Technical > Home Improvement > Storm door hinge decision

reply to rustypixel

Re: Storm door hinge decision

reply to rustypixel
Option 1 works better, I lived in a house for 20+ years that was like the first diagram and it worked fine.

reply to rustypixel
Did not see it pointed out, but remember that with the bottom drawing, although you did not provide any dimensions so I have to guess, you will have a hard time getting any furniture in and out through that area without taking the storm door down.

By using the first drawing, at the very worst, you might have to take the bracket for the closure off to get full width access through the main door and you could just block open the storm door. By using the second drawing, you would have to work the furniture onto the porch area, then open the storm door each time.

reply to rustypixel
The hinges go on the same side. Otherwise, you have to prop the storm door all the way open and hold it with your butt while you try to unlock the interior door.
Think about it.
I've seen storm doors mounted opposite, and it's just awkward and strange.
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If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't.

reply to rustypixel
Now you can see why it is just about useless to post such a question as this one.

Do it the way YOU want it to be.

reply to rustypixel
I want to thank everyone for all the input/suggestions. It seems that I can go either way and that both layouts have equal pros and cons. I fully understand that there is no wrong or right way and I'll have to figure out which will work best for me. It's going to be hard because I have an equal amount of likes/dislikes for each set up. I have taken a look around the neighborhood and I've noticed that most that have storm doors and have the same entry that I do (townhouse development) have it hung with the hinge to the left. There are a couple that have it with the hing to the right to match the main door but the oposite is the majority. I plan to just ask them if I can check out their individual set ups and see which wins out for me.
I completely appreciate the time taken to throw some input my way. Thanks again everyone!
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Out of my mind and out of control!

Yeah... I plan to approach with hands raised and a white flag to show that I don't mean harm.

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Out of my mind and out of control!

reply to rustypixel

reply to rustypixel
Option 2 might work if you have at least 4' between the storm door hinge and the window wall - otherwise you will find that you really don't have enough space to maneuver if carrying packages or bags.

If it were me, I'd dig out the bushes and relocate the doorway to that wall, and then install both doors with the hinges on the same side.

reply to rustypixel
Normally, I'd say you want it opening as the top diagram. There is no rules, as he says. However your situation is weird due to the placement of the doorknob and locks on the front door.

It seems awkward either way. If you use example #1, the door knobs/locks DO NOT line up with each other. You'd open the storm door, and then reach across to the door's hardware to open it on the other side. Unusual. However, if you go with option #2, the storm door opens outwards at you when you pull it open. Imagine you have stuff in your arms and you're trying to open the door AND back up to get out of it's way, squeezing around it against the wall to get to the actual front door to open it.

So basically, both ways are awkward and less then ideal. However, of the two, I think option #1 will be the least headache, and easier to let people and goods in and out of the house.
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"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

On second thought, he should change the swing of the front door.

reply to MaynardKrebs

reply to Juggernaut
Can't, it would block entrance to the house once you opened it.

I see what you did there.

reply to rustypixel
Since this is a townhouse development I cannot feasibly change the walkway or the shrubs. That's staying as is. Also, flipping the orientation of the main door would cause the door swing to block the entryway leaving me with a need to open the door all the way to be able to get in/out. Not happening either. I walked around and asked a few people in the area if I could examine their doors. I found that with the door swinging towards the wall, getting at the knob/lock isn't that difficult. However, with the door swinging towards the right (away from the wall) isn't bad either because there is apparently plenty of space to open the door and walk around. The interesting thing that I found out is that those that have installed with the door hinge to the left (opening towards the wall) want to change it. It seems that the biggest complaint I've heard about that set up is that they have had to replace glass already due to the wind smashing the door against the wall and shattering the glass. Yet those few that have hung their doors hinged to the right (opening away from the wall). After checking things out I think I'm going to take a gamble and have the door hung to match the main door. I presume that once hung the door cannot just be easily flipped to be hinged to other side?

Thanks for the continued replies.
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Out of my mind and out of control!

reply to rustypixel
If we are talking storm doors through lowes or depot, no on reversing the swing after install. The storm door jamb is what they call z-bars. When you install the z-bars you cut the extra length from the bottom. If you reversed the swing later your latch side would be too high (latch side z-bar comes pre-mortised for the latch and deadbolt) as you would have to spin the z-bar 180° (top to bottom).

reply to rustypixel

reply to rustypixel
One way to think about it as well - if it opens toward the wall (you can prevent it from breaking) - that allows for far better egress for everyone - including guests. Opening toward the open area makes it go toward anyone on the stoop and it can be odd to get folks past the door and into the house.
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Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain