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Interior Knobs: Schlage vs Emtek

5 years ago

Are Emtek interior knobs worth the upgrade from Schlage? It is quite the price difference. I see people have discussed this in the past, but nothing recently, so thought I'd bring back this topic. Thank you all!!

Comments (18)

  • 5 years ago

    What series Schlage? What type of Emtek? What finish on both?

  • 5 years ago

    Emtek is the much better lock compared to the F Series Schlage. The F series is their entry point line.

    Rebecca E. thanked millworkman
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I replace all the door knobs with Emtek. Expensive, yes, do I love them? Over the moon...gorgeous.

    The new doors are one panel recessed, so I wanted to mimi the shape with the backplate, I chose the egg crystal knob .





    Interestingly, Bob Villa has opinions:

    https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-door-handles/

    Rebecca E. thanked elcieg
  • 5 years ago

    We like our Schlage. To me it wasnt worth the extra $60+ on each knob to go with Emtek. I spent the money I saved on our kitchen countertop! We also looked into Baldwin and they are a superior product. They come in around the same cost as the Emtek I believe. But that was two years ago when we purchased.


    Rebecca E. thanked K H
  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    The original 57-year old Kwikset knobs on our soon-to-be demolished home still work fine. But where looks and feel count, I prefer the sandcast living finish Emteks at ten times the cost any day. (Whether we can afford them next build is another matter!)

    Rebecca E. thanked worthy
  • PRO
    5 years ago

    My last two houses had emtek and I spec it for clients all the time. Schlage is a good reliable brand. Honestly your two selections look very similar, have you seen them in person?

  • 5 years ago

    I am also looking to replace my 30 year old construction grade scratched gold tone door knobs (ugh). I’ve looked and researched: Baldwin, Emtek and Schlage. I still am very undecided. I got a new front door installed with brushed satin hardware from Therma -Tru and considering silver toned , brushed satin door knobs or maybe the egg crystal knob. I would love people to please post pictures of their door knobs, make and style, and a quick review of them❣️

  • 5 years ago

    We quite like our Emtek doors. I didn’t even know they were so pricey though. Oops.

    Have you considered a leaver vs knob? Levers are much easier for age in place and all users being able to manage them.

  • 5 years ago

    Trust me, 99% of the people wouldn't even realize the difference. Save your money for something more showy.


    Three "forever" homes ago, I installed Gainsborough porcelain knobs with 24K gold-plated rosettes. Got me about as much extra as the two floors of ceilings hung on resilient channels.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    We use Emtek sandcast bronze hardware as a lower cost substitute for Rocky Mountain Hardware‘s bronze line.

    Prefer levers over oval or round knobs for ease of use for arthritic hands / aging in place feature.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Rebecca E. - We had the same decision. Builder suggested Emtek for the different style choices, or Schlage. Baldwin was out of the question. I too struggled with the cost difference.

    Our exterior doors, with the exception of the door going to the garage and from garage to outside, are locks that came with the doors... Rocky Mountain Arched Multi-Point Entry. The garage locks are Schlage.

    For the interior, I have 3 brands. Mostly Schlage in ORB throughout the house (looks just like the Emtek knob that I was interested in.) For the guest powder room, I choose the Emtek knob, with a pin lock, because I felt that of all the rooms in the house, this lock would be used the most. I wanted it to hold up. I also liked the look of Emtek's antique brass knob. However, when it arrived, it did not look as champagne than it did online. I still kept it. Finally, I ordered from Amazon a glass knob in polished chrome for rest of the bathrooms.

  • 5 years ago

    We have Emtek non living finish black, knobs. love them. Simple style with round rosette.


    we had bravura in the last house in orb, living finish (i detested). they were the about the same price as emtek. the emtek are nicer.


    we used Schlage in the rental that we just sold. im sure they were builders grade vs the nicer schlage, but they seemed flimsy.

  • 5 years ago

    We are in the process of replacing all the Schlage flared levers in the house we purchased last year with Emtek egg knobs in French Antique brass. We have a pair of closet doors in a side room that I decided to put Schlage egg knobs on instead of the more expensive Emtek since they are barely used. There is a huge difference in the feel and weight of the Schlage egg knobs vs the Emtek. The Emtek are significantly heavier and feel much more high end. The Schlage knobs are not real brass and the finish is shiny and fake-looking.


    The Emtek knobs are much more expensive- $35 for a passage set Schlage vs $97 for the Emtek. It was worth it for us because I like the Emtek feel so much more but I doubt most people would notice.

  • 3 years ago

    Agree with last poster - we ordered Schlage levers for our exterior doors to match existing Schlage deadbolts, whilst being able to select all new Emtek for the interior. Was able to compare the Schlage Latitude keyed lever with the Emtek Helios keyed lever and the Emtek is far more sturdy and solid than the Schlage which has a lot of play in the mechanism. I now want to swap the exteriors for Emtek levers but wondering about matching the finishes.


    For anyone who might have both: Are the Schlage satin nickel finish and the Emtek satin nickel finish similar enough to not notice a difference?

  • 3 years ago

    For this house we did Emtek. There are gorgeous options and you can mix and match. I chose black, rectangle back plate and egg shaped crystal knob on white doors,

  • 2 years ago

    @stephaniechen Did you end up making the switch? I have read so much negative about Emtek right as we're on the verge of buying them (spec'd by architect) that I'm hesitating so I'm interested to learn how it worked out. I've already bought the exterior (Baden handset) Helios Levers but just about to order a ton of Helios interior door levers. If you go on reddit you'll see a lot of people with bad Emtek experiences.