Door swing in hallway
Hey All,
Wondering if anyone has thoughts, or can enlighten me, as to a process for determining the optimal door swing. My wife and I remember selecting the swing (Left vs right) of our back door (D5) but, in looking at the plans (see atch’d) we are having second thoughts.
We are thinking most of the time we’ll be going into the back yard from the kitchen/living area. If that turns out to be the case, then it seems to make sense that the door would swing toward the Master bedroom — as in the image — leaving the wall below open for ‘stuff/furniture’. But it also seems like that wall below would be a good place for the door to stay when open.
Any best practices for this?
Thanks.
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Replies
I generally swing doors from more-public spaces into more-private spaces. I prefer to orient the swing to work best with the flow of traffic, but sometimes hiding undesirable views (such as a toilet) or physical factors such as where can light switches be located make a difference. I prefer to swing exterior doors into the house, to allow for screened doors on the exterior, but if the door swings onto a screened porch or if a screened door is not needed, outswings also work.
At first glance, your swings look like what I would draw.
Would you consider an outward swinging door?
That would be more out of the way and freeing flow to the outside.
Looks like you have a covered patio, so you won't really have to worry about snow piling up in front of it.
Jamie
An outward swinging door was my first thought as well. Otherwise, as shown in the image works well.
I hadn't even considered an outswing door as an option. Given our layout, we probably could pull that off.
But I think I'll review switch placement and, if nothing jumps out at me requiring a change, I'll just consider it good as drawn.
Thanks All!
I'd go with the outswing door.
Even though you mentioned that you'll usually be going outside from the direction of the kitchen, the swing of the door in that hallway will still force you to awkwardly open it and step around it when coming from the bedroom. It also will block that hallway when left opened. This is why you don't often see doors open into hallways.
The outswing door would solve this, and the typical drawbacks of an outswing door won't be an issue here since the porch is covered.
If you go with an out-swing door you will want the outdoor deck to be a step lower so nothing like snow or ice will block the door.
Walt
Covered porch 10' deep shouldn't have this issue unless you're in an especially extreme climate, but generally good advice when considering outswing doors.
Be aware that if you go with an outswing, the IRC limits the step-down height to 1.5". In my area we usually have a 4-7" step down to accommodate snow buildup, so we would need a 36" deep landing on the exterior side.