The location of the doors in the corridor. How should fire doors be opened?
The question of where to open interior doors worries many owners. Moreover, it is important to understand whether there is a difference in which room the door is in, or whether they have a certain principle in terms of design. It is necessary to figure out from which side it will be more convenient to open them, and also whether there are fire safety requirements in this regard.
Different points of view on interior doors
From the point of view of convenience, the interior door is usually installed in such a way that it can be opened into the room. This is done so that there is no inconvenience in the corridor. Especially if it concerns just begun repair, skidding of large things, furniture, household appliances. Also, so that space is not lost in the corridor and no hustle is created. It is better to place the interior door in the bathroom so that it opens outward from the room. Exactly the same as the doors from the kitchen, as these are the most dangerous rooms in an apartment or house.
Note! In the bathroom, safety precautions come into force: it is easy to slip on a wet floor and if this happens, then a person can simply push the door to get out. Or to let other people know about the trouble that has occurred.
From the point of view of aesthetics, there are no criteria for the opening sides of interior doors. But according to the advice of Feng Shui, there are recommendations for attracting positive energy to your home. For this to happen, it is necessary to take into account:
- interior;
- design;
- decor elements.
After that, you can already decide in which direction the interior door opens. From the point of view of this philosophical teaching, doors play an important role in how life energy flows. It must be clearly understood that the doors to the bedroom, living room, kitchen must be set so that they open into the room, and strictly to the left of the one entering it. Another Feng Shui rule says that when opening interior doors, the entire room or most of it should be visible.
They should not meet obstacles like walls, pieces of furniture. They must also have strong locks so that they cannot open and close spontaneously. Then the flow of vital energy will not disappear and will remain with the household. Do not forget that, subject to aesthetic and philosophical options, the first place should be the safety of those living in an apartment or house.
Therefore, according to the requirements of building codes, all doors must open outwards. This option is far from always convenient, but it can provide a chance for salvation in case of an emergency. However, it should be borne in mind that it is impossible to block the doors of neighbors in the landing or corridor by opening them. It is for this reason that when deciding in which direction the interior doors should open, you need to take into account other people living in neighboring apartments. And it is better to ask for advice from the construction company to find out whether this or that arrangement of doors will be correct and safe.
According to the rules of fire safety, interior doors in the apartment must open outwards. For country houses, this prescription does not apply: the choice of the direction of plowing depends on the desire of the owners. Another permitted option is a sliding design.
There are several types of interior doors.
The swing version is considered a classic. It is mounted on hinges on the rack, when closed it enters a special groove. Can open inward or outward. The door can be made of different types of material, equipped with a lock or a latch.
Sliding ride on special rollers. May have 1 or 2 doors. Used in small spaces. Their main advantage is safety.
Folding folded into an accordion. Often used in public institutions to create an interior.
Building codes and rules SNIP
By default, the front door opens outwards. This makes hacking more difficult. It is important to agree with the neighbors in the stairwell about the opening directions, so that in the event of a fire, do not prevent other people from leaving the burning building.
Doors that open inward are installed in the nursery. This is necessary to avoid a situation in which a minor is banned from the room. It is more convenient to break out the structure that opens into the room.
The design for exiting the bathroom should swing open into the corridor. This is due to the fact that in the event of a fire, it will be easier for a person to open the passage by pushing the door. In addition, such a measure will prevent a situation in which the unconscious person will support the door from the inside: the bathroom can be easily opened, help will arrive faster.
The kitchen is the most fire-prone part of the house. The interior door leading from it should open outwards so that a person in case of fire could easily leave the space of the room. You can also install a sliding option. When opening the sash, there will be no additional difficulties with the exit.
All rooms with a small area, having a doorway leading into the corridor, open outwards in the apartment. This layout allows people to quickly get out of them. In addition, an inward-opening door can easily become blocked if the occupant passes out.
For a dressing room or pantry, it is better to choose folding or sliding doors. Since the installation option that opens inward is rarely obtained due to the small space of the room, often people choose structures that swing open into the corridor. In the event of a fire, they can become an unnecessary obstacle, detain people leaving the burning space.
How to plan a breakaway system
The location of interior doors must comply with fire safety requirements. A specialist should be consulted before installation in order not to encounter difficulties in case of danger.
The door to the room should open so as not to impede the exit from other rooms. If the doors collide, there is a risk that people will prevent each other from leaving the room during a fire.
There are right and left opening doors. To make the layout as safe and convenient as possible, it is recommended to use various combinations and alternations: you can arrange them so that when the doors are opened at the same time, they do not touch, people do not turn out to be locked.
Some people prefer feng shui layouts: Eastern philosophy says that the door should open inward so as not to let happiness out of the house. But this is dangerous: such a system can create an obstacle in a fire. In addition, internal opening doors are easier to crack. It will not be possible to install an additional door for better sound insulation and heat preservation with this option.
Sliding structures will be a good option for rooms that can be freely entered by all family members. They swing open easily, take up little space, and will not harm people with sudden opening and closing. In addition, such options have a pleasant appearance, can become an element of the interior.
Where should the interior door open? No matter how strange this question may seem to you and the obvious answer, there are whole standards according to which interior doors must open in a strictly defined direction.
Schemes for opening interior doors.
Moreover, it can open not only outside and inside the room, but also to the left and right. That is, there are as many as 4 ways to place an interior door.
According to the fire safety rules and SNIP, which must be observed by all building organizations without exception, in small-sized rooms (bath, toilet, kitchen), doors must open outward. This arrangement is due to the fact that in case of an emergency it will be easier for a person to leave the room by opening it to the outside. In addition, if a person becomes ill and is unconscious in a small room, he will not be able to block the door that is opened to the outside. And this means that precious minutes will be saved, and help will come much faster.
So how are the doors supposed to open? The basic rule for installing interior doors is: they should open in the direction where the space is larger. Most often, with a standard layout, this rule implies that interior doors should open towards the room. But on the staircase, the situation is the opposite. That is, it should go outside, not inside. This requirement is dictated by security considerations. Outsiders will not be able to crack it with a simple physical effort, that is, such a door cannot be knocked out. However, if when you open your front door it takes up a lot of space in the stairwell and makes it difficult to move, it would make more sense to make it open in the opposite direction.
SNiP regulations
Door installation diagram.
According to building codes and regulations (SNiP) "Fire safety of buildings and structures" dated 01/21/1997, doors at emergency exits and on escape routes should open towards the exit from the building. In all other cases, the direction for opening is not regulated, since it does not have standards. Below is a list of them:
- apartment buildings;
- private houses;
- premises in which no more than 15 people can be at the same time;
- pantries, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich is not more than 200 m²;
- bathrooms;
- the outer walls of buildings that are located on the northern side of the climatic zone.
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Interior door fixing.
Also, the SNiP document dated 01/21/1997 states that at the design stage of the building it is necessary to position the doors in such a way that at the moment of simultaneous opening they should not block each other. That is why there are situations when, in the same room, the doors, although they open in one direction, but from a different hand. Today, there are "right" and "left" doors. In Russia, these standards differ significantly from European canons. For example, if a door is opened with right hand it is considered to be "right". And if to open you need to use left hand, then such a door is considered "left". Experts advise to be extremely careful when buying them and not to neglect the advice of consultants. If you need a "left" door, then be sure to describe it to the seller as the one in which the hinges are located on the left side when opened towards you.
Space Saving Design Solutions
Modern housing layout sometimes puts the owners of living space in front of a difficult choice: follow fire safety rules and install doors strictly according to the rules, or install according to the intended design, which, although it looks beautiful, does not always have a functional component.
We all know the fact that a full-fledged swing door is able to take up a sufficient amount of space at the time of opening and closing. Therefore, when you install it, try to find a "golden mean" in which the location will not only be beautiful, but also convenient and safe.
If your priority is saving every centimeter in the room, then the front door should open outward.
And if the corridor space is occupied by shelving or a wardrobe, then for greater convenience it will have to be mounted in such a way that it opens into the room.