Door Hardware - Bolts

Door hardware bolts: surface-mounted locks and the cremone exception

A surface bolt, unlike a mortise bolt, which sits recessed inside the door's edge, mounts its bracket directly on the face of the wood, and the Through Bolt Screw Cap (TBCAP1) finishes the visible hardware for it. Rocky Mountain Hardware's Surface Bolt line covers square, rectangular, and oval bracket shapes, in throws that run from a slim 3/8" (MB20) through a full 1" (MB2, MB1), with a taller 4" bracket option (MB12) for a door needing more reach on the throw to seat in a deeper strike.

One bolt at a time, or two at once

A standard surface bolt throws a single rod by hand, a fine secondary lock on a door leaf that doesn't get opened daily, like the leaf that stays shut on a double-door opening. The Ellis Cremone Bolt Set (CE009) works differently: one handle rotates a rod that throws bolts top and bottom simultaneously, a French-door mechanism that predates the modern multi-point lock by well over a century. It's a slower motion than flipping a single bolt but secures the door at two points instead of one, without carving anything into the door itself.

Matching bracket height to bolt length

The MB14 uses a compact 2 5/16" bracket, the MB7 steps up to 3", and the MB12 reaches a full 4"; in general, the taller the bracket, the longer the throw it carries. A short 3/8" bolt is plenty for a lightweight closet door; an exterior leaf that needs real holding power calls for the full 1" option instead. Check the strike depth available in the frame or neighboring door first, since an oversized bolt simply won't seat flush, and a gap at the strike leaves the bolt doing nothing at all once it's installed. A worn strike plate causes this more often than a worn bolt does.