uPVC door - is there a distinct front/back?

Zimchenko

Had a new door installed recently. When the installer turned up he thought it was meant to be opening  inwards although we had agreed it would open outwards.

The he 'realised' that it was indeed meant to open outwards, but it would be hung on the other side of the frame - not where we agreed.

At the time I didn't think much of it and thought at least it's opening the right way. But I've had other problems with them since and it has just dawned on me that he may have flipped the door so the outside was on the inside, and it would open in the direction I wanted.

I spoke to the manufacturer who did say the frosted glass should be on the inside - for me it's on the outside. The person I spoke to couldn't tell me much more. That in itself is fine, but will I have other problems?

Rodders53

The window pane will be easily removable from outside if it's been fitted the wrong way round.  Check out the removable glazing beading vs fixed to the frame beading.
A burglar's dream!
Pictures would likely help confirm.

It's also trivial for an installer to remove the DG pane (via removing those beads) and flip it round so that the frosted pane is inside rather than out.

But why on earth, if you specified LH hinge door did you accept RH hinge (or vice versa)?

Zimchenko

Thanks for your reply @Rodders53. I guess I was a bit of a pushover in accepting it hung on the wrong side, but I really just wanted it over and done with, plus it's the back door of a garage so a bit less important than my front door.

If they'd told me it would be inside out, I would have objected.

Since posting I did a bit more research and found people commenting about thermal values being affected - not too fussed about that but security is a different matter. As far as I can tell though, neither side has removable beading. Unless I just don't know what I'm looking for.

Pic attached.

It's a Hurst door, if that matters.

greenface2

its hard to tell from that pic to see the beads . zoom into the corner of the panel and I can tell . A few other things . show me the inside of the base rail where the door closes . It should be drained facing out not in . The handles look the right way around ( screws on the inside ) but theyre easy to switch around . hurst hinges are suitable inside and out but some hinges are not they only lift off when the door is open . Don't worry which way around the frosted is . It really doesn't matter and you can always flip the panel around anyway . close pic of the corner of the door and inside base where the door closes & I will tell you 

Zimchenko

Thanks for the offer @greenface2 . I've attached the pics (outside, inside then base). On closer inspection, it looks like there is removeable beading on the inside (tell me if I'm wrong) and when I poured water over the holes in the bases it flowed to the outside.

So I guess it's the right way round and he really did just order it to hang on the wrong side?

Weird, because Hurst were adamant that the frosted glass would indicate the inside face.

warwick2001

Firstly, I'm not an expert, but I can say fairly confidently that I have never seen a uPVC door where the hinges are on the outside (and I'm only speaking from friends/family houses, obviously I haven't seen every house in the country). To me, it looks odd. Not a deal breaker, but yeah, looks strange.

The beading looks correct, i.e. 1st pic outside beading non-removable, 2nd pic inside beading removable. And I can't say nowt about the frame, but looks like the drain holes are in the 'outer' side of the frame, which I believe is the right way. Its just those hinges......

Ectophile

warwick2001 said:

Firstly, I'm not an expert, but I can say fairly confidently that I have never seen a uPVC door where the hinges are on the outside (and I'm only speaking from friends/family houses, obviously I haven't seen every house in the country). To me, it looks odd. Not a deal breaker, but yeah, looks strange.

That will be because most doors open inwards.  It's not easy to put the hinges on the inside if the door opens outwards.

EssexExile

All looks good to me. Warwick should get out more

greenface2

Zimchenko said:

Thanks for the offer @greenface2 . I've attached the pics (outside, inside then base). On closer inspection, it looks like there is removeable beading on the inside (tell me if I'm wrong) and when I poured water over the holes in the bases it flowed to the outside.

So I guess it's the right way round and he really did just order it to hang on the wrong side?

Weird, because Hurst were adamant that the frosted glass would indicate the inside face.

the door is correct . the drains are correct . the handles the right way around (screws inside ) its just been ordered the wrong handed . hinges are correct too . It opens out ! The glass really doesn't matter but if it does the whole panel can be unglazed and flipped around without any problems. If it was next to another unit the other way around it would really bug me  . If it had a letterbox that would need to be reversed but it hasn't . I would have put a bit of sand and cement at the bottom outside between flags and frame , No big deal looks ok. Being the wrong way just messes around getting from back door to garage and the door will bonk on the step rather than open a bit wider than 90"