Interesting Buffettgirl. Post Cocoanut Grove fire, swing-out is mandatory on all public buildings, nationwide I believe. (In 1942, hundreds of people fleeing a fire in an elegant Boston nightclub crushed up against inward-swinging doors that then could not be pulled opened inwards against the crush. Nearly 500 people died. Accounts are absolutely horrific.) Why then should it be against code in Massachusetts on private residences? (I'm not doubting that you are correct, I just think it curious, even ironic, that it should be so. A puzzle.) It's probably not the primary exit anyway though, so that should probably not be a problem for Huango. I think, Huango, if you have a storm door, that pushing two doors outward wouldn't work (from inside you have to push the inner one open to get to the outer one, but there's no room ...). And depending on where the snow drifts, the door might get snowed in (or maybe that's not a problem if you don't use the deck much in winter). Or you could build a wind screen or overhang to divert the drifting snow. But otherwise? Obviously, check the code, but if it's the only reasonable solution, even if it's a bit odd, do it.

Yes, I have been wondering about that - we are in the NE and once had 3 ft of snow in one day. Our current porch does not fill up with snow because it is deep and walled on three sides, so snow rarely makes it to the storm door even though the winter winds blow straight into the open side. But the new entrance will be oriented differently and more exposed. The door will be near a corner L with two house walls, one side railing and the other open stairs. The porch roof will overhang 3 ft so that will give some shelter. However, the prevailing winds will blow towards the side with the rail, so I can see there might be some snow pile up there. I've been reading in other threads that some building codes do not allow an exterior door to swing out. Now that I think about it that cannot be the case in our town because our neighbour has an out-swing back door and I know he got permits for his addition. I should ask them if snow is an issue. Mind you, they don't go in and out of their back door much in the winter - they tend to use their side door- whereas we often park in the back of our house and use the back door year round. There will be room in the kitchen for the door to swing in, but I wanted to have the option of a larger table and chairs and didn't want the door area to feel cramped. Our current mud-room has a wide door that opens in and when I'm going in and out with the kids they have to step almost all the way out of the room or sidle around the door and it is a constant annoyance. I like the idea of just opening the door to the outside when they are all crowded around me. And I also like the idea of having the door wide open to the outside in the summer without it taking up space in the kitchen. Would an in-swing door be able to swing all the way back 180 degrees and sit against a wall? I guess the big advantage of the in-swing is we could have one of those retractable screen thingies. I hate storm doors!! I grew up in the UK and I find opening two doors is too much of a PITA, especially with one dog in the house and we're likely to get a new puppy in the next few years, too.

When choosing a hinge styled pair of doors. The biggest issue is clear spanned swing area for the doors to operate. If they swing in are they going to take up to much room in this area? If they swing out will they knock someone down the steps? These are the questions you must ask yourself before you make the purchase. A glider doesn't require any clearance so it offers a great alternative for close quarters. French doors on the other hand need to swing one way or the other. As for the screen issue that's easy. Pella doors and windows were born from the Rollscreen company back many years ago. That's what started their entire enterprise. The phantom screen installs inside the unit either way. Even their gliding unit has an interior sliding screen. Andersen just released their new invisible screen which is amazing in itself. I totally agree with DKB on pointing out the multi point locking of doors. We install doors and windows daily and I always push products which offer a higher security to the consumer. It's much easier to sleep at night knowing your safe. Marvin also offers a great door system. I'm a big Pella fan so I'm biased. So spend some time to go and check out the products displayed somewhere before you buy. They're all great products!!

Olychick the pantry doorway is larger than the rest of the wall space available so a pocket or barn door won't work in this case, unfortunately. There are 34" between the linen closet and vanity. The door itself is 26.5", so there should be plenty of room to get in and out of the bathroom. @cat_ky, Susie ., kudzu9 The door is 26.5". I don't believe they sell prehung doors in that size. If I were to find one, I'm not sure that would actually be easier. The frame and trim are all fine, I'm just looking to change the swing direction and replace the door slab itself. Rehanging a slab in the existing frame and patching old hinge and latch holes seems like less work than pulling the entire frame out, putting a new one in, and then adding trim. A lot cheaper too :) As I mentioned in the original post, I've replaced/rehung door slabs so I'm confident in my ability to size and hang a door properly. I'm mostly just looking for advice on patching the old hinge and latch holes and tips on replacing the door stop moulding since the current moulding is beveled on one side so it won't really "stop" the door properly once flipped.