Gf and I noticed that all front doors in american tv shows always swing inwards. We found this kinda strange mainly because firecodes here in Norway dictate that all front doors, always have to swing outwards in case of emergency, meaning: if you need to get out quickly, you can just slam the door open without having to stop and pull the door towards you. So, do front doors in the US really all swing inward?
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Yes, I’ve never seen an exterior door that opens outwards. The logic in our firecode is that the door can not be blocked that way.
Pretty sure fire codes here mandate that exterior doors open up inward because of fire codes. The door can’t be blocked by something on the outside thus entombing the occupants in case of a fire.
See: Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire.
Our doors open that way because often we have an outer screen/storm door. That door opens out. This allows you to open your inner door and leave the outer door closed. Gives you a nice breeze or ease of communication without completely leaving the door open for bugs or other critters.
Outward swinging doors are common in commercial business buildings for the reasons you describe. Homes usually do not have that requirement.
Our doors do typically swing in. Not sure which way is safest in case of fire.
I’m fairly sure it’s mandatory for commercial and high-occupancy buildings but for whatever reason, homes do not apply.
Mine do. We don’t really follow Norwegian fire codes here though.
Florida I believe is the exception to this. You’ll find out swinging doors in parts of Florida due to building codes.
It’s a safety feature. If people are trapped inside it’s easier for rescue people to kick the locked door in, than to try to pry it open.
I’ve only lived in areas where it’s possible to get snow blocking the door, so the house always at least one door that opens inward
Seems like either direction the door swings, you’ve got some drawback in a situation like a fire.
Personally, if my house is on fire, I’d rather be able to see that there is something obstructing my door from opening and maybe being able to do something about it rather than wasting my time with an outward swinging door that has an obstruction I can’t see and can do nothing about.
An outward swinging door is also harder to close on someone that tries to enter after you open the door to speak with them. There’s almost zero chance of closing an open outward swinging door that someone steps in front of.
This will actually vary per jurisdiction in the US and building type. A house prone to getting a lot of snow – maybe building code states swing in due to high probability of snow build up blocking a door the swings out. A commercial building where an emergency is expected to have hundreds of people traveling through it….almost always will swing out. Usually commercial buildings will swing out as in an emergency a group of people can block the door from opening if it swings in. Many single family homes have door to swing in as this is not an issue in these areas. Keep in mind, in the commercial in building example there are other codes that would require the area around the door to remain clear so it should never be blocked.
It’s just more complex in the US. Everywhere may have a good reason to do it differently.
The vast majority here do open inwards, but despite what others have mentioned it’s rarely a requirement by code that they do. In fact in a few areas – mainly hurricane-prone ones – codes may require that they open outward (because high winds would hold the door shut intead of blowing it in, thus minimizing the potential for damage to people inside the house).
Not an American but, maybe this is just a Norwegian thing?
In Ireland and the UK, front (and back) doors open inwards.
Public buildings here have doors that swing outward. They also have to have at least two different exit paths. Exit doors also have what’s called a “panic bar” which is that horizontal press-bar that opens the door.
Those rules come from theater fires where crowds trying to get out pressed against inward swinging doors, keeping them from being able to open, or doors with complicated latch mechanisms that jammed or a panicked crowd couldn’t operate in panic.
The rules for private residences are different and simpler, mainly because a typical house isn’t ever going to have more than a few people in it so they don’t need to design for a mass evacuation. The hinges for a door are on the same side as it swings. If doors swing outward, then your hinges are on the outside and that’s a security weakness burglars could exploit to take the door off. It’s also easier to peek out of an inward door than outward opening.
People commonly put screen doors that swing out on the outside of their front door.
The main design requirement on residences is that bedrooms need to have a window that can open, for fresh air and for escape in a fire.
Doors to any commercial building, including apartment buildings, will open outward, except ones that are very old and grandfathered in. In
apartment buildings the doors to each apartment will open inward.
In houses it’s unlikely for there to be so many people trying to exit at once that it’s an issue like in a commercial building.
I’m actually getting anxiety thinking about a door opening outward and something blocking it in an emergency. You’d be trapped in that case. I’d much rather see what’s blocking the door and be able to move it.
Also, I lived in the UK and doors also open inwards there.
Do you have storm or screen doors? If so, are they on the inside or the outside?
I see new houses with both directions. Funnily enough, I know someone who has an outswing door and deliveries often block it.
I’ve never EVER watched a foreign tv show and paid attention to the way doors swing.
Your door can’t be blocked by something you are unaware of if they swing in.
Most do. Mine swings outwards but it’s unusual except maybe further south, I’m in north florida. It’s supposed to hold up better to hurricanes and stuff. It’s gotten blocked by a delivery though once or twice and I have to go out the back lol. It was advertised as a “European style” door, which I thought was a fancy way of calling it short but i guess maybe opening outward is part of it too.
Your way seems odd to me. Don’t you get heavy snows in Norway? Seems like you would. What happens when there’s a lot of snow banked against your door?
If the door opens inwards, it can’t be blocked from the outside. Like, in the event of an earthquake it’s common for parts of the facade of the house to fall off around it, which is why they tell you not to try running outside until the shaking has stopped. If that happens, you don’t want your door blocked by the debris on the outside.
Seems like outward-swinging exterior doors would have a major disadvantage in extreme weather too, which we get quite a lot of. If we have gale force winds, you don’t want your door wrenched open when you go to peek outside.
Also, Norway seems to be the outlier here. Commenters from Austria, Germany, the UK, are saying their doors all open inwards as well. Have you not seen doors in those countries either? If all those other countries have also deemed inward-swinging doors as safer, are you sure Norway hasn’t gotten it wrong?
It’s also a security issue for most styles of hinges that would put the pins outside where they can be easily removed, and then your door falls off. So in the rare cases where I install a outward opening door, usually an ADA application, we order doors with special hinges
It’s the same in the UK firemen can kick in the doors if the buildings on fire, harder to pull it open, the door handle will be really hot and requires more leverage
Our doors open inwards.
If it opens outward, can a firefighter kick it in?
Norway is the only country I’ve lived in where they open outwards, and I’ve lived in quite a few.
So commercial fire code dictates that doors must open outward/toward the exit. This is only for commercial buildings though.
Houses in the US often have two doors-one main one that is solid and houses the deadbolt/lock. This one swings inward. There is also a second door often mostly glass or screen. These we call storm doors and they protect the main door from the elements, provide a layer of dead-air insulation between the doors, and let air/light through if there is a screen while keeping bugs out.
I would have thought they would mostly open inwards in a snowy place like Norway. This morning, here in Montana, there was more than knee deep of snow against my door, I wouldn’t have been able to get out if it opened outward.