Door Handles on Rose or Backplate: How to Choose

Supplied by Trade Door Handles, trusted UK supplier of architectural ironmongery since 1976, with quick nationwide delivery.

Every lever door handle is fixed to the door in one of two ways: on a small round or square plate called a rose, or on a longer backplate. The choice changes the look of the door, the lock or latch you need behind it, and how much of the old door the new handles will cover. This guide explains door handles on rose and door handles on backplate, how to match each one to the right lock, and which suits your doors.

It is one of the questions we answer most at our Kendal and Carlisle showrooms, where Heritage Brass handles on rose and on backplate are on display side by side.

Quick answer: choose door handles on rose for a clean, modern look on most internal doors with a tubular latch. Choose door handles on backplate for period panel doors, to cover old screw holes, or when you want the keyhole or bathroom turn built into the same plate.

A lever on rose is a lever handle fixed to a small round or square plate. The latch sits inside the door, so the door face stays clean, with just the lever and rose on show. Heritage Brass makes over 340 door handles on rose in solid brass, from modern Bauhaus and Gio designs to traditional Windsor and Sophia levers.

• Door handles on round rose are the classic choice and suit almost any door, old or new.
• Door handles on square rose give a sharper, architectural look on flush and modern doors.
• Match the rose shape on escutcheons and bathroom thumb turns, so a round rose has a round turn and a square rose a square one.

• The handles, supplied as a pair with a spindle and fixings.
• A York tubular latch for a standard door that does not lock. Use a heavy duty latch if the levers are unsprung.
• For a bathroom, a York bathroom deadbolt and a matching bathroom thumb turn with an emergency release.
• If the door has a sash lock, a matching escutcheon to cover the keyhole.

A lever on backplate is fixed to a long or short plate on the face of the door. The keyhole, euro cylinder cut-out or bathroom turn is built into the same plate, so one piece does the job of a handle and an escutcheon. Heritage Brass makes over 1,100 door handles on backplate, the traditional choice for panel doors in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian homes.

• Latch: no keyhole, for doors that do not lock. Use with a tubular latch. See lever latch handles on backplate.
• Lever lock: a traditional keyhole below the lever, for a 3 lever or 5 lever sash lock. See lever lock handles.
• Euro lock: a cut-out for a euro cylinder, used with a euro profile sash lock. See euro lock door handles.
• Bathroom: a turn and release on the plate, for a mortice bathroom lock that throws a deadbolt. See bathroom lock door handles.
• Privacy: for use with a standard tubular latch that locks the latch itself. Quicker to fit, but less secure than a bathroom lock.

Long backplates suit tall Victorian and Edwardian panel doors and cover more of the door face. Short backplates suit narrower door stiles and modern doors. Many Heritage Brass designs are made in both lengths. Our door handle backplate guide goes into more detail on backplate types and sizes.

If you are replacing old handles, take the old ones off and look at the latch or lock. A tubular latch with no keyhole will take door handles on rose or a latch backplate. A sash lock with a keyhole needs a lever lock backplate, or door handles on rose with a separate escutcheon.

On a lock or bathroom backplate, the distance between the spindle and the keyhole or turn must match the lock. Standard UK sash and bathroom locks have 57mm centres, so measure yours before ordering. Our guide to door lock backsets explains the other key measurement.

• Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian homes: shaped levers on long backplates, or traditional levers on round rose.
• Modern homes and new builds: levers on round or square rose, such as Bauhaus, Gio or Metro designs.
• Cottages and barn conversions: levers on rose or short backplates in antique brass or a rustic finish.

Use the same style through each floor of the house. A common approach is door handles on rose for bedrooms and living rooms, with a matching bathroom set, all in one finish.

1. On round rose handles, use bolt-through fixings rather than wood screws, so the inner rose cannot turn after fitting.
2. Check the spindle length against your door thickness before you start. Thicker doors need a longer spindle.
3. Fit the latch first, then line the handles up with the spindle so the lever returns cleanly.
4. On fire doors, Heritage Brass lever handles suit 30 and 60 minute timber fire doors when fitted with a CE-marked mortice latch or lock.
5. Our guide to fitting door handles on a rose walks through the job step by step.