Adversity breeds character—and often sparks creativity. I’ve had to remind myself of that more times than I’d like to admit, especially when I find myself backed into a corner trying to solve a problem on the fly. This project was one of those times.
It would have been easier (and cheaper) to just follow what others in the industry are doing. But where’s the challenge—or the fun—in that?
This custom steel door we built for the incredibly patient team at @dbdinteriors was easily one of the most technically difficult projects of the 2020–2021 season. And the main reason? The hardware configuration.
The Challenge: Uncommon Hardware, Unforgiving Geometry
The design called for a combination of a multipoint locking system, vertical leverset, and pull bar handles. Not exactly an off-the-shelf setup.
Now here’s where things got tricky: with a standard straight pull bar, the lever handle didn’t have enough clearance to function properly due to the spacing between the glass and the edge of the slab. The door was already built at that point, and so were the glass inserts. Starting over wasn’t exactly an attractive option.
The Solution: Custom Fabricated Offset Pull Bars
Instead of scrapping the work, I reached out to a few friends in the metal fabrication world. Together, we engineered and built custom offset pull bars—massive, beautiful, and functional.
They weren’t cheap. In fact, they ended up costing about four times as much as a standard set. But the final product didn’t just work—it looked incredible and became the defining design feature of the door.
And because we don’t do anything halfway, we made the bars bulletproof (well, not literally, but close). Scroll through the photos, and you’ll see a comparison between the stock pull bar material and the much thicker custom version we used here. The difference speaks for itself.
Worth the Effort
Sure, this isn’t a configuration we’ll use on every job. But having figured it out—and knowing that we can do it—opens up new design possibilities for future one-of-a-kind entry doors.
In the end, @dbdinteriors got a completely custom steel entry door that’s functional, secure, and absolutely one-of-a-kind.
And I got a reminder that creativity and craftsmanship are often forged under pressure.