Storm Door Swing Question......

16 years ago

This might be a rather duh or stupid ?...... We're having a glass storm door installed outside of our front door - I'm not sure which side it should be hinged on. The front door is hinged on the right, so when you open it, it swings to the right. The front door also has a somewhat bulky Schlage key pad door lock (it's a bit bulkier than a standard lock). The builder says to have the storm door hinged on the left...... So the storm door would swing to the left when opened & the front door will swing to the right when opened. Which way seems right? I'm not sure if the builder said a left hinge because of the possibility of the door handle from each door hitting up against eachother when closed? That's a possibility. What do you think?

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Comments (5)

green-zeus
16 years ago
My opinion is that it's a total pain. My friend had a storm door like that and it seemed so hard to unlock the inside door while fighting the hinge side of the storm. If the handles intefere with one another, I'd change handles. Thankfully, my friend has changed this door and it's SO much easier to use.
missymar
Original Author
16 years ago
No, I don't want to change the door handles - we actually paid for our own keypad entry lock & didn't use the standard locks that the builder offered - 'cause that's what we wanted.

Does anyone else have any different thoughts on my dilemma?
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dixiedoodle
16 years ago
I'd want them to be hinged the same way. I think it would be awkward to unlock the front entry door while holding the storm door open if the handles were not on the same side. You'd have to open the storm door almost the entire way (and hold it open) to have room to unlock the door, and then I think that the storm door would slam shut on you before you were able to open the main door the entire way.

This would just be my personal preference...
brutuses
16 years ago
My front door is hinged on the right and the storm doors hinged on the left because DH wasn't listening when I said I wanted them also on the right. However, it's going to work out fine because it opens to the fireplace so there is no interference with furniture, etc. I think it's your personal preference.
sierraeast
16 years ago
They should both hinge on the same side,imo. One way to alleviate the locksets hitting is to make an exterior frame for the stormdoor to hold it out a little. Usually a 1x4 frame being 3/4" out is all that is needed for the lockset to clear one another.The frame can have a detailed or routed edging and can be painted or stained to match up with the rest of the house.