swing in or out

[Patosan]

G'day all, here's a somewhat trivial question.

Why do doors in Australian houses' rooms swing/open in, even for the toilet and front door ?
In Japan the doors swing out, again why I don't know.
Is there a logic to it, or is it just is that way and nobody knows why ?

 

[geoffw]

I'd just suspect that's the way it's always been done. Light switches in the US are Off in the down position; Hot and Cold water taps are the "wrong" way around in England.

And let's not forget which side of the road they drive on in the US and most other countries.

 

[Andrew]

External doors should swing in so that the hinges are on the inside.
Much harder to take a door off at the hinges when the hinges are
on the other side of said door!

andy

 

[asy]

Also, Front doors (the main, wooden, one) swings inward to allow for a flyscreen or security doors to remain closed while the main door is open.

The standard on Toilet doors where the length of the room is less than a certain amount was changed about 10 years ago, they used to always open inward, but the standard was altered so that now those with smaller rooms open outward.

This was not only to allow amenity of easier entry, but they found that elderly or infirm people were known to collapse inside the toilet room and end up slumped against the door, which hugely affected rescue times, whereas if the door opened outward, access was pretty much immediate.

There ya have it.

asy

 

[voodoo]

It would be hard to hold the toilet door shut if it swang outwards.

 

[Sunfish]

Queensland had Vince Lester, aka The Minister For Walking Backwards. (not to be mistaken for John Cleese and the Ministry for Silly Walks) His goal was to have all dunny doors opening outwards on safety concernes.

Disclamer: This post is more banter than serious comment!

Thommo

 

[Lplate]

Half-hinges can be used where toilet space is limited.

These hinges permit the door to be lifted upwards off the hinge to free the entry. The height of the door is adjusted to suit. It is a safety precaution in case anyone collapses whilst in the toilet.

 

[nutsa.1]

Makes sense to me. We drink a lot of beer and the least resistance when in a rush the better.

 

[Patosan]

Makes sense to me. We drink a lot of beer and the least resistance when in a rush the better.

Love it !
You could have the definitive answer.

 

[Rystar]

Half-hinges can be used where toilet space is limited.

These hinges permit the door to be lifted upwards off the hinge to free the entry. The height of the door is adjusted to suit. It is a safety precaution in case anyone collapses whilst in the toilet.

i think that these hinges have to be on all small inclosed rooms now, by law, in new houses built.
that was what i was told, when we built our first IP 2 years ago.

cheer
R