Bedroom door query

[mike. buckley]

Bit of an odd one this...

Due to previous bodger we have a bathroom door that sits the wrong way round in the frame, this is going to be fixed as part of a bathroom refit, but whilst looking at it I was suddenly struck by the fact that our smallest bedroom door opens outwards, all the other doors in the house open inwards. I can't ever remember seeing a bedroom door open outwards before. It looks original, the frame is correct and only the outside architrave has been changed (no idea why). House is a mid 30's 3 bed semi, anybody else seen this?

Also - I need to get some architrave made up to match the existing stuff (can't find current pattern for sale), do any of the sheds do this?

[Weatherlawyer]

Turning it around might be more trouble than it's worth anyway wir=th the need to patch thre pairs of hing housings as well as recut new ones. Then there is the problem of patching handle cutouts and recesses for the catches.

To save space or to replace an imperial door with a metric one that nearly fitted -so they gained 1" on the rebate and put 2 x 1 stops on? Or to suit new plumbing? Or they turned the frame around to accomodate a wheelchair (and lost or broke the achitraves?)

Actually, it makes more sense to have doors open outwards inside the house to make the most use of space. It's just traditional to arrange things the other way. So that the occupant could secure the room perhaps?

These days, downstairs rooms tend to open outwards to accommodate wheelchair access.

I would have thought that it was obvious in view of the foregoing.

You'd be better off removing all the stuff from the hallways and putting new there or cannibalising one room to make it up and replacing the stuff in that room where it won't be obvious.

But inside architrave will be an inch shorter than the outside. You can get over that by just placing blocks under the legs but what about the top piece?

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Bit of an odd one this... | |Due to previous bodger we have a bathroom door that sits the wrong way |round in the frame,

Wrong or right way round is all a matter of opinion, and what there is in the room.

|Also - I need to get some architrave made up to match the existing stuff |(can't find current pattern for sale), do any of the sheds do this?

Local joiners can do it without problems. You could probably DIY a length cheaply if you want to buy the tools.

[Richard Conway]

Our smallest bedroom has a fairly narrow door opening outwards - I presume it was done that way for space reasons - maybe so a bed would fit in without blocking the door whilst opening.

It was also a lot shorter than most doors for some reason - but I put a standard height one in when we replaced it last year (kept it opening outwards though as it seemed a good idea)

[Rob Morley]

What is the wrong way?

It's not uncommon for the doors of small rooms to open outwards, because if they opened inwards there wouldn't be enough space for a person in the room to get past the door comfortably. These rooms are usually at the end of the landing/hallway, with all the other doors opening inwards so as not to block it.

[mike. buckley]

In message , Weatherlawyer writes

That's what the previous bodger did, and unfortunately I now have 3 different styles scattered throughout the house. I would like to keep the original style this is the least work for me and we're trying to stay with a traditional look. The style is "Ogee" but flatter than the types you can get at the moment.

Good point from one of the other posters about robbing one floor to make up one complete one, I hadn't thought of that, of course it relies on me being able to get the old stuff off.

Think I'll be seeing a local joiner, somebody mentioned to me that Jewsons make this sort of stuff up which would have been handy.

Thanks all

[mike. buckley]

In message , Rob Morley writes

In this case it's very clear. It used to be a door to a small toilet, the joining wall to the bathroom has now been removed and the door to the bathroom replaced with a shower cubicle (and a wall!!). This meant that the door opened inwards to the bathroom and you couldn't get round the door as the toilet was in the way, obviously the door needed to swing the other way. Rather than do this properly the bodger just bought a new door and slapped it in the existing frame, this means he's shaved off about 2 inches from the side of the door meaning that the door latch won't fit properly (so you can't recess it) and also hasn't put a stop on the door frame which means that with enough force the door becomes a swing door. A right mess, and one that will be sorted by a new door and frame when we decorate the bathroom.

[Chris Bacon]

It'll cost you about £15-20 + the cost of the sawn timber, probably 3x2.

[manatbandq]

Do you have evidence to back up that assertion? Surely it makes more sense for the door to open in the direction that allows it to open widest, which could be either direction depending on the layout of the rooms.

MBQ

[The Natural Philosopher]

There are no regulations on which way doors open.

Conventionally doors into houses/rooms tend to open inwards, but there is no hard and fast rule.

[Dave Fawthrop]

| [e-mail] wrote: |> Weatherlawyer wrote: |>> These days, downstairs rooms tend to open outwards to accommodate |>> wheelchair access. |> |> Do you have evidence to back up that assertion? Surely it makes more |> sense for the door to open in the direction that allows it to open |> widest, which could be either direction depending on the layout of the |> rooms. |> |> MBQ |> |There are no regulations on which way doors open. | |Conventionally doors into houses/rooms tend to open inwards, but there |is no hard and fast rule.

There is a rule for Fire Doors, they should open outwards, so that a crowd pressed against a door does not have to open the door against itself.

[<me9]

Not fire doors, but doors in public buildings which require a fire certificate. Domestic fire doors can open either way.

[Owain]

Unless the regs have changed recently (and there have been or will be new regs soon), IIRC outward doors only required if more than 50 people in the building.

Owain