Many homeowners that are planning to make repairs in a new or old house ask, “Do they have to open into the room?”. After many years of installing constructions that open both inwards and outwards, we can tell you several reasons why they typically open into a room.
- In areas where potentially damaging earthquakes are common, a bedroom door that opens outward can make it harder for you to escape if debris falls outside the room and blocks it. With an inward swinging door, you can clear anything blocking it from opening and get out. In case of a house fire, having a slab that swings into your room will allow you to check the area outside for flames or heavy smoke more easily and without potentially opening it into the blaze.
- One of the most important reasons is that if your house gets broken into, and you are inside, doors that swing inwards give you a chance to barricade yourself inside your bedroom with a chair or piece of furniture and call for help. Besides, a burglar can use an outward opening slab to their advantage by blocking them from outside, trapping you inside with your window as the only means of escape.
Benefits Of Out Swinging doors
An outswing construction has benefits and can come in handy in some situations.
- It can save space in the room when the door swings outward, which really helps if your bedroom is on the smaller side. When they are installed to be opened outward, the hinges are exposed on the outside. Some parents with small children design their doors, so they are opening out, allowing them to remove hinge pins from the outside and open them if a child locks or blocks slabs from the inside.
- In case of fire or other emergency, it is easier for a family member to leave the room by pushing it, rather than wasting time pulling it towards themselves. In addition, if someone gets sick, for example, an elderly person, they will not block the passage, losing consciousness, which means that you will be able to help them faster.
When ordering, think through all the potential situations that can happen in everyday life and choose the most suitable option for opening the door.
Why It’s Recommended To Have Bedroom Doors Swing In?
While there are no strict rules that say they must swing inward. In many cases, it’s just not good for them to swing out. In addition to the reasons above about why most bedroom doors swing in, use common sense and consider many factors before deciding to have them swing out.
- They can present obstructions and safety hazards in the spaces they open into. In hallways with bedrooms on both sides, many doors opening into the hall may create an obstacle course you don’t want to navigate every day. Adjacent slabs can sometimes collide, resulting in damage to coatings or blocking each other.
- With family members always opening and closing slabs, someone can be walking down the hallway and get hit by them. In such conditions, you have to move around your house carefully. Adults remember this, but younger family members are not always attentive enough.
- And for more pleasing aesthetics, most people choose a swinging inward solution, so the hinges don’t show on the outside. While this is a minor factor in the home’s overall design, it shouldn’t be discounted.
When considering the factor of security, most doors swing in because the hinges — one of their vulnerabilities — will also face in. When you lock a construction that swings out, it isn’t very secure. Someone can just hammer out pins in the hinges from the outside and remove the slab. However, special tamper-proof security hinges are available that make it impossible for someone to unhinge it from the outside.
If you decide to install the construction opening inside, follow some recommendations:
- An open slab should not block the passage through the room and create obstacles. It is better that it opens to the nearest wall, without taking up useful space.
- A door must swing open from the switch side. This will make it easier to turn on the light when entering the room. For example, if it is located on the left side of the entrance, its right side should be hinged.
Ultimately, your bedroom doors can swing in or out. You now have all the facts to use while planning, and the choice is yours to make. Just be sure to consider pros and cons of each before you make a final decision.
Experienced consultants of door manufacturing companies will help you make the right choice.