How to Buy Brass Nickel Bronze Victorian Contemporary Floor Wall Vent Register Grille Covers Online
UBMI Publications
February 23, 2010
By Jim Long, President, A Touch of Brass
Shopping online is fast and easy. Itīs a great way to search for the best products at the best prices. But it isnīt always perfect. Shopping online, especially for important or expensive items has its share of pitfalls. Here are a few tips to make shopping online for floor registers and home hardware easier and more productive.
Know what youīre buying. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words but no picture covers whatīs in the fine print. When you buy an item for your home you need it to be a certain size, look a certain way and perform a specific function. Make sure all those criteria are met before you hit "add to cart". You need to know:
What material is it made out of? Brass? Plastic? Find out what the grille (top part) of the register is made of and what the damper box (the part that goes in the floor) is made of. Whenever you buy any piece of hardware you need to know what type of metal, wood or plastic it is. We list the materials for all products.
What are the dimensions? This is very important. Your register will need to fit inside your vent. You need to know what the length and width of the damper box is. A 4" x 12" register will have a damper box that is 4" wide by 12" long. The depth of the damper box or how far it goes into the floor, is also helpful too know. Finally, you should know how far the grill will overlap over the edge of the floor vent. Know these dimensions before you buy your register. We list complete dimensions for all of our products.
Important dimensions for other types of hardware include: the center-to-center dimensions for all mounting holes, how far it projects out from the floor or wall, what the size and shape of any mounting plates, rosettes or backplates might be and the size of any mounting hardware included.
How do you install it? Installation instructions should be available before you buy. You need to know what you are getting into. If itīs too hard to install then you need to have someone ready to install it or find a simpler product. This usually isnīt an issue with floor registers because they just drop in but wall registers will have to be screwed in or attached to spring clips. Other types of home hardware can be much more complicated to install. Be prepared. We provide installation instructions for almost all of our products.
Is it in stock? Just because itīs for sale doesnīt mean itīs in stock and ready to ship. Find out if your item is in stock. If it is find out when it will ship. Some websites will take days or even weeks to process your order while other will process and ship your order the same day. Most of our items are in stock and ready to ship!
How will it ship? When your order ships it is basically in limbo. The website you bought it from doesnīt have it and neither do you. It is in the hands of the shipper. Youīll feel better about your purchase if you know what carrier is being used and how it is being sent. Find you if your order is coming by FedEx, UPS or U.S. mail. Does the seller provide a tracking number? We mainly ship with UPS and FedEx and always send a tracking number by email.
Buying online is fast and quick but itīs only convenient if the company you buy from is reputable and places a premium on customer service and consistent, thorough attention to detail.
If the information listed above isnīt available from the site youīre using then keep looking until you find one that does!
If you have any questions about shopping for home hardware please call us at 1-800-272-7734 or send your question to Ask Jim!
www.atouchofbrass.com
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