Are Outward Opening Doors Less Secure? 3 Things You Should Know!
When it comes to security, outward opening doors are very different from inward opening doors. That’s because the weak points are completely opposite.
- With inward opening doors the main vulnerability is that they can be kicked in. In comparison, outward opening doors can’t be kicked in. Unless the door is made from thin wooden material and can literally be destroyed with a few hard kicks. But it won’t go down as easily either way.
- The main vulnerability of outward opening doors are the hinges. If the hinges are on the outside and easily accessible, the intruder could potentially remove them and then remove the door without too much fuss. So it’s really vital to use security hinges or secure the existing ones properly.
- The second vulnerability (or rather an inconvenience) of outward opening doors is that there aren’t as many extra security locks available. For example, you can’t use a basic door barricade or security bar to block the door from the inside, since it opens outwardly.
5 tips to secure an outward opening door
- tie the door knob to a piece of heavy furniture
- use a specific security bar that goes under or over the door knob and horizontally extends beyond the door. So if someone tries to pull the door from the outside, the security bar will be able to block their efforts.
- install security hinges with non-removable pins
- install a latch guard to prevent forced entry
- get a door lock hinge protector that prevents thieves from lifting out a steel door after removing the hinge pins.(for steel doors)
Related: How to lock a door without a lock
So are outward opening doors less secure?
To answer this question we have to look at multiple factors. If the hinges can’t be removed by an intruder and the door is locked properly, then an outward opening door can be very secure. If the hinges are easy to remove or the lock can be easily manipulated to open, then of course they won’t be fully secure.
This is why I recommend implementing the before mentioned tips. In a previous post, I fully explained how to implement these tips and mentioned a few affordable and reliable products you can use (security hinges, locks, latch guard, security bar..). Hope this helps!
