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Stephen Tashiro
09-18-2016, 11:05 PM
Where I can get an exterior residential steel door designed to swing toward the outside of the house instead of into the house ? I'd like a brand that I can order at Lowes or Home Depot.

Such a door would have have tabs or pins so it couldn't be opened just by taking out the hinge pin from outside the house. The hinges would need to have a finish that can withstand the weather.

I don't need a "front door". The door would seldom be used. It's an exterior door to a small utility room where the washer, dryer and water heater are. The room is gets so full of mops, buckets, close baskets etc. that it's labor intensive to clear the way to open a door that swings into the room.

Steve Peterson
09-18-2016, 11:39 PM
Most commercial doors are required to swing out to prevent people crowding the door and getting stuck in an emergency. It should be a fairly easy to find the hardware, but maybe at the custom order desk instead of on the shelves. I would guess that the price would be 2-3X more.

Steve

Rich Riddle
09-18-2016, 11:42 PM
I ordered Andersen out-swing doors from Home Depot for the farm. Love them. There is also an out-swing door made by Feather River on our greenhouse. It was also ordered from Home Depot. Please note that an out-swing door has a different height dimension that an in-swing door. It's a bit shorter.

Alan Rutherford
09-19-2016, 8:29 AM
You can improvise pins to prevent the door being lifted off the hinges. Drill through both halves of each hinge. Run a long screw through the hole into the stud and leave it sticking out. Cut the head off and round the end. With the door closed, it sticks into the hole in the other side of the hinge. Make the holes a little oversize and drill into the door under the hole to make room for the pin. Do one and get the details right before you do more because it can be difficult to adjust.

I've done this with closet doors when I installed locks. You can also use one of the pre-drilled holes for the screws that attach the hinge if you think it would leave enough support.

Adam Herman
09-19-2016, 10:55 AM
security hinges are a thing. No need to reinvent the wheel. You should be able to walk in and order an out-swing easy enough. Get the USP finish for the hinges and you should be good to go. Any of your local door companies and also make one up for you. Outswing doors are not common in residential, but as Steve said very common in commercial construction. It came about because of the Italian hall disaster that took place in Calumet, MI. Some of my relatives were there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster


My family owned one of the first Door Pre-hanging companies starting in the early 60s. I worked there from the age of 13 to college when they closed.

Jim Becker
09-19-2016, 11:32 AM
The double door units I have on my shop are out-swing...I ordered them from a local lumber yard/building supply. What they do is us hinges that cannot be disassembled for security since the hinges are physically to the outside of the doors. Otherwise, they are identical to in-swing units.

John K Jordan
09-19-2016, 11:40 AM
Where I can get an exterior residential steel door designed to swing toward the outside of the house instead of into the house ?


When I ordered insulated steel doors for my shop I had to specify swing: in/out, left/right, flat/paneled, window/plain. To eliminate confusion I drew a picture. I use out-swing on all 5' double doors and in-swing on two 36" man doors. For the double doors I could pick which door opened first. All hinges were secure. 3 years and no corrosion yet on the hinges. I did put them under overhangs to minimize direct water from rain.

I found doors were cheaper ordered from a commercial lumber yard that caters to construction.

JKJ

Jerome Stanek
09-19-2016, 12:12 PM
Just order nrp hinges

Rich Riddle
09-19-2016, 12:20 PM
I just happen to be working at the farm today and took these photos of the doors an hinges..... Andersen are much better. You don't have to get the glass insert, but here is the setup.
344349 344350 344351
These types of hinges are far superior to the door on the greenhouse. When I get to the house I will take a picture of those.

Shawn Pachlhofer
09-19-2016, 12:36 PM
Guardian makes the door you are asking for.

Rich Riddle
09-19-2016, 12:56 PM
Here is the Feather River door on the greenhouse. You can see the difference in hinges. The door is 100% non-wood.

344363 344364 344365

Roger Nair
09-19-2016, 2:08 PM
Be sure to trouble shoot the flashing and weather strip details, if the door is not protected by eaves or roof, before ordering.

Jim Becker
09-19-2016, 3:40 PM
The two double doors in this photo of my shop exterior are out-swing as previously mentioned:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v646/a-j-adopt/House/shop-1.jpg

A local building supply is probably a better choice to order/buy from, but you can check with the contractor desk at HD/Lowes to see what they have available.

My doors have deadbolts in the middle and the top and bottoms have pins into the concrete floor when closed and locked to prevent them from being able to be easily pried open.

Bruce Wrenn
09-19-2016, 8:56 PM
I use regular doors from HD/Lowes. Take off brick molding and replace it on other side. You may have to replace all the brick mold as the inside (now outside) opening is larger. Be sure and put a sweep on outside to keep water off sill. You can make your own NRP hinges by drilling and threading a hole for a set screw. You will also need a lock guard.

Stephen Tashiro
09-19-2016, 10:12 PM
Here is the Feather River door on the greenhouse. You can see the difference in hinges. The door is 100% non-wood.

344363 344364 344365

That's a very helpful view of the hinge. I can see the "security pins"

I realize there are DIY yourself solutions to converting an in-swing door to an out-swing door, but, as I said, I'm interested in a steel door. I don't know if my metalworking skills are up to doing a good conversion on a steel door. I'd hope that a door designed to be out-swing would have a weather resistant finish on the hinges. Is there a DIY coating for interior hinges that makes them good for exterior use?

Bruce Wrenn
09-20-2016, 8:31 AM
You can order doors from BORG's that are out swing. At the factory they do what I referenced above. Rather than wait two weeks, it's quicker to convert a stock door.