What Is A Right-Hand Vs Left-Hand Door? | Quick Guide

Right-Hand Vs Left-Hand Door Explained For Pros And DIYers

Handing names the hinge side and the swing. Stand on the secure or exterior side. Look at the hinges. Then watch how the leaf moves. Hinges on the right with a push away from you is a right-hand door. Hinges on the right with a pull toward you is right-hand reverse. Hinges on the left with a push is left-hand. Hinges on the left with a pull is left-hand reverse. That’s the whole trick.

If you prefer a short refresher with pictures, the Schlage guide on door handing shows the same four cases in simple art, and it matches what you see on most job sites and in most catalogs. See Schlage’s handing guide for a visual cross-check.

The Outside Or Secure Side Rule

Always judge from the outside or keyed side. For a home’s front entry, that’s the street side. For an office, that’s the corridor or public side. For a closet or a low-value room with a privacy latch, call the hall side the outside. This keeps language steady across trades. An architecture note from Archtoolbox states the same approach and uses the same four labels: LH, RH, LHR, RHR. See the Archtoolbox door handing note.

Quick Chart You Can Trust

When calls get rushed, say the code out loud as you write it. Stand outside, spot the hinges, and note inswing or outswing. Write LH, RH, LHR, or RHR on your sketch so the supplier reads it clearly.

Determining A Left-Hand Vs Right-Hand Door In Seconds

Use this no-drama method when you walk up to any opening at a job or a store. It works for wood, hollow metal, fiberglass, or glass kits. It also lines up with how many hardware makers print their spec sheets.

Step-By-Step Method (No Tools)

1. Stand on the outside or keyed side. If one side has a keyed cylinder and the other has a thumbturn, you’re on the correct side when you can see the key hole.
2. Find the hinges. Note left or right.
3. Move the leaf a few inches. If it goes away from you, call it inswing. If it comes toward you, call it outswing (reverse).
4. Say the hand: left-hand for left inswing, right-hand for right inswing, left-hand reverse for left outswing, right-hand reverse for right outswing.

Alternate Memory Tricks

Some techs like “use your hand on the latch side” or the “knuckles test” where the back of your hand faces the hinge side. Those can work, yet the outside-and-hinge method keeps everyone on the same page when ordering locks, closers, and exit devices.

What “Reverse” Really Means

“Reverse” tells you the door swings toward the outside. A left-hand reverse door has hinges on the left as you stand outside and you pull it toward you. A right-hand reverse door has hinges on the right and pulls toward you. The term came from metal door work, and you’ll see it in many commercial charts.

Why Handing Matters More Than People Think

A latch needs the correct bevel and deadlatch orientation. A lever set should point at the hinge when at rest so the return clears the frame. A closer arm and shoe need a mounting side that matches the swing. If you mismatch, you get levers upside down, deadlatches that never set, or closers that bind. Manufacturers rely on the four labels above to ship the correct parts.

Standards bodies publish shared terms so specs read the same across brands. The BHMA program ties handing to performance and templating across many products. You can browse the public catalog to see the A156 series that governs locks, closers, hinges, and exit devices. BHMA’s A156 standards outline the range of hardware types.

Edge Cases That Trick People

Corner offices with double doors, pairs with only one active leaf, rooms with card readers on both sides, and narrow sidelights can lead to quick guesses that turn out wrong. Slow down and find the outside. If you still feel unsure, step back and look for the keyed cylinder, access control reader, or address numbers. Those clues point to the outside.

Pairs With A Mullion Or A Dummy Leaf

On pairs, each leaf still has a hand. Call the active leaf by its own hand and note the inactive leaf as “inactive” on the order. If there’s a removable mullion and exit devices, trim is often handed and devices often are not. Read the device sheet to see if the chassis is field reversible before you order handed trim.

Glass Kits And Patch Fittings

Many glass packages use non-handed levers and floor closers that work both ways. Even so, the opening still has a hand for panic hardware and electric strikes. Training pages from ASSA ABLOY show that closers and patches are often non-handed but still installed on a specific side of the leaf.

Field Test: Read A Door Hand In Under 10 Seconds

Walk to the corridor side. If there’s a key, you’re there. Label the hinge side in your head. Nudge the leaf. Speak the hand. Write it on the schedule. Time yourself three times and you’ll never forget it. Practice again tomorrow. Timing builds confidence.

Handing Names You’ll See On Cut Sheets

Catalogs vary in how they print the same idea. Some say “inswing” and “outswing.” Some say “reverse” for outswing models. Some use the two-letter codes. Here’s a quick map between labels you may run into while reading datasheets or web stores.

Label Map Across Common Notations

• LH = left hinge, push away. Often called left inswing.
• LHR = left hinge, pull toward you. Often called left outswing.
• RH = right hinge, push away. Often called right inswing.
• RHR = right hinge, pull toward you. Often called right outswing.

Hardware That Cares About Handing

Not every part cares. Many are field reversible. Many hinges are symmetric. Mortise locks, some cylindrical locks, some electrified trim, and many vertical rod exit trims do care. Door closers may be “non-handed” yet still ship with brackets and arms set for one side of the opening, so the shop drawing still asks for the hand. Use the table below as a fast filter when you write a takeoff.

Room Layout, Safety, And Swing Direction

For stairs, egress paths, and fire doors, swing direction isn’t a guess. Many openings in public buildings swing toward the path of travel by plan. Hardware standards and code books spell out the tests and clearances for the installed kit. The same A156 series sets the lab checks for closers, hinges, and locks that keep doors moving the way they should.

Ordering Without Surprises

When you send a PO or a cut list, include four little facts: hand, inswing or outswing, frame depth, and door thickness. Put the hand right next to the item number. Add a quick note if the corridor side carries a reader or keypad. If you are swapping a left-hand reverse leaf for a right-hand reverse due to a remodel, call that out so the shop knows hinges and strike prep locations change.

Simple Field Notation That Works

Write the hand on the hinge jamb at the top in pencil during survey. Take a photo of the hinge side and the strike side. Snap the threshold. Note any closer brand and arm. These small touches save calls later when the box shows up.

Fixes When The Wrong Hand Arrives

Some lever sets allow you to flip the handing on site. Many exit device trims can switch sides by moving the handing plate. Many cylindrical latches rotate. Mortise cases and anti-ligature trims rarely switch. If a closer body is truly non-handed, you can remount the arm on the other side. If the closer is handed, swap for the mirror model. Schlage and other makers post short videos on flipping levers if you need a quick walk-through.

Reading Handing On Pairs, Dutch, And Double-Egress

Pairs with an astragal are common in schools and clinics. If the pair has only one active leaf, speak the hand for that leaf and call the other leaf inactive. A true communicating pair with two active leaves shares a meeting stile; each leaf still has its own hand. Dutch doors split the leaf top and bottom; the hand follows the full height hinge side, not the latch shelf. Double-egress pairs swing away from each other. Each leaf is handed by its own hinge side and swing from the corridor, so you often see opposite hands across the pair.

Quick Practice Scenarios

Test yourself with these short scenes. Think of the opening, then say the hand out loud.

• You stand in a hallway. The hinges sit on your left. You push to enter a classroom. That’s left-hand.
• You face a storeroom from the corridor. Hinges on your right. The door pulls toward you. That’s right-hand reverse.
• You’re on a porch looking at a front entry. Hinges on your left. The door pulls toward you. That’s left-hand reverse.
• You’re in an office looking at a server room door with a crash bar. Hinges on your right. You push to go in. That’s right-hand.
• You stand at a patient room. The pair has one active leaf with a mullion. The active leaf’s hinges are on the left and it pulls toward the hall during an emergency. That leaf is left-hand reverse.

Left-Hand Vs Right-Hand Door Mistakes To Avoid

• Guessing from the swing alone. You need the hinge side as well.
• Standing on the wrong side. Use the keyed side when in doubt.
• Mixing front entry habits with interior pairs. Always apply the same rule.
• Ordering handed trim for a non-handed chassis without reading the sheet.
• Assuming closers never care. Mounting and arm style still tie to swing.

Bottom Line

Stand outside. Spot the hinges. Move the leaf. Speak the hand. That sequence never steers you wrong. Use the chart near the top for a fast check, and flag items that need a handed order. With a little practice, you’ll read any opening in seconds and send clean notes to the shop.