Your exterior doors are a fundamental feature of your home. The front entry door allows guests to come and go, and the patio door connects the indoors with the backyard, allowing you to make the most of your property. If you want to install a new hinged patio door or replace your front entry door, you have an important decision to make: will you install an inswing or outswing door?
Space Considerations
Depending on the layout of your entryway or back patio, it may be obvious whether to install an inswing or outswing door just by evaluating the space you have available. For instance, perhaps your patio door leads outside from the kitchen and you have a table positioned directly in front of it. An outswing door is beneficial in this situation.
On the other hand, perhaps space constraints exist on the exterior. If you prefer to keep potted plants or a patio table right outside the entrance, an inswing door accommodates this better.
Door Swing Codes
Public doors swing outward: Have you ever noticed that doors in commercial buildings always swing outward? This is required by the International Building Code to prevent a horde of people from pressing up against the door in an evacuation, which would make it impossible to open and thus trap people inside.
Doors in hurricane-prone areas swing outward: High winds from a hurricane are more likely to push an inswing door open, but this isn’t possible with an outswing door.
Doors in snow-prone areas swing inward: In climates where it can snow several feet in a single storm, entry and patio doors should swing inward. This way, you won’t become trapped inside your home if a huge snow drift presses up against the door.
Ease of Operation
Inswing doors feature a sweep gasket at the threshold to keep air and water out. Friction is necessary to help this gasket seal tightly. An unfortunate side effect is that inswing doors operate stiffly.
Outswing doors feature a positive stop and compression gasket. This creates a weather-tight seal without friction, so the door is easy to open.
Protection from Water and Air Infiltration
Inswing doors are more vulnerable to wind and rain leaks because of the threshold design. To prevent this problem, adjust the sweep gasket as necessary and replace weatherstripping when it wears out.
Outswing doors aren’t as susceptible to wind-driven rain and water infiltration thanks to their threshold design. Plus, since the door pushes against the frame when the wind blows, it can resist hurricane-force winds more effectively.
Security
Inswing doors have hinges located on the interior, which is a good security feature. Unfortunately, they can be forced open more easily because of the direction they swing. To counteract this, be sure to install heavy-duty strike plates and deadbolt locks.
Outswing doors are very difficult to force open from the exterior, a big security plus. However, the hinges are located on the outside, so you’ll need to choose a style that doesn’t have removable pins to eliminate this potential home security threat.
Looking for Inswing or Outswing Doors in MD, DC, or VA?
In the end, choosing an inswing or outswing door depends on your home’s space needs, the climate where you live, and your personal preferences. Quality Window & Door installs a wide selection of both inswing and outswing entry and patio doors from several manufacturers, including Weather Shield.
I have been working with this company for many years, trusting that if problems were to arise with a product, Quality Window would find a happy outcome for the customer. This has been the case!!
Mike Hudson is a thorough and profesional sales representative, always willing to patiently take a call and mitigate doubts and concerns. John Poulos offers amazing customer service. Always prompt and communicative. The liaison between company and client could not be in better hands!!
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scarlet narciso
Great company that backs their product. We built a new house and Quality Window & Doors was the subcontractor for our Weathershield windows and doors.
Wayne and Noe came out to service a broken handle on our 16' Weathershield sliding door. We were technically beyond the warranty period but they repaired the handle for free. They also took the time to go around and adjust our other exterior doors to make sure they were well aligned now that the house had settled a bit. Wayne was a real expert and got all the doors adjusted and working perfectly!
Tucker Jones
Excellent products and service. The install went well too! Would definitely order from them again.
John Fu
Great service. I highly recommend Quality Window and Door for information, purchasing and service. I have used this firm for a number of years both as an architect and as a client. I've always been very satisfied with their products and service.
McCain McMurray
We are thrilled with our new windows and door! Excellent job from estimate to completion! The install team was fantastic and I loved that the lead installer was also present during the initial measurement phase. It took a few months for the windows to arrive so it was really nice to see a familiar face for the install and he knew exactly what to do! Highly recommend!!
Brenda
Quality Door and Window did a fantastic job at a reasonable price.in installing 23 replacement windows, including the combination of two windows into one larger picture window. Highly recommended.
Daniel Leach
QWD is a first rate company. The staff from product selection, estimate, showroom, measurement and installation were professional and highly competent. The installation crew paid attention to detail and went through great lengths to ensure our satisfaction. I love the new windows and I recommend them without reservation.
Sal Golub
Have relied on QW&D for all my window and door needs for over 25 years. I know I can count on their expertise and responsiveness.
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