Changing a door from an innie to an outie?

[Joe Nonety]

The door in my utility room opens into the utility room (which seems to be the case for most utility rooms - anyone know why?). When I get a fridge freezer the utilility door and fridge freezer door will bang into each other so unless I want to close the utility room door every time I want to open the freezer, I'd better change the door so that it opens into the kitchen instead. Is this an easy job for someone to do themselves?

 

[ClubMan]

You'll presumably need to change the frame to facilitate opening out rather than in. I would be inclined to leave to this to a chippie myself but I guess it depends on how handy you are. My guess is that if you have to ask then the job is probably beyond you.

Our utility room door opens out by the way.

 

[Leo]

Guess they open into the utility to give you more space in the kitchen, which gets more use.

Should be a DIYable task, depending on how the frames were made. If they're like the standard door kits, with trim tacked on to form the door stop, then it shouldn't be too difficult to remove the trim, though doing so neatly will be tricky, especially if the frame has been painted.

You will also have to move the hinges to the other side of both the door and frame. The lock mechanism will also have to be opened to reverse the catch.

Some level of damage to the frame and/or trim is inevitable, so you may need to repair or replace one or both.

If you're comfortable recessing hinges and hanging a door normally, this shouldn't proove too dificult.
Leo

 

[nt00deep]

Faced a similar problem recently when renovating a utility to put in more storage space. Considered changing the kitchen door to an outie but ended up just using a door-stop to keep the kitchen door open, and only shut the door now when the dryer is going. Works fine for me.

 

[elcato]

Can you change the direction of the fridge door. Some models provide steps to do this afaik.