Door Swing or Handing

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Door swing and door swing chart front entry door image

Door Swing and Door Handing – What is the hand meaning?

The door swing also called the handing of the door refers to the way the door swings when it is opened. This is important because you can’t just “turn it around” if it is ordered wrong in most cases. There is no standard swing on any door, it just is determined by what is the most functionally practical swing for a particular opening.

The Door Swing is Especially Critical with Exterior Doors

The outswing doors are more secure in high winds because the door jamb prevents the doors from being blown or forced inward compromising the home in severe weather. They are also more secure from forced entry. Don’t worry about the hinges either because they are special hinges for outswing doors that prevent hinge tampering. Other than the front entry door most exterior doors are handed as outswing.

Inswing Doors are Taller than Outswing Doors

You need to be aware that inswing doors are taller than outswing door due to the door swinging OVER the threshold rather than swinging lower and INTO the threshold. If your opening is too short for a standard height inswing door, this can be accommodated by “cutting and rerailing” . Changing a new prehung door from outswing to inswing makes measuring accurately imperative. If you want to change from inswing to outswing, the height usually will not be an issue since outswing doors are shorter that inswing doors. Trimming and filling above the head jamb will accommodate the change here.

Door Swing Chart – How to Determine the Door Swing

This chart shows the hand definition for a right hand door and a left hand door. It shows the aerial perspective for right hand vs. left hand when you are considering inswing and outswing doors. This chart can be used to determine the door swing on interior doors but I do have another door swing chart that visualizes interior doors.

Can you just turn the door around?

No! The thresholds for exterior doors are also different so that water runs away from the door instead of towards and into the home. In the interior door consideration, etched doors have to be built for the design to be properly applied. This is especially important on doors with signage as the lettering would appear backwards.

Not the mention the fact that inswing and outswing doors are different heights. This would certainly cause problems when this pertains to exterior doors. Not so much if it is an interior door except for having the etched design on the correct side of the glass area.

Prehung Interior and Exterior Door Door Swing Chart

The diagram below visualizes of the possible door swing throughout a home. Once you review the door handing examples you will be able to correctly apply the correct term for the door you are needing.

Interior doors are described as Inswing or outswing by the relationship to the main living area. EX: The living area is main to the bedroom, but the bedroom is main to the pantry door. This way if there is a textured side it will be prehung with the texture on the correct side of the door. Non glass doors do not worry about the in or out swing just the right or left hand term.

For double prehung doors, you must identify first the active door handing. Although they both open, the main door that opens is called the active door. The other door is called the inactive door.