Can You Make An Exterior Door Swing Out
Inswing exterior doors dominate the residential market but a better case can be made for an entry door that swings out rather than in.
Can you make an exterior door swing out. For the exterior of your home you will have the ability to choose between wood fiberglass aluminum clad and composite doors. Most likely you will see where the door was chiseled out to accommodate the hinges. Depending on the materials of the frame you can likely putty the old holes sand them and refinish the surface.
I have purchased a wrong door Im a carpenter and dont know if its possible to change the door from a Right hand inward swing to a Lt hand reverse swing door. It is possible to special order outswing exterior doors but they are not nearly as common. This could allow an intruder to tap the hinge pins up and out and lift the door off its hinges removing the door without unlocking it.
Remove the doors lockset pieces and reinstall them so that their exterior components will face outside after you rehang the door. It helps the door supplier to get the key side of the lock on the right side. There are several door hinge designs available that make it more difficult to remove the hinge pins.
Exterior Doors Positioning them on the inside makes them secure and keeps burglars from unhinging them. We do recommend you check your local codes to make sure the doors can have the flexibility of in or out. The IRC International Residential Code doesnt rule out against having swinging doors.
Shopping for an external door can be trickier than it might first appear. Outswing doors are more secure airtight and durable than inswing style doors. There are no codes that say you cant have an outswinging exterior door.
It is possible to special order outswing exterior doors but they are not nearly as common. R3113 and R3114 apply but nothing prohibits a outswinging door except that it cannot outswing over a staircase there must first be a 36 landing before any stairs. Remove the hinges from the door.