Back door

[JohnBishop]

Hi Everyone, I hope you are well.
Are you allowed to installed back doors to open to the outside rather than to the inside like the front doors?

[andyscotland]

As far as I know there's no actual requirement for front doors to open in (unless you are directly onto the pavement/highway), it's just a tradition.

 

So I don't see any reason why a back door can't open out (and lots do, almost all patio doors for example).

[Mike]

1 hour ago, JohnBishop said:

Are you allowed to installed back doors to open to the outside

Absolutely. Any door can open outward - front, rear, side, whatever.

 

Edited July 23 by Mike

[Kelvin]

We don’t have a back door as such but the French Doors open out. Like the discussion on the other thread about this you need to think about supporting door in some way as the wind can rip outward opening doors out of your hand. 

[JohnMo]

We are the same @Kelvin, French doors. Wind is an issue. We have restrictions built in to doors to stop it going past 90 degs open, but is utter rubbish. Now have a hook and eye to keep door open at 90 degs. 

[ProDave]

Most of our external doors are inward opening, except the one to the balcony which opens out.  I can't recall the logic of why we chose that.

 

As others have said, outward opening needs care in wind but we are unlikely to use the balcony when it is windy.

 

But outward is way better in terms of keeping the weather out.  Our balcony door is very exposed and not a drop of wind driven rain has got in.

 

The other "normal" back door downstairs opens in and is exposed to wind driven rain from the west.  It does not leak when shut, the seals do a pretty good job of keeping the rain out.  But it is inevitable with the geometry of an outward opening door that it relies 100% on the seals to keep wind driven rain out.  The weakness is the small amount of wind driven rain that gets past the drip bead and then sits between the door and the frame, held back by the seal, and when you open the door that small amount comes in.