The Old Folks Home

[vehve]

Wisher, hammer drill? =)

 

[LocalYokel]

I always thought exterior doors should be hinged to open inside.

I don't like exposed hinges outside.

 

[perchie.girl]

I always thought exterior doors should be hinged to open inside.

I don't like exposed hinges outside.

exterior doors are by code to open inward.... in the US.

All rooms without exterior doors must have at least one window you can climb out of. I believe with the exception of bathrooms. Door to the garage can open out but I believe it has to be a fire rated door. Yep looked it up... 20 minute fire rated.

This is for new construction or remodel...

and NO I am not by any means up on codes. I just research stuff that affects me and what I want to do.... So I have alot of stuff rattling about in my head...

deb

 

[vehve]

Any reason given for why, Deb? Seems like weird building code to me.

 

[perchie.girl]

Any reason given for why, Deb? Seems like weird building code to me.

Its a big country just like laws building codes will vary from state to state. If you think about it in states where there is a huge snow load its possible to get a drift right up against the house.... Cant push a door open with something blocking it. or Mud up against it or anykind of debris.

but you can still open it if it opens inward.

NO reasons just logic on my part.

deb

 

[Wisher1000]

Right, Deb and screen/storm doors go on the outside. As to windows, I believe the only rooms that are required to have windows are bedrooms. The windows have to be large enough to exit through, 2'x3' I think.......

 

[bruceha2000]

exterior doors are by code to open inward.... in the US.

All rooms without exterior doors must have at least one window you can climb out of. I believe with the exception of bathrooms. Door to the garage can open out but I believe it has to be a fire rated door. Yep looked it up... 20 minute fire rated.

This is for new construction or remodel...

and NO I am not by any means up on codes. I just research stuff that affects me and what I want to do.... So I have alot of stuff rattling about in my head...

deb

Had one of those at the other house, which is why I recognized the non removable hinge pins

The door COULD have opened inward but it would have been horribly inconvenient. When coming in from the garage, the door let you enter the mudroom with a closet on the left and 2 steps to the right to go into the kitchen. Only about 4" on either side of the 36" door and the mudroom only 5' deep with baseboard hot water heat on the wall. If the door had swung in, it would either force you on to the stairs to close it to get to the closet or if hinged on the other side, force you in front of the closet so you could close the door before going up the steps. Even more inconvenient if multiple people are trying to enter (sorry honey, didn't mean to smack you in the face with the door).

Its a big country just like laws building codes will vary from state to state. If you think about it in states where there is a huge snow load its possible to get a drift right up against the house.... Cant push a door open with something blocking it. or Mud up against it or anykind of debris.

but you can still open it if it opens inward.

NO reasons just logic on my part.

deb

Maybe in the deserts of SC Deb

Here the exterior house door opens inward but the storm door opens outward so it really wouldn't matter if the exterior door opened out, still have the same issue of not being able to open the door into a pile of snow. We didn't originally put a storm door on the enclosed porch and the frame and "trim-able" wood part of the door bottom got wet from rain, ice would make its way to the hinge side of the door where it would warm and soak into the wood frame at the bottom then freeze and swell so the door wouldn't close. We now have a storm door that opens out. If we happened to get a huge pile of snow in front of that door and couldn't get out, I would have to tote a shovel out one of the several other doors and shovel it out. If all the doors were blocked, I guess I would toss a shovel then me out one of the the Tilt-n-Turn windows to do the job.

 

[vehve]

One thing that's pretty common here is having a second door right inside the outer door. Really helps keep the heat in in winter. Or noise out in apartments. But that wouldn't work with inward opening doors.

 

[drumstick diva]

In Chicago I believe movie theatres, social clubs, etc.etc. have to open OUTward because of people who had gotten trampled behind INward opening doors trying to flee fires.

As a child, I worried long and hard about the windows in the bedroom. They were up near the ceiling and an average size kid (I was a runt) could never squeeze through them. There weren't any pieces of furniture I could have climbed on to reach them and was too cowardly anyway.

This was Chicago mid '50s. Around that time was the "Our Lady of the Angels,"horrific school fire that claimed the lives of I believe 96 children and 3 nuns. It was started in the stairwell of the building - by a fire happy kid who of course got out alive. I think my insomniac problems started before that but, this didn't help.

 

[perchie.girl]

In Chicago I believe movie theatres, social clubs, etc.etc. have to open OUTward because of people who had gotten trampled behind INward opening doors trying to flee fires.

As a child, I worried long and hard about the windows in the bedroom. They were up near the ceiling and an average size kid (I was a runt) could never squeeze through them. There weren't any pieces of furniture I could have climbed on to reach them and was too cowardly anyway.

This was Chicago mid '50s. Around that time was the "Our Lady of the Angels,"horrific school fire that claimed the lives of I believe 96 children and 3 nuns. It was started in the stairwell of the building - by a fire happy kid who of course got out alive. I think my insomniac problems started before that but, this didn't help.

Many of those windows were also barred on the outside. The codes are always changing and many were written after tragedies like what you mention above..... I have a girlfriend whos mother lived in Chicago during Prohibition. Her mom lived in a basement apartment and when she went outside she carried a stick to ward off Rats. She worked in a speakeasy as a server. Her windows looked out at peoples feet and rats that would walk by... Bars on those windows.

deb