Handed-ness of doors

[Woody2Shoes]

I remember reading somewhere that Sarah Beeny, bless her, always gets internal doors re-hung on period properties, as the old way of hanging them was to maximise the 'modesty' of those in the room, whereas the new way is to make best use of space and light without caring about such old-fashioned notions.

I wonder if there are any conventions - old or new - regarding external, front doors as to which side the hinges go on?

Cheers, W2S

 

[AndyT]

A quick image search suggests that front doors can be either way round:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=front+door&t= ... &ia=images

I'd just add that in a terrace, with neighbouring houses built as mirror image pairs, the front doors will (usually?) be a sociable mirror pair. That way, if both are in use at the same time, the residents can talk to each other without being hidden from each other behind their doors.

 

[MikeG.]

I remember reading somewhere that Sarah Beeny, bless her, always gets internal doors re-hung on period properties, as the old way of hanging them was to maximise the 'modesty' of those in the room, whereas the new way is to make best use of space and light without caring about such old-fashioned notions.

I wonder if there are any conventions - old or new - regarding external, front doors as to which side the hinges go on?

Cheers, W2S

Sarah Beeney is dead right, for once, but mainly for Victorian/ Edwardian era houses, where the concern was that servants could enter a room unexpectedly and catch the occupants up to something they shouldn't be doing.

The logic with front doors, which always open in, is that they should open in such a way as to cause the least obstruction for people entering the house.

 

[SBJ]

I remember reading somewhere that Sarah Beeny, bless her, always gets internal doors re-hung on period properties, as the old way of hanging them was to maximise the 'modesty' of those in the room, whereas the new way is to make best use of space and light without caring about such old-fashioned notions.

I wonder if there are any conventions - old or new - regarding external, front doors as to which side the hinges go on?

Cheers, W2S

Front doors usually open in and there's normally a 'common sense' way for them the be hung. Stairs, cupboards, traffic flow, other doors usually determine what is most appropriate. As mentioned, in terraces, doors are often seen as pairs and that might also dictate the handedness of them. As far as I know, there are no hard and fast rules for it though.

 

[Rob Platt]

We've always put them on the other side from the lock HTH
all the best
rob

 

[Mike Jordan]

The convention is to hang the door to cloak the room when opened, not a frequent question since the light switch is normally placed in such a position that reversing the door would cause inconvenience. My servants are very discrete as well.

 

[MikeG.]

The convention is to hang the door to cloak the room when opened.........

No. That was the convention. It hasn't been the convention for donkeys years now.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

We've always put them on the other side from the lock HTH
all the best
rob

Lock????? :!: :?

 

[doctor Bob]

We've always put them on the other side from the lock HTH
all the best
rob

Made me laugh.........

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I remember reading somewhere that Sarah Beeny, bless her, always gets internal doors re-hung on period properties, as the old way of hanging them was to maximise the 'modesty' of those in the room, whereas the new way is to make best use of space and light without caring about such old-fashioned notions.

I wonder if there are any conventions - old or new - regarding external, front doors as to which side the hinges go on?

Cheers, W2S

Sarah Beeney is dead right, for once, but mainly for Victorian/ Edwardian era houses, where the concern was that servants could enter a room unexpectedly and catch the occupants up to something they shouldn't be doing.

The logic with front doors, which always open in, is that they should open in such a way as to cause the least obstruction for people entering the house.

Servants.... I'm not sure my house was built, in the Edwardian era, for a high enough status of person - maybe my doors are simply done the 'modest' way because the chippy (who signed and dated the outside of the door frame 110+ years ago) was used/trained to do them that way. That said, I think it's fair to say that previous generations expected to fit more people into a given amount of housing - whether or not they were paid (in cash/kind) to be there. I know that my house started off with two families of farm labourers living in it. Modern households tend to be smaller numerically as well as physically.

 

[sunnybob]

Back in the day... Front doors opened inwards and the hinge was on the left because the owner then had his sword or pistol in his right hand ready to kill whoever was knocking if he so deemed it necessary.
Similarly, internal doors were handed so that an intruder had his right hand occupied with the handle, putting him at a disadvantage to the rooms occupants.
Left handers were not taken into consideration as they were the work of the devil.

You lot have all gone soft (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

 

[shed9]

We have a fairly old factory (150+) that we are perpetually converting into a home . When my father in law turned up at an early stage the first thing he noted was the doors were hung the wrong way around. Other than the bathrooms he had no substantive answer to back this up, it was just wrong to him. Clearly it's now mostly a generational notion.
Personally other than opening onto a WC I'd say it's what ever makes best use of space and is the more practical for each respective space.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Back in the day... Front doors opened inwards and the hinge was on the left because the owner then had his sword or pistol in his right hand ready to kill whoever was knocking if he so deemed it necessary.
Similarly, internal doors were handed so that an intruder had his right hand occupied with the handle, putting him at a disadvantage to the rooms occupants.
Left handers were not taken into consideration as they were the work of the devil.

You lot have all gone soft (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

I suppose it all 'hinges' on which 'left' you're talking about....... :lol: And you've ignored left-footers....

 

[MikeG.]

...... other than opening onto a WC..........

If it downstairs, and the building is subject to building control, then the door must open out.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

...... other than opening onto a WC..........

If it downstairs, and the building is subject to building control, then the door must open out.

Is that (only) Part M ?

 

[sunnybob]

Back in the day... Front doors opened inwards and the hinge was on the left because the owner then had his sword or pistol in his right hand ready to kill whoever was knocking if he so deemed it necessary.
Similarly, internal doors were handed so that an intruder had his right hand occupied with the handle, putting him at a disadvantage to the rooms occupants.
Left handers were not taken into consideration as they were the work of the devil.

You lot have all gone soft (hammer) (hammer) (hammer)

I suppose it all 'hinges' on which 'left' you're talking about....... :lol: And you've ignored left-footers....

Theres a good reason that the Latin word for "left" is SINISTER
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[MikeG.]

...... other than opening onto a WC..........

If it downstairs, and the building is subject to building control, then the door must open out.

Is that (only) Part M ?

I think so. To be honest, I've been drawing outward opening loo doors for 15 or 20 years, so I haven't checked for a very long time. There is also a requirement for a clear space in front of the toilet bowl which catches many people out.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

I think so. To be honest, I've been drawing outward opening loo doors for 15 or 20 years, so I haven't checked for a very long time. There is also a requirement for a clear space in front of the toilet bowl which catches many people out.

I'm ashamed to admit that lack of clear space in front of the bowl has caught me out in the past! :lol:

 

[OscarG]

Theres a good reason that the Latin word for "left" is SINISTER
:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Yep, to my amusement I discovered that left is sinistra when learning a bit of Italian a few years back. 8)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

And ambidextrous literally means you have two right hands.