5 ms·

Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs and other places have push to get in, and handles to get out. Never understood that, I'd like to push to get out once

Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs and other places have push to get in, and handles to get out. Never understood that, I'd like to push to get out once I've washed my hands!

GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago
> Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs Wow! I've never known a pub with a 'bathroom'. Whist those in the USA use euphemisms such has 'bathroom' (mate, where is the bath?) or 'restroom' (I don't need a rest, I need a shit), here it is perfectly acceptable to ask the butler in Buckingham palace where the toilet is, or the bog for that matter. :-)
marbletiles 5y ago
Those doors are often on corridors. You don’t want them unexpectedly opening at speed into passing non-bathroom traffic. Conversely, people approaching the door from the inside will be further away as they have their hand out in readiness to pull, will expect the door to open — it’s generally lower risk.
aqme28 5y ago
Usually that's because the door is in the hallway and you don't want doors swinging out unexpectedly into people walking through a trafficked area.
KineticLensman 5y ago
Inside the bathroom itself, the doors on individual stalls usually open inwards. One pragmatic advantage of this approach is that if the door opens while you are seated, you can push it closed without getting up. Or requiring help from someone else outside. This also drives the use of push-in-pull-out handles.
- egypturnash 5y ago
  One major disadvantage of this approach is that if you are coming in with a bulky bag, or more (hauling carry-on luggage in an airport for instance), you have sharply limited space within to maneuver you and your stuff to a position where you can lift your skirts and do what you came here to do. Every time I go to a public bathroom with stall doors that open outward I am delighted.
  - tinha 5y ago
    You are forgetting about pregnants and bigger people. They usually have a hard time getting into the stalls.
    - cutemonster 5y ago
      Why don't someone design doors that can be both pushed and pulled, and locked I guess this exists at some places Plus a mechanism that prevents the doors from opening too fast outwards (so they won't hit anyone)
  - jamesgeck0 5y ago
    IIRC the Dallas airport had large selves in the wall behind the toilets for luggage. It was extremely convenient.
- paxys 5y ago
  The bigger reason is that space is usually tight in bathrooms and you don't want to slam the door into someone waiting outside when leaving the stall.
milesvp 5y ago
In the US this is a fire code issue. Doors need to swing inward to avoid people getting trapped inside from outside obstructions. edit: I seem to be misinformed about firecode. I may also be over extrapolating from what I know about bedroom doors as well. The general idea of obstruction is more valid there. It seems the more common reason bathrooms would not be allowed to swing outward is obstructing the minimum width of hallways.
- an_ko 5y ago
  Huh. In Finland, fire code requires that external doors swing outward. It's intended to make it faster to exit the building since you can just walk forward, and to prevent people getting trapped indoors if a panicked crowd tries to push out through the door.
  - fredophile 5y ago
    I believe the post above was only meant to be applied to interior doors. The explanation I've gotten in the past is interior doors open in so they don't block people outside the room, typically in a hallway, from being able to move towards the exit; Exterior doors open out so that the crowd of people rushing towards the exit can leave and you don't have a mass of panicked people stopping those at the front from having room to open the exterior doors.
  - JensRantil 5y ago
    Same in Sweden.
- reportingsjr 5y ago
  Not sure where you picked this up, but I don't think it is correct. From the 2018 international building code (which is what the US building code is based on): https://up.codes/viewer/illinois/ibc-2018/chapter/10/means-of-egress#1010.1.2.1 https://up.codes/viewer/illinois/ibc-2018/chapter/10/means-o...
  - iudqnolq 5y ago
Breza 5y ago
Here in the United States, doors are generally required to open out towards the nearest exit. Helps prevent panic in case of fire.
Fnoord 5y ago
Can you use your elbow to push your way out?

Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs and other places have push to get in, and handles to get out. Never understood that, I'd like to push to get out once I've washed my hands!

GoodbyeMrChips 5y ago

> Here in the UK a lot of bathrooms in pubs Wow! I've never known a pub with a 'bathroom'. Whist those in the USA use euphemisms such has 'bathroom' (mate, where is the bath?) or 'restroom' (I don't need a rest, I need a shit), here it is perfectly acceptable to ask the butler in Buckingham palace where the toilet is, or the bog for that matter. :-)

marbletiles 5y ago

Those doors are often on corridors. You don’t want them unexpectedly opening at speed into passing non-bathroom traffic. Conversely, people approaching the door from the inside will be further away as they have their hand out in readiness to pull, will expect the door to open — it’s generally lower risk.

aqme28 5y ago

Usually that's because the door is in the hallway and you don't want doors swinging out unexpectedly into people walking through a trafficked area.

KineticLensman 5y ago

Inside the bathroom itself, the doors on individual stalls usually open inwards. One pragmatic advantage of this approach is that if the door opens while you are seated, you can push it closed without getting up. Or requiring help from someone else outside. This also drives the use of push-in-pull-out handles.

egypturnash 5y ago
One major disadvantage of this approach is that if you are coming in with a bulky bag, or more (hauling carry-on luggage in an airport for instance), you have sharply limited space within to maneuver you and your stuff to a position where you can lift your skirts and do what you came here to do. Every time I go to a public bathroom with stall doors that open outward I am delighted.
- tinha 5y ago
  You are forgetting about pregnants and bigger people. They usually have a hard time getting into the stalls.
  - cutemonster 5y ago
    Why don't someone design doors that can be both pushed and pulled, and locked I guess this exists at some places Plus a mechanism that prevents the doors from opening too fast outwards (so they won't hit anyone)
- jamesgeck0 5y ago
  IIRC the Dallas airport had large selves in the wall behind the toilets for luggage. It was extremely convenient.
paxys 5y ago
The bigger reason is that space is usually tight in bathrooms and you don't want to slam the door into someone waiting outside when leaving the stall.

milesvp 5y ago

In the US this is a fire code issue. Doors need to swing inward to avoid people getting trapped inside from outside obstructions. edit: I seem to be misinformed about firecode. I may also be over extrapolating from what I know about bedroom doors as well. The general idea of obstruction is more valid there. It seems the more common reason bathrooms would not be allowed to swing outward is obstructing the minimum width of hallways.

an_ko 5y ago
Huh. In Finland, fire code requires that external doors swing outward. It's intended to make it faster to exit the building since you can just walk forward, and to prevent people getting trapped indoors if a panicked crowd tries to push out through the door.
- fredophile 5y ago
  I believe the post above was only meant to be applied to interior doors. The explanation I've gotten in the past is interior doors open in so they don't block people outside the room, typically in a hallway, from being able to move towards the exit; Exterior doors open out so that the crowd of people rushing towards the exit can leave and you don't have a mass of panicked people stopping those at the front from having room to open the exterior doors.
- JensRantil 5y ago
  Same in Sweden.
reportingsjr 5y ago
Not sure where you picked this up, but I don't think it is correct. From the 2018 international building code (which is what the US building code is based on): https://up.codes/viewer/illinois/ibc-2018/chapter/10/means-of-egress#1010.1.2.1 https://up.codes/viewer/illinois/ibc-2018/chapter/10/means-o...
- iudqnolq 5y ago

Breza 5y ago

Here in the United States, doors are generally required to open out towards the nearest exit. Helps prevent panic in case of fire.

Fnoord 5y ago

Can you use your elbow to push your way out?