Admittedly, I don't know a lot about doorknobs, but I see that Amazon sells a 6 pack of standard doorknobs (in oil rubbed bronze) for $71 and a 10-pack of levers for $124.

I see an Emtek exterior door knob for $197.

I wanted to use Emtek because they are truly good quality but I went with Schlage instead because they were about 1/2 the price. Four years in the house, and honestly, I don't really notice any difference from the Emtek ones I had in my old condo. Yes the Emtek were more "weighty" but these work perfectly fine.

You really have 44 doors in your house?

Schlage have been on doors and lasted for as long as I can remember and I'm 71.

That is a lot of doors. We have Emtek on the exterior doors. They are nice, but I don’t know that I would pay to have them on 44 doors. Make sure they are decent quality (Schlage would be fine). The internet specials are not always so great quality-wise, and this is something you’re touching a lot. I picked out a Kwickset model for interior doors and they’ve feen fine.

I have high quality expensive locks and hardware on my exterior doors but what is the need for high quality for the interior. i think the front door was over $500 in the styie and finish i wanted as it was Emtek as i recall.

Even if my interior hardware failed in the future, they are easily replaced but it has been more than four years and every door knob still does what it is supposed to 🤷‍♀️

The only knobs that get much use are the bathrooms. My interior knobs are actually antique knobs which I got for their looks - my closet has the brass door knobs frim the old NYC Public schols 😂🤫

We have these Kwikset levers on interior doors, house was finished in 2017. No regrets at all.

Kwikset Lisbon Privacy Door Lever

Bought a lot of emtek when they were priced better. Baldwin may be a better buy now and my hardware person likes them better. Depending on style there are less costly versions of many. Schlage has a couple of price/quality levels. Kwikset/Titan. You might have to see & feel them side by side to appreciate.

Do you need Emtek for the closet doors - probably not.

We have Emtek and they are great. We have an issue with two and they are being replaced 4 years later which is pretty amazing. We have 35 doors. It was sticker shock but we haven’t been disappointed at all. I suspect we easily could have spent less. I will say we attempted to save on bathroom fixtures and got highly rated Amazon stiff and it’s compete garbage and I wish we had just gone with better.

I had a great experience with doorhardwareusa dot com and I got Emtek, stainless, 28 degree levers. Call them and talk - get a quote for that many - they will beat their stated online price.

We have Emtek and they are great. We have an issue with two and they are being replaced 4 years later which is pretty amazing.

That doesn't sound to amazing to me, a 4-year life span? Do explain. I expect to get something to last, otherwise I consider the price of the item to be double what I paid for it.

My question is - how big is your house with 44 doors? I would assume it is a really large home and that if you are purchasing a home that large, $4k is kind of a drop in the bucket. Perhaps I'm wrong.

I am happy with Schlage or Brinks. What am I missing? 😳

Door handles from Emtek are very pricey. You can get your house done now with less expensive hardware but you definitely get what you pay for. Hardware made in the US is going to outlive something made in China, but if you're worried about cost, you need to compromise on something.

Maybe this is the item you do for less money and slowly change to something more expensive (where it counts - like bedroom doors). Or use less pricey ones on some doors and less expensive (in the same finish) on closet and linen doors.

@worthy While I don't see the need to spend just for the sake of spending where it provides no functional or aesthetic advantage, I do think many of the expensive design choices I made when I remodeled were made for my own pleasure rather than to impress anyone else. I doubt anyone realizes the difference in my hand fired tiles - or my custom rift sawn oak cabinets or my knobs and pulls from Notting Hill and so on. However I derive a lot of pleasure from them not to mention functional expensive upgrades like my Toto washlet which a casual visitor doesn't even know about 😆

I didn't have 44 doors to deal with but I would think a rational way to proceed - if money NOT spent on door hardware was needed elsewhere - would be to proceed as many of us have suggested. Get the highest grade for those doors in which function is critical like a front door and use less expensive hardware for doors which get minimal use. It appears OP has no issues aesthetically with the less expensive hardware and a door knob is easily replaced although I guess theoretically a knob coud fall off and trap someone but at least in my experience that kind of failure occurs when the knob has given a lot of "warning" and the warning has been ignored. 😆

Schlage is also US made.

I tend to agree that you don't have to spend a ton of money on interior door knobs. Get the style you want in a price range you can live with, and save the big bucks for the exterior locksets since that's a security issue.

Does spending more on exterior locksets really equal better security?  Many of the low cost manufacturers make ANSI grade 1 locks.  Is there a security advantage beyond looking at the ratings?

Kendrah one of my kids broke two of the handles hanging on it. So not normal wear and tear by most. Stupidity by a child.

@WestCoast Hopeful Ah, the cost of kids! I guess they learned a lesson.

Ha, likely wishful thinking!

Our house is fairly open, so we have only 22 interior doors in 3,800 sq ft.

For door knobs we have:

Schlage ORB egg knobs on most of the doors. Also used doorhardwareusa.

Two sets of Emtek antique brass for the guest powder room because I liked the formal look and they match my bathroom wall sconces. They also blend nicely with the room that the powder room is off of.

Our home was built to look like an older home to fit into our 1930's neighborhood. My favorite door knobs are the glass knobs I purchased in polished chrome, from Amazon, for my remaining bathrooms. The knobs seem to be the most sturdy of all knobs, and at a fraction of the cost!

Amazon has some bulk options that get good reviews. Using those for the “less visible” doors can save you lots of money.

Front door always has to be the best you can afford -for safety and design reasons.

Absolutely nothing wrong with Schlage or even Kwikset Titan.

Whatever you decide, I would make sure to hold it in your hand before you commit. You can feel the difference in quality between something solid and a builder-grade handle/knob, even when it's attached to a door. Another note on the ORB because I didn't know when we installed--it's a living finish, so over time it will patina. We installed Emtek ORB levers to our exterior doors, and especially our front door has worn to a brassy finish where it gets touched.

I'm getting these 4-pack Kwikset handles in brushed nickel at Costco.

My Baldwin indoor handles have held up pretty well. I went with levers rather than knobs for the doors. Only problem is the dogs have figured out how to open them!

More than pricing, I'd just recommend being intentional with your door hardware selections. Our home was remuddled in the early 2000's, and all of the interior door hardware was replaced with off the shelf BigBox hardware - all round generic silver-toned knobs or levers (the hinges were mostly painted over - yay!). It screams cheap remodel - mostly because it doesn't fit at all with the style or feel of our home. It's totally fine to shop around, but I wouldn't let price be the only deciding factor here - It's hard to imagine that $4k in a home remodel or new build in 2023 is significant no matter what market you're in.

IMO your entry door is where you want something really nice if the door needs it but the rest Schlage is and has been my go to for a very long time and I sure am not planning on $200 each for interior doorknobs ever My dog had the lever figured out in 2 days so the deadbolot is always on

Have you looked at Hafele hardware?

So is it typical to have the same doorknobs throughout the house? Those that don't, do you have any continuity (same finish, etc)?

Wow. I have oil rubbed bronze door levers in my house (not Emtek, but it was a lesser-priced brand). Levers bought in 2017 - I know prices for everything have gone up, but my door levers are still going strong and perfect in 2023, no need for replacements. (I don't recall the price but I know I would have balked at anything above $50 for any of the interior ones.)

The handles are all the same throughout the house - the only difference is that the outdoor ones have good entry key locks, for which I was agreeable to pay what that takes.... (As I said, don't remember prices; and my spending spreadsheet bit the dust when my then-computer failed.)

@Julie Ewbank I dont know what is typical. When i remodeled, all of my hardware for doors is either oil rubbed bronze or copper or some variant that is in the same family.

However the style of the knobs varies although they complement each other in feel.

My exterior door is a lever with a Craftsman style plate. it is a lever style because that is required by Code.

The closets have vintage brass authentic New York City Public School knobs which have a dark patina so blend with the other metal elements.

My interior doors have vintage Art Deco style knobs and plates which I had plated in a dark oil rubbed bronze finish as the original finisj was a dull silver tone.

I'm in the same boat I love the Emtek style(see below) and feel but the price is shocking - it comes to $115 (with taxes) . Amazon has a few cheaper ones that look similar but I'm so nervous because I'm paying good money to my contractor for all the work and I'm not looking forward to replacing in 3-5 years.

I went with this one from Emtek. Yes, they are pricey, but look like a small rounding error when compared to the whole house budget! ;-)

In person they look closer to black than brown. They do get some patina with the bronze showing through in the levers used every day.

Emtek is gorgeous, there's no doubt yours look great!

@Priya Kesavan

Yeah, Emtek makes some really nice product, and is more reasonably priced than some of their competitors, but still definitely costs a lot more than stuff you can get on Amazon. If you'd like you can email me at houzz@qualitybath.com and I'll see if I can at least save you some money in case you do decide to go the Emtek route