Have you ever noticed how you don’t really notice some things until you’ve bought them, or in the process of buying them? Chances are that doors make that list. You’ve probably never thought about the difference between inswing vs outswing entry doors. Or considered door inswing vs outswing at all.
That’s perfectly normal. Unless you’re in the door and window industry, it’s not really something that comes up very often. However, now that you are thinking about it, let’s look at some information about whether you need an inswing vs outswing exterior door.
You might be wondering what inswing and outswing even mean. Again, it’s not something most people think about.
The simplest explanation is that inswing doors swing into the room, and you push them from the outside. Outswing doors swing outwards, and you pull them.
Most doors are made for right-handed people. Which means if you have an inswing door, it will be hung on hinges on the right-hand side, and it will swing into the room and to the right when you open it from outside the room. In this case, you would push the door into the room.
An outswing door would have the hinges on the left, and you would pull the door towards you, which would make the door swing towards you and to the left.
If the door is hung for left-handed people, and is an inswing door, it would swing the opposite way (to the left), but you would still push it into the room, and if it’s an outswing door, you would pull it and it would swing towards the right.
Left and right can complicate matters, so just try to remember that if it swings inwards and you have to push, it’s an inswing, and vice versa for outswing.
You might be wondering if it makes any difference whether you choose inswing or outswing doors. It does. There are several cases where you might want to choose an inswing vs outswing door, and vice versa, such as:
While there are some more common choices when you select doors, including the decision whether to make your exterior door inswing or outswing, there’s no absolute hard and fast rules in most cases.
Most of the reasons we choose inswing or outswing doors are due to practical considerations. We select doors that will work best in the space. That will offer the best security and protection from the elements. That will work with our style and décor. There really are a lot of things to consider.
So, is it okay to have an outswing exterior door? Yes. If that’s what works best for your home and your design, you can definitely do it. Just make sure you think of all the pros and cons before you decide, and always make sure there’s enough room for the door to swing freely!
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