# New Storm Door's Handle Hits Front Door's Knob



## sixeightten (Feb 10, 2009)

This happens a lot. The best choice, if possible, is to get a storm door that is hinged the other way.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

If your entry door is RH swing inside, and the Storm is RH outside, the handles are on the opposite sides and there should be no problem. RH -LH will or could present a problem. Do you have sidelites on the door unit? Often the trim on them needs modification to handle a storm door. Pictures are priceless.


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## Norm202 (Apr 17, 2021)

Having the doors swing LH-RH makes for a very inconvenient entry into a house when knobs are at opposite sides. However there exceptions when this is unavoidable. Reasons are such things as strong wind pulling storm door, awnings interfering, swings blocks entrance on the stoop area, snow build up, etc... 
I would investigate if there are any door knobs for either the storm or entry door that might fit properly. And keep in mind most storm doors handles are installed at time of door install. Which means you need to drill holes in storm door. Maybe changing the up-down location might alleviate the interference so long as it's not too far up or down to make it convenient.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

chandler48 said:


> If your entry door is RH swing inside, and the Storm is RH outside, the handles are on the opposite sides and there should be no problem. RH -LH will or could present a problem. Do you have sidelites on the door unit? Often the trim on them needs modification to handle a storm door. Pictures are priceless.


Yes the handles will be on the same side. Left side when you're on the outside of the house with the storm door swinging out and the entry door swinging in.

No sidelites on the door unit. Pretty sure the storm door will work on the entrance no problem other than the handle conflict.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

Norm202 said:


> ...And keep in mind most storm doors handles are installed at time of door install...


This storm door has premade holes for the handles. I can't change the location.


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## Rough Rooster (Feb 7, 2015)

Have solved that problem several times with a 1" X 2" fastened to outside facing "framing the opening" and then attach storm door to the 1" X 2".


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## XSleeper (Sep 23, 2007)

Typically they do not interfere, since the standard height for the predrilled holes in the storm door are "supposed to" fall in-between the standard heights for the entry handle and deadbolt bore.

Do you know for a fact that they hit, or haven't you installed it yet?


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

XSleeper said:


> Typically they do not interfere, since the standard height for the predrilled holes in the storm door are "supposed to" fall in-between the standard heights for the entry handle and deadbolt bore.
> 
> Do you know for a fact that they hit, or haven't you installed it yet?


I haven't installed it yet, but it looks like the handle will hit the knob when the handle turns at opening from the outside. I assume the inside handle moves when the outside handle turns? The old storm door had a push handle on the inside so it wasn't an issue.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Standing in the doorway with the hinges to one side, which ever arm you use to replicate the door movement in the door's direction will determine handedness. Remember you have to turn around for your interior door's handedness. You appear to have a RH-LH set up, and as others mentioned there is seldom an issue with handles clashing. The only time I have had to modify for clashing handles is with doors that had sidelites. I added 1x2 overlay and they worked well.

I would stand the door up in the opening to see if there will be a conflict. I doubt there will be. Even with rotating handles, the pivot point won't matter, nor will the long handle.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

chandler48 said:


> Standing in the doorway with the hinges to one side, which ever arm you use to replicate the door movement in the door's direction will determine handedness. Remember you have to turn around for your interior door's handedness. You appear to have a RH-LH set up, and as others mentioned there is seldom an issue with handles clashing. The only time I have had to modify for clashing handles is with doors that had sidelites. I added 1x2 overlay and they worked well.
> 
> I would stand the door up in the opening to see if there will be a conflict. I doubt there will be. Even with rotating handles, the pivot point won't matter, nor will the long handle.


Yes LH outswing for the storm door and RH inswing for the front door, which puts the storm door handle and front door knob both on the left as seen from the outside of the house. The storm door knob is one of those long handles that will turn clockwise, so it looks like it will hit the knob when it turns as it's being turned from the outside.


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## XSleeper (Sep 23, 2007)

Another theoretical problem...  

Post back when you actually install the storm door and let is know if they interfere. As you said, its an older door so the height of your current handle may not be the same as modern doors. So yes, its possible it could interfere. But talking about it is kind of a waste of time. You will either need to get a different entry door or get a different storm door that does not come predrilled.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I installed dozens of doors and storm doors. Prime doors had handle bores 36” up, storms 40” up. You found something different. Having the storm hinge one way and the prime door the other way is not desirable. You have to open the storm and reach in by the hinge to unlock the inner door. Sometimes the closer is there on a center closer storm. Way back doors were denoted as left or right hinge as the door swings toward you. For example, an entry door might be inswing left hinge. An interior door can be installed either way around but still no errors. I remember ordering doors that way. No errors, always that way. Then home centers started using “handed”denotation which I have seen vary by manufacturer and store. The only way to avoid errors is to draw a sketch. A simple system made complicated.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

Old Thomas said:


> ...Way back doors were denoted as left or right hinge as the door swings toward you...


I was using Home Depot's Door Handling Guide. You're right that it's more complicated, but I guess they wanted to make sure people understood which way the door was swinging.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

If the front door is wood, you can relocate the handle/knob up or down.


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)




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## Norm202 (Apr 17, 2021)

huesmann said:


> If the front door is wood, you can relocate the handle/knob up or down.


But then you have holes you need to patch and you will need to mortise another frame latch!


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

owensdj said:


> I haven't installed it yet, but it looks like the handle will hit the knob when the handle turns at opening from the outside. I assume the inside handle moves when the outside handle turns? The old storm door had a push handle on the inside so it wasn't an issue.


The push handle is an after market thing, are you sure you can't use it on the new door.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

Nealtw said:


> The push handle is an after market thing, are you sure you can't use it on the new door.


Nope. The new screen door has a handle that turns clockwise to open. The old door has an integrated handle that you push forward to open. They're not interchangeable.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

I don't understand the problem with the turning handle. You can't open the screen door from the inside unless the wood door is open anyway. 



Old Thomas said:


> Having the storm hinge one way and the prime door the other way is not desirabl


Not necessarily. It depends on the traffic flow. Mom would exit to the left to the end of her long porch. She had a right hand entrance door, so I put a right hand storm door to force traffic to the open end. Otherwise you would have to walk around the storm to exit. Way too much in the way.


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## owensdj (Jun 5, 2021)

chandler48 said:


> I don't understand the problem with the turning handle. You can't open the screen door from the inside unless the wood door is open anyway.


When you turn the handle on the outside of the screen door to open it this also turns the handle on the inside because they're on a single shaft.


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## Norm202 (Apr 17, 2021)

Two of my kids have homes with the storm door handles on opposite sides from the entrance door. Believe me it's a PITA! I think the only reason they were put on is the previous owners were cheap and found these doors at discount. There are no reasons why they could not be adjacent to the entrance door. 
Like I said there are exceptions why you may need it opposite. Such as wind problem, blockage of stoop or porch, awning interference, or handle interference if they are the lever style vs the push style.
At my place of employment I sell storm doors and I always bring up the swing vs the entrance door to the customers. Amazing how many don't even think about how the door swings.


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## rjniles (Feb 5, 2007)

Move the storm door handle up or down by drilling new holes. Cover the old holes with a metal plate and paint to match.

Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


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## Randy Bush (Dec 9, 2020)

rjniles said:


> Move the storm door handle up or down by drilling new holes. Cover the old holes with a metal plate and paint to match.
> 
> Sent from my Lenovo TB-X606F using Tapatalk


That is not really a viable option with the higher quality storm doors. Normally only really have problems of hitting when have 2x4 walls. 2x6 wall give you a wide enough jamb to not have problems.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Norm202 said:


> But then you have holes you need to patch and you will need to mortise another frame latch!


So? It's easier than moving the handle on a storm door.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

Sometimes an opposing swing storm door is all that will work. That` doesn’t make it desirable enough to do if given a choice.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

I would rather deal with relocating the handle on the front door *once,* than deal with the hassle of the opposing swing doors *every time* I go in and out of the house!


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## Randy Bush (Dec 9, 2020)

Personally I find it quite normal with latches opposite. But being ambidextrous a lot of those kind of things don't bother me. 

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk


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## GrayHair (Apr 9, 2015)

Remember, I'm working blind here"
Old storm door didn't hit the door knob.​New storm door does hit the door knob.​Solution: Get a storm door that does not hit the door knob.​Alternate Solution: Get a new door that does not interfere the storm door.​


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## rogerwh (Mar 1, 2021)

owensdj said:


> I haven't installed it yet, but it looks like the handle will hit the knob when the handle turns at opening from the outside. I assume the inside handle moves when the outside handle turns? The old storm door had a push handle on the inside so it wasn't an issue.


You really need to measure both doors. I installed two storm doors last year on my home and the handles are close but they do not hit. I believe someone already stated the standard hardware height on entry doors and storm door. I just measured both doors I installed last year and they are both 40”, while the entry doors are both 36”.


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## rickwhoo (Nov 4, 2014)

Can you change the handle on either door?


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