Rose Entrance Kit with Separate High Security Lock means the lock is a separate item set apart from the lever. A name with Inbuilt Privacy means the lock sits inside the rose.
Choosing a plate
The plate decides what the handle looks like on the door and what it hides. A round rose leaves the door face open and suits a panelled door or a narrow stile. A rectangular backplate hides the lock area and gives a long vertical line, and it suits a flat door and a modern interior. An oval backplate softens the line and suits a door where the other details are curved. An entrance kit on a backplate keeps the lever and the lock together on one plate, and the round rose entrance kit puts the lock on a separate item, which can look cleaner on a narrow door.
Setting out a door
Fit the latch first, then the spindle and the levers, then the plates. Check that the lever returns to level when released, since a lever that droops usually means a loose fixing. For an entrance set, cut the mortice pocket to the size of the lock body, fit the euro cylinder, and test the bolt from both sides before you close the job. A mortice lock needs more careful setting out than a tubular latch, so a joiner is the safe choice for a door that is already hung.
For a privacy kit, fit the turn on the inside of the room and test the release from outside once the door is hung. Show everyone in the house how it works, and keep the release tool where the household can find it.
Matching a house
List every door against its function before you order: entrance for the front, passage for living areas, privacy for bathrooms and bedrooms. Choose one plate style, one finish and one range, and order every set together so the finish agrees. The usual handle height is about 900 to 1100mm above the floor, and about 1050mm is common on new doors. For a pair of doors, set both handles at the same height. If the kitchen or bathroom joinery uses Sarlat pulls, order them in the same finish so the doors and cabinets agree. See Iver cabinet hardware and cabinet handles.
Replacing existing hardware
Take off the old handle and check the spindle hole, the screw holes and the backset. A backplate hides old paint lines and screw marks, and a round rose leaves them showing, so decide before you fit. If the old lock was a mortice lock, a Sarlat entrance kit goes back into the same pocket, and a tubular latch kit does not. Photograph the old handle from both sides, and keep the old parts until the new set is fitted. Check how the door hangs before you fit new handles, since a door that drops at the latch edge makes any handle feel loose.
Care
Wipe the levers with a soft damp cloth and dry them. Keep abrasive pads, polishes and acidic or bleach-based cleaners away from the finish. Tighten the fixings once a year, since timber moves with the seasons, and if a latch sticks, a drop of light oil on the latch tongue will free it. Lacquered brass will darken a little with handling, and a brushed finish hides fingerprints better than a polished one.
Questions people ask
Does the Sarlat come with a latch? Yes. Every kit includes its own latch or lock, the fixings and the instructions.
Can the Sarlat go on an external door? The entrance kits are made for front and rear doors, and the finish should be chosen with the exposure in mind. A covered porch is easy on the finish, while a door that takes full weather wears faster.
What is the difference between the inbuilt privacy and the separate privacy turn? The inbuilt version puts the lock inside the rose, which gives a clean plate, and the separate turn puts a small turn beside the lever, which makes the lock easy to see.
