why have the doors take up room when they open? Have them swing out, makes leaving in a hurry a bit faster. (Fire!) and it makes it harder for the Jack-booted Ones to kick in yo door. door is supported all the way around. have I missed a down-side to this idea? a Rex Roberts idea. "If I can not dance, I want no part in your revolution." Emma Goldman
Most entry doors, up here in the great northeast, have storm doors which can't be used with an outswing.
----- Original Message ----- From: "cyber" Newsgroups: alt.home.repair Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 12:40 PM Subject: front door swings out.
The Jack-booted Ones would love you - all they'd need to do is remove the hinge pins from the outside and lift the door out of the opening. Saves wear and tear on the boots.
- Spellchecker
Check with your local inspector, outswinging doors are against code in most area's. If you are in good enough condition to reach the door in a fire, the extra second to open it will not be a hindrance, it will be a problem for the emergency crews trying to save your life if you are not able to make it to the door, for a fire or anything else.
Having someone trying to save your life rendered unable to because of a door is a big downside to me. One to three seconds in a fire can be important, one to three minutes is critical.
yes, the hinges are on the outside.. someone can just knock the pins out and then open the door from the other side no matter what kind of lock you have on the door....
And how to mount the storm door?
Early model mobile homes and travel trailers had the door open outward to save space in the interior.. But as others have mentioned, it created a problem with the screen or storm door..
I live in an old '75 mobile home and the entry door presently opens out and since I have a enclosed porch, the storm door is in the porch entry..
STeve
B.S . Look at any commercial building!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG
Not to mention opening the door in a strong wind and have it ripped off the hinges. And depending on your grip on the knob, having your arm ripped from the socket.
If you have a good, well insulated modern door, the storm door is redundant and in some cases not recommended by the manufacturers of the main door. This is the case with the steel doors that I have had installed in my house.
Ask for a NRP hinge system (non removable pins). That being said, inswing doors are the convention on residential, outswing for commercial. Some entries do not permit or are not designed for a convenient staging area for people as you swing the door out. I think it would be safer for the security conciouse people to be inside the house as the door opens rather than halfway out onto the front porch.
Besides non removable pins there are security hinge screws . You remove
2 opposing screws the hinge screw sticks out an inch on the door locking into to the opposing hole in the frame. Even a crowbar wont pop the hinge . You have to rip out the frame to remove the door. commom item.
And if you check, you will find security hinges that have a pin which prevents removing the door after the hinge pins are pulled. Or, just drill matching holes in the hinges and drive a nail or screw to match up. Not rocket science. Except for the storm door problem all benefits that I can see favor an outswing door (my back & front door both swing out). The storm door problem does not arise if you have some sort of enclosed entry porch or air lock.
Harry K
This is absolutely wrong. This is absolutely wrong. Codes often require doors to swing in the direction of exit.
TB
BS from your end, different situation. Most of the time, no one is alone or sleeping in a commercial building.
Really? How come every house in America has a door that swings in? Commercial code requires it swings in the direction of the exit.
You are right!! I do not have, have not had, probably won't ever have a copy of CABO residential code books, but please make me a little smarter and tell me which section requires in-swinging doors.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG
I believe it was a old episode of this old house . They showed a pre fab house in Sweden which had an out swing ing door . If I remember ,they said it had to do with weather and heat loss. something about winter winds pushing against the door helped seal it.
Bill
No section of the book specifies it. The book only specifies for commercial and multi-family units (over two family). Check with your local fire department and building inspector, see which way they allow your single family house to have the doors swing. I suppose even they would have a problem telling you much of anything. Code or not, I would prefer to allow rescue personnel the quickest access to me, if I ever needed them. Check my original post Dan, I said they are against code in MOST areas, and we are in a residential newsgroup, not a commercial one. I also offered my opinion about why inward swinging doors are a good idea in a residence. If that's a little too much for you to take because it disagrees with your opinion, then stop reading the thread. Having traveled most of the country, I would have to say most homes are built with inward swinging doors for good reason.
Habit & custom are not the same as code. Tom Baker
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