Doors – ny problem with installing a prehung inswing exterior door backwards as an outswing

doorsexterior

My local home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes only have prehung inswing exterior doors, and I could special order an outswing prehung door but they're like $310+ whereas the equivalent inswing doors are around $170. I really don't want to pay double just because I'm installing an outswing door. Is there anything wrong with reversing a prehung door designed to inswing in terms of waterproofing or something I'm not considering? I'll of course switch to security hinges so you can't just pop the pins out and take the door off from the outside. Also I was wondering if it's possible to reverse the bottom plate so that it looks correct?

Thanks

Best Answer

I don't recommend this if the door is exposed to any sort of weather.

The threshold is different. This is the big issue, as you don't want standing water, and an exterior door isn't designed to deal with indoor rain. You'd also end up with rain pooling on the top edge of the door, which might be bad. Make sure all the hinges are rated for outdoor use; you don't want them to rust, and that's something an inswing door doesn't need to deal with.

Code wise, if you're switching from inswing to outswing, make sure there's enough room near the front door. If you have steps up to a small front stoop, an outswing door may not be code compliant, as you'd need to step off the stoop to open it. (And would be generally annoying to deal with.)