Which Way Should the Front Door Open?

"Which is the best direction for the door to open?"

This is a dance I have with a customer every week. In or out? Left or right?

Let's discuss houses, apartments, trailer homes... Exterior doors usually swing into the house. These doors generally are not considered 'exit doors', and are not required to swing in the direction of egress travel. This is because of the small occupant load, and an expected familiarity (on the part of the occupants) with the space.

There are some advantages to this. The popular screen door (storm door) is very awkward unless it swings out... most screen doors are manufactured today so they cannot be installed to swing in. In more northern areas, screen doors are not as common, as snowdrifts against the house makes an outswing door difficult (at best) to open from the inside. In an apartment or hotel, the inswing door does not impinge upon or obstruct the corridor (which IS part of the egress path), thus saving expensive floor space.

There are also disadvantages to an inswing exterior door. It is more difficult to get an effective seal around the door. Should an intruder impact the door to gain entry, all that secures against that attack is whatever latch or bolt is installed. And you do, indeed, lose a little space around the door that you may have used for a cabinet, or a coat rack, or something like that.

There are a lot of rather boring details about doors... the swing is just one.

In wards opening doors are safer, convenient and have better binding to the house. Usually on the safety part they hold all support and movements inside that no one can fiddle from outsides.

I have a question on the left and right. My wife thinks we have the wrong way opening front door. We have a storm door that can only open with the left hand due to the construction. The front door on the other hand opens with the right hand, the opposite of storm door. The front door could open either way. The right hand opens so you view greater part of the house. The left hand way would open to smaller portion of room blocking view of most of the living room, and would open to the coat rack and shoe rack which would be convenient. What is the standard?

Not sure about standards, But I would usually prefer both doors to open on the same hinge side, that way I am in the open arc side with more room to find the keyhole for the main door instead of wedged into the angle of a storm door with a hydrolic spring door closer.

If you are saying that the door opens and blocks your shoe rack and coat rack, I can see how that would make me consider changing the hinge side; add a small bench and you got a place to take off muddy winter boots and change into house slippers.

Drew

Drew K is right: the most common way is to hinge both doors on the same rail.

A consideration for the front door.... where is the light switch? It will be inconvenient to reach around an open door to flip the light on or off.

In our area, the exterior doors open inward, and I think that is in the building code. If not, you could be trapped inside by heavy snows.

Nobody has spoken about the fire in a theater. I think it was Chicago, but I might be confusing it with other fires there. Anyway, there was a fire in a theater and people died because they could not open the doors inward due to the press of people from behind pushing toward the exit without thought that the doors needed space to open inward.

I believe this is why businesses have doors that open outward in America.

For security, doors that open outward are more secure but have hinges exposed where some can have a pin removed easily.

My favorite door was in England, and I think it opened inward but had additional security in the frame. As you turned the handle, it operated a sliding mechanism that secured it in several places along the latch side of the frame. Anyone trying to bash through would have to break the entire frame out...except for it being a large glass panel door of course!

Drew

Hello, Drew.

Some credit the fire at Chicago's Iroquois Theatre in 1903 to be the birth of modern life safety codes. The theatre fire, a disaster in which 594 people perished when the "fireproof" theater burned, prompted review of the building practices of the day.

This event is most certainly a big vote for 'Doors Swing Out'. This is far and away the norm for any structure or area where people assemble, not necessarily just commercial buildings.

There are also a few exceptions to this emergency exit business... Memory Care areas of hospitals, Detention Facilities...

Having done a good deal of Stagehand work, those theater fires profiled on some History Channel show, were of great interest to me.

The number of deaths that used to occur regularly as a result of theater fires were simply astounding.

Apparently it was common practice for actors to note exits first thing, and apparently in the case of the Iroquois fire, or some other, as the actors fled out doors backstage the inrush of air flash fired and incinerated many many in the front rows.

Now there is a "Fire Curtain" that StageHands are to drop by taking an axe and cutting the stay rope intended to seal off the stage from theater seating.

As far as whether or not it is best for doors to open inward or outward, others have correctly pointed to the reasons for one way, or another.

It does make sense to me that the residential codes are typically different from the commercial building codes, and for commercial buildings doors are to open outwards.

Hello, Transcendian:

I have become used to your well considered posts, this one is no exception.

The model building codes of today (e.g. Life Safety 101) deal with many, many aspects of life safety issues in construction, maintenance, and remodeling of buildings and facilities. Doors are only one small part.

Being a Door Man, I do believe they are the most important!

As an aside and observation to many comments regarding ALL doors in a commercial building... in even medium sized facilities, it is usual for a few scattered doors to open inwards, these usually being maintenance areas, perhaps a delivery entrance. This is due to the possibility of debris of any kind (snow, the most common) piling up against the doors. For example, should a big storm hit at school and the drifts are piling against the doors (with students and faculty still inside), maintenance staff can get out, and shovel / plow / blow the snow from the main doors.

Commercial exits are another story compared to residential requirements and codes and safety of a quick exit would be first on the zoning commission's mind when enacting a code. You are right as to why all emergency exist open outward and require the addition of the horizontal "panic" bar as a mechanism to open the door besides the lighted EXIT signs.

Right you are, commercial buildings have a different code, and it is the same here as everywhere - the doors are designed to open by pushing and they open out.

Funny story;

Being an American I am conditioned to open doors to stores and shops by pulling from the outside or pushing if they swing both ways (usually fairly evident upon visual inspection). While stationed in England occasionally I would try to pull open a door that was clearly labeled "PUSH" by pulling. Most embarrassing when there is a small gap and it bangs closed when I pull.

Drew

heh heh. Too bad Gary Larson discourages posting his cartoons - fans will remember the one about the "PULL" door at "Midvale School for the Gifted".

I must admit I've never gotten the reflex for doors of commerce - I'm so used to pushing the pulls and vice versa that I hardly notice it, any more. Maybe after this thread I'll be more conscious.

Psychologically, when a handle is oriented horizontally you will tend to push that door.

When the handle is vertical you psychologically tend to pull.

This has to do with the physiology of the hand and arm.

Correct.

Another little trick that takes advantage of the physiology of humans... the grip (pull bar) is usually (not always) installed a little bit lower than the push. As in the fall reflex, when expecting an impact to our face we extend our arms, more or less straight out. When you stop and pull the door, we have a tendency to hold our elbow close, similar to a 'gunslinger' type motion. Thus, the natural pull motion is lower than the push.

I think that was the Iroquois Theater Disaster of 1903 where 600 people died. I believe this disaster led to the building code rules that exterior doors must open outward--in the direction of egress. Many of the deaths were because doors opened against the people flow, and they were trapped.

In the USA many houses do have 2 exterior doors. The main door opens inward, and the screen/storm door (of much lighter construction) opens outward.

Only commercial buildings in the USA have doors that swing to the outside. Residential property(Homes) doors swing to inside. It is part of our fire codes that all emergency exits swing out. In the past in a panic it was found people will build up pushing in shoving leaving no room to swing a door in during a fire. So they mandated that all exits to a commercial property swing out.

In a residential door a in swing door gives more security. The dead bolt is not exposed it is hidden by the door stop.

Older houses in Britland have solid doors with no glazing. If the postman knocked/rang twice one day, with a parcel to hand over, I'd knock him clean off his feet if my door opened outwards.

Is this why the Brits never deliver mail in Sweden?

Newer buildings are now using the sliding door system. They move to the sides automatically, as they are fitted with sensors that detect the approach of a person from either in or outgoing direction. This is fairly common in the malls. Swing doors are seldom made into automatic opening since one could get slammed in the face if you happen to be right in front of the direction of the swing.

Public buildings increasingly use automatic sliding doors to comply with disability access requirements as it is difficult for a wheelchair user or someone on crutches to pull a heavily sprung door towards them. The springing has to be heavy otherwise they blow open in a wind. Power assisted swing doors are available where sliding doors are not suitable.

Bankers very often (oh, my) have revolving doors. That way they can win whatever happens to the rest of us suckers;

(it's a sit down protest at some bank or other)

Ah, revolving doors... yet another oddity in the fenestration of buildings. It just occured to me... in USA and Canada, revolving doors revolve counter-clockwise, viewed from above. Keep to the right, as it were. Is this so in other parts of the world?

Revolving doors are never really open... That is to say, there is never free passage of air. This is why tall buildings use them often to combat 'Building Stack', the tendency of tall buildings to draft like a chimney. Revolving doors are also used in air supported structures, where the positive pressure is necessary to maintain the structure. Another home for them is darkrooms; as there is no free passage of air, neither is there free passage of undesired light.

Good grief.....can you imagine anything worse than two English people at opposite sides of a revolving door ? "No, after you.....Noo after you old chap....no, no after you, dear fellow". They'd bloody died of oxygen depletion in the middle ! At a bus stop, Brits will form an orderly queue - even if there's just one of them !!

Makes you think.........My front door opens in and my back door opens out. My office door opens out and the Bank I go to opens in. Publix market has star trek doors but the liquor store opens in. Ron Jons open in and the Adult book store opens out....

Home Depot and Denny's open in. I just see any reason except the Archt picks out doors in the Sweets catalog and then its a matter of a coin flip.

Space shuttle door opens out...LOL

"Adult book store opens out..."

I don't know about that door down here. :-)

We must live/work very close together after looking at the location below your Avatar.

In India we have licked this problem. We have two doors, for security. One opens outside and the other opens inside.

I was just logging on on a Saturday looking out my window at a record 12" of snow. Thinking if the door opened outward the snow inhibit opening the door.

But hey lets go farther, we have tornado's more in this area than any other natural disasters. Would it be better for the doors to fly open outwardly and suck everything inside outside, or would it better for the wind to seal the door and throw the whole house across the street?

Or since tornado's generally come from the southwest, should the door open differently on those exposers than the opposite sides?

Then what about hurricanes, or earthquakes, or avalanches, or any other disasters we can think of? I am not sure of the answer but I bet if we chip in and give a large enough grant to a university, they would be more than happy to look into it for us.

So what do you think, Cabin Fever?

I am 58 and have lived in florida all my life. In Florida all of the doors open to the outside so that wind pressure tends to seal them so that rain leakage is less likely. This is the same reason that swinging windows open to the outside. I have seen doors that open to the inside but they were beyond the main entrance and thus all enterior doors.

All the Houses here in Satellite Beach have entry doors that open out. Older houses and the new ones. My condo is oceanfront and opens in as do all the other Condo's up and down A1A. Maybe inland Florida has the front door opening to the outside...???..., being raised in Florida and counting the residences I have had (60 yrs)....all open in. ??? One wood frame Victorian opened out. I will check the local building codes when I get to work Monday. I love this puzzle.

Hey Guru

practically as I see , there is an advantage of the doors swinging in.

Under normal circumstances- you have a legal intruder guest. he knocks and you open the door, bang on his/her face, net result being a broken nose, few broken teeth and a lot of high decibel music curses and threats of legal action.

It swings in, you are the swinger, so you know exactly where your nose (and teeth are).

If it is not a legal intruder then it hardly matters.

Doors to homes , in the US, open to the inside. This I have been told for years is due to snow build up in the past and it would be very hard to get out of your cabin in the winter to get to the john. Somethings carry over and don't change over the years.

We design business doors to open outward due to safety and quick egress.

Think about the Who concert several years ago when people were trapped at the doors during an emergency exodus.

The people at the Who concert were trying to get IN the doors NOT OUT. My wife was there (long before I met her) and she and her sister were nearly crushed by those behind them.

got ya comin or going

Notice the vertical handle on the door. :-)

Hi guys

All our doors are heavy duty sliding doors. No worries at all. The garage is a roller door and non of them have ever slammed on me. Whats the problem? Get sliding doors and it will save space as well. I would even go as far as to say that they are better security protection than any "door" in or out or whatever.

Never had snow in front of them but me thinks the white stuff should not be a problem were I am. Hasn't snowed here in 280.000.000 years so no worries.

Any way, if I had a choice and sliding doors were not available, I would use the one opening in wards if I lived in snow pron area, definitely.

Happy slamming, Ky.

Any time I see a door which says "PULL" I will push it anyhow just to see if they mean it. You would not believe the number of commercial doors which swing both ways which have PUSH or PULL labels on them.

Bill