Converting INswing French Doors to OUTswing

[Brad Gobble]

my shop is small (18x18) attached to our home. To make it easier to move stuff in and out AND be able to open up the doors on a nice day (yes, seattle gets nice) I'd like to replace my current door and window with outswing french doors. I am an experienced carpenter, to getting to an appropriate rough opening is not a big deal. But I am having a heck of a time finding outswing doors.

I've found some doors that match our current doors on CL for $400 .... Iwant to pull the trigger, but...

Any of you guys ever skin this cat?

[Rick Potter]

If you are contemplating prehung units, can you just take off the sill and reverse it?

Rick Potter

[Brad Gobble]

that is what i'm thinking ... we have one set of outswing and for the life of me I can't discern a real difference (maybe the hinges)

[Erik France]

Is your existing door protected be any overhangs or a porch? Do you get much wind-driven rain & how weathertight do you need them? I've never had to purchase any, but I've specd Marvin & Pella outswings on a lot of plans. I know they're not exactly cheap, but they perform well.

I kind of like outswings for high wind areas. The wind force will make a door seal up tighter than an inswing. Might think about commercial hinges if security is a concern.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've done it twice. There's a bit of an issue with potential water infiltration at the top of the door. On an inswing door, the top of the door is always inside the house, and is never exposed to water. On an outswing, the top is always outside of the house. There's a potential for rain to blow in on top of the door, or for water to dribble down the face of the house or casing, and to to turn the corner on to the top jamb, and eventually pool on top of the door. Water sitting on top of the door is a bad thing. An overhang fastened to the house will help, as might flashing on the top of the door.

.. just reversing the sill doesn't work with most prehungs. The door stop molding is generally not in the middle of the jamb, so if you turn the sill around, it won't line up with the door. I made my own jambs so I could put the door stops where I wanted them.

[Erik France]

An overhang fastened to the house will help, as might flashing on the top of the door.

If it's exposed some sort of drip is a must. I like having a drip at the sill too, especially the integrated sweep & drip ones that fasten to the bottom of the door.

[Brad Gobble]

thanks guys ... I have an 18" overhang and the current door is well protected. It is a Western exposure wall, and it is inland Seattle, so harsh weather for us is non-existant (having grown up in Michigan).

Seems like consensus is
1. make my own jambs (kind of expected that)
2. install flashing with a drip edge is smart (may add that to the existing outswing door as well .. thanks Jamie)
3. commercial hinges
4. Eric, good call on the bottom of the door ... agreed

I have some more time since the beautiful doors I found on CL are 15 light and i need 10 light to match the existing doors

[Philip Berman]

Isn't having regular hinge-pins on the outside a security issue? I have outswing Pellas which have a hinge that has a set-screw which must be loosened while the door is partially open in order to remove the pin. Otherwise, someone could just pop the pins, remove the door, and now the inside of your shop (and maybe the house) is there for the taking. At least that's what they told me when I was purchasing several sets of out-swing doors.

[Erik France]

Phillip, That's where the commercial type hinges come in, they are like your outswing Pella hinges.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Easiest way is to install them backwards. I've done this more than once. As long as you are covered by a roof and security isn't a big issue [hinges will be exposed], this way is the least amount of hassle.

[Jim Becker]

I purchased pre-hung, steel insulated outs-swing doors for my shop without problem. I did need to order them, but it only took a few days for them to arrive. I bought from the local full service lumber/building materials place, not the 'borg. Note that out-swing doors need to have security hinges to avoid a crook being able to lift the doors off by pulling the pins.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Here, those doors are twice the cost of the normal in swings and they take weeks to get here....how about where you are Jim?

[David Helm]

When you order your "prehung" doors, just specify outswing and they will be jambed appropriately. I've done it many times over the years for clients and have three sets of outswing french doors on my own house.

[John Olier]

Those commercial hinges are called NRP or (non removable pin)