Opening doors & Beaney

[The Medway Handyman]

Re hung a couple of doors for a customer on Friday, so they opened to give a view of the rooms. Customer had always wondered why they opened in a way that blocked the view into the room rather than opening to give a view of the room IYSWIM.

To clarify that, if the door is in one corner & the room extends to your right (door opening inwards), the door was hinged on the right.

I had no idea. But thinking about it - it seemed odd. And it is odd.

Low & behold watching the Beaney on TV tonight, the subject came up. She reckoned it was a Victorian idea and had stuck as the default way ever since.

Thinking about it again, it's still the default way in new builds.

But its still very odd. Any practical reason why it should be this way?

[<me9]

[George]

I've read a lot of of stuff on Victorian life and architecture one article revealed it was due to a privacy scenario ie middle&upper classes would have house chambermaids,butler ect and if the doors opened from the right inward the butler,chambermaid knocked on the door and opened it ajar to talk to the master or mistress of the house just in case either were changing into attire.

If the door opened inwards from the left this would reveal all what was going on.

The bedroom doors in this house I'm in open from the right but the downstairs open from the left so I think the above statement might hold some water? ie the common mans house is exactly as above but children were not permitted in the bedroom of their parents and so they too used the door as above.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Two thoughts - opening your way means the door is more likely to hit the wall. And the Victorians were keen on modesty.

[nightjar]

I think it started for purely practical reasons. Opening against the wall would allow the strong draught that comes as you first open a door into a room with an open fire to sweep into the room. Opening into the room means it blows against the wall and dissipates. Later came the Victorian idea of privacy. Today a good reason for not opening against the wall is safety, particularly if there are small children in the house. Hitting someone with a door and knocking them into the room is likely to cause less injury than trapping them between the door and the wall.

Colin Bignell

[Tim Decker]

On 20 May, 00:27, "The Medway Handyman" wrote: =A0Customer had always wondered why they opened in a way

Dave, this is a interesting topic coming from the only person I know who has a front door that opens outwards! Quite useful for knocking people off the step if you don't like them. Also enables your porch to be smaller. Is this so unusual in the experience of other group members? Tim

[dennis]

Not on any of the houses on the estate I am on it isn't, nor in any show houses I have been in for the last 20 years.

It must be a local thing, being stuck in the past, that is.

[Bob Mannix]

It's very unusual but I have never really understood why. Much more interesting than the internal door question which is all about privacy (there's a delay between the door first opening and anyone coming in seeing anything - perfectly straightforward!).

Even French doors are usually intended to open inwards. I did fit a d/g pair opening outwards but they basically bodged the kit for me and the hinges inside were a right pain, but why would you *want* the doors opening into the room when they could be out of the way against the outside walls? The only reason for internally opening external doors (aside from the front door) I can see is that they are not caught by the wind. For front doors I guess knocking people off the step is less hospitable than welcoming them in by opening the door away from them, so that's fair enough.

[Rod]

With standard hinge systems, a door that opens against a wall leaves the opening slightly reduced (by a small sliver of door) compared to the "flat against the wall". Surprisingly often this affects the maximum size of furniture that can be carried through. (Of course, doors can be removed...)

As already said, the impact of draughts. The impact of the door against the wall. Privacy.

If something that has been left on the floor fouls the opening of a door, it is more likely that you can push it out of the way when opening the door if you are not squashing it against a wall but pushing it towards more open space.

Perhaps sometimes it was chosen on the basis of which way round was easier for a serving wench, carrying something in one hand, to use?

Perhaps sometimes it was done so as to maximise light coming through the open doorway (e.g. permitting light into a dark interior hallway).

I was going to say it might also depend on how chippies are trained. But then again, I don't know if they did the same in Poland. :-)

[Bob Mannix]

No, on new estates change is a necessity as the rooms are so bloody small, not opening against the wall makes the rooms look even pokier to potential buyers!

[dennis]

I know lots of people with doors that open outward, you can get grants to have it done from the local council. That should be enough to tell you one reason why its done. ;-)

[Bob Mannix]

I would say outward opening doors could be made more secure, ie impossible to kick in - hadn't thought of that.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Tim Decker writes

We have a choice:-) 2 in 2 out.

Main entrance into a large through hall opens inwards.

Kitchen door, considered an alternative access, opens out.

Patio door from lounge opens out and other hall door leading to garden opens in.

Caused a bit of head scratching from insurers about whether pins could be knocked out of hinges. The other point which they didn't raise is that the bolt is visible from outside.

Only two doors are keyed to the alarm so going in for a cup of coffee after someone else has set the alarm can be.... alarming!

regards

[PeterMcC]

Bob Mannix wrote in

OTOH - when you've opened the door and found that there's someone outside that you'd rather not have inside, it's harder to pull a door shut than it is to push it shut.

Is there a lurking crack dealer who could advise?

And a dumb question: what's Beaney?

[Rod]

Having walked around near where I live with exactly this question in mind, I think the only ones that open outward are where there is a problem doing otherwise. It appears usually to be the result of building works rather than any original design. Often where they have opted not to rebuild steps up to a house but squeeze in an oddly-designed porch or similar. (Not just talking about second "outer" doors opening outwards.)

[sm_jamieson]

PVCu french doors usually open outwards do they not ? e.g.

I guess you could mount this either way round, although it's harder to seal against water ingress with an inwards opening exterior door. Simon.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No common internal door is secure regardless of how it's hung.

[Chris J Dixon]

OTOH, unless you have taken additional precautions, such as a dog bolt, drifting out the hinge pin is an easy way in.

Once bought a house from a PC, and the french door was secured only with a pretty insubstantial bathroom door bolt.

Chris

[matthew.larkin]

quoted text -

My house is a 1904 build that has been tinkered with by various more recent inhabitants. Consequently a lot of the doors have been rehung to open against the wall, rather than into the room. It makes some of the rooms more flexible for furniture, though not always.

However, where the doors have been rehung to lie against the wall, the light switches are now in the wrong place, so to access them you have to open the door, enter the room, close the door and then the switch is on the wall. Very irritating, but as I only started to get annoyed by this after we had decorated some of the rooms when we first moved in I haven't got the inclination to move the switches!

Matt

[dennis]

Replace them with remote switches on the other wall, make sure its a wireless one though unless the doors are glass.