SWING AND HANDING
"Which way should my storm door open?"
This is the most common question I get when installing doors. The answer is, “whichever way you want it to.” If it’s your roof, it’s your rules. But if you are looking to blend in with the rest of your neighbors, then there are a few things you may want to consider.
First, ALL measurements assume you are standing OUTSIDE of your house looking at the front door. Now, here's where it can get tricky.
If you order your door from Lowe's, they will want to know the hinging. Hinging is either “left” or “right” and is simply determined by the side you want the storm door hinges to be on. See the picture for a visual reference.
If you order your door from Home Depot, they will want to know the handing. The handing is still either "left" or "right" and is determined by which side you want the door handle on.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Handing is the OPPOSITE of Hinging.
For instance, a right handed storm door is the same swing as a left hinged storm door, and vice versa.
Now, a good rule-of-thumb is that you want the handle of the screen door to be on the same side as the entry door. That’s the way it is normally done. However, there are a few cases where this is not true.
One such case is if you have a wall close to the opening. It is always preferable to have the door open towards a wall that is 12″ or less from an entryway. This is to ensure that your “traffic pattern” is not interrupted, meaning that people won’t have to open and then walk around it to get into the house. Doing this ensures that the storm door is not in your way when you enter and exit the house.