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GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services · Toronto & GTA
Work out the hand of any door before ordering levers, closers, mortise locks or multipoint parts.
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Learn more
Door handing is one of those details nobody thinks about until a new lever handle points the wrong way, a new door hits the wall on the wrong side, or a replacement lock arrives that will not fit the door it was bought for. The "hand" of a door describes which side the hinges are on and which way the door swings. Many locks, levers, closers and exit devices are made for a particular hand, or have to be set up for it.
Getting the handing right before ordering hardware saves returns, extra holes and a second visit.
The standard way is to stand on the outside of the door, the side you would be on when you use a key to enter. For a room door, the outside is usually the hallway side. For an exterior door, it is the street or yard side.
From there, look at where the hinges are and which way the door swings.
Left hand (LH). Hinges on the left, door swings away from you, into the room.
Right hand (RH). Hinges on the right, door swings away from you, into the room.
Left hand reverse (LHR). Hinges on the left, door swings towards you, out of the room.
Right hand reverse (RHR). Hinges on the right, door swings towards you, out of the room.
Most house entrance doors and interior doors swing inwards, so they are left hand or right hand. Many commercial doors, storm doors and some side and garage doors swing outwards, so they are reverse-handed.
Some manufacturers and some countries describe handing differently, for example by standing on the hinge side or the push side, so it is worth checking how a particular maker defines it before ordering.
Levers. Many lever handles are handed so the lever points towards the hinges when at rest, or so the curve of the lever sits the right way. Some levers are reversible, others have to be ordered for the hand or changed over inside. A lever fitted to the wrong hand may droop or point the wrong way.
Handlesets. Exterior handlesets with a thumb latch and an inside lever usually need the inside lever set for the hand.
Mortise locks. Mortise locks have a latch bolt with a bevel that must face the strike, and many have to be set for the hand by reversing the latch. Some also need the functions set for which side is the secure side.
Deadbolts. Most standard deadbolts are not handed, but thumbturn orientation and some decorative designs are.
Multipoint locks. Multipoint gearboxes and strips are often handed, and the keepers are handed to match. A replacement must be the same hand, which is one of the first things identified in multipoint lock repair.
Door closers. Closers are mounted differently depending on hand and on whether they sit on the push or pull side of the door.
Exit devices. Panic bars are often handed for the rod or latch arrangement, and reverse-handed doors are common in commercial exits, which is part of choosing panic bars and exit devices.
Hinges. Some hinges are handed, particularly rising butt hinges and certain spring hinges.
Handing also decides where the hinge pins are. On an in-swinging door, the hinge pins are inside. On an out-swinging, reverse-handed door, the hinge pins are outside, and security hinges or hinge studs are needed so the door cannot be lifted out, the same concern raised for door hinge security.
It also affects where a latch guard is useful. On an out-swinging door, the latch sits on the outside face of the stop, where it can be pried, and a latch guard covers that gap.
Sometimes a door needs to swing the other way: to open up floor space, to clear a new cabinet, or to meet a building requirement. Changing the swing means rehanging the door with the hinges on the other side or the other face, moving the strike, and often filling the old hinge and strike mortises. The lock may need to be re-handed or replaced, and the old preparation filled so the door stays strong, as with other old lock holes.
Pairs of doors have an active leaf and an inactive leaf, each with its own hand. The active leaf carries the lock; the inactive leaf carries flush bolts. When ordering hardware for a pair, both leaves need to be described, which is part of setting up French doors and double door locks.
Measure and note:
A photograph from the outside, with the door partly open so the hinges and swing are visible, makes the handing clear to anyone ordering parts. Backset, bore size and door thickness are the other checks when measuring a door for a new lock.
Door closers are one of the most handing-sensitive pieces of hardware. A closer mounted on the push side of the door is set up differently from one on the pull side, and the arm, the mounting position and sometimes the internal valves differ with the hand. Many modern closers are non-handed and can be set up for either, but the mounting template still depends on the hand and the side of the door. Getting it wrong leaves a door that slams or will not close.
On commercial doors, exit devices such as panic bars are mounted on the push side, which is almost always the inside of an out-swinging exit door. Rim devices, vertical rod devices and mortise devices each have handing considerations for the latch, the rods and the outside trim. When replacing an exit device, matching the hand of the existing device, or confirming the new device is non-handed, avoids a second visit.
On exterior doors, the handing also decides where weather-stripping and door sweeps sit. An in-swinging door has its weather-stripping on the frame stops inside; an out-swinging door has a different arrangement that has to shed water on the outside. When a door's swing is changed, the weather-stripping and the sill usually have to change too.
Handing is also a practical question inside the house. A door that swings into a narrow hallway, against a light switch, or into the path of a cabinet door is a daily annoyance. Before fitting new hardware to an interior door, it is worth asking whether the door would work better swinging the other way. Changing it at the same time as the hardware saves doing the job twice.
Before any new hole goes into a door for a handed piece of hardware, check the hand twice: once from the outside by the standard method, and once by looking at how the new part is marked. Many parts carry a small "L" or "R", or come with instructions showing which way they face. A minute spent checking is far cheaper than a new door slab.
Sliding patio doors and pocket doors are not handed in the same way as swinging doors, but they still have a direction. A sliding patio door is described by which panel slides and which side it slides from, usually viewed from outside, and replacement handles and locks must suit that arrangement. Pocket doors have hardware designed for the edge that meets the frame, and the lock or pull must be fitted to the correct face.
Different manufacturers, and different countries, describe handing from different viewpoints. Some stand on the outside, some on the hinge side, some on the push side. European hardware in particular is often described from the inside. When a part description seems to contradict what you see at the door, check the manufacturer's own diagram rather than relying on the letters alone.
Where a door is being adapted for accessibility, handing affects where a powered operator, a push button or a lever should go, and which side of the door needs clear floor space. Changing the swing of a door can sometimes make an entrance much easier to use without any other change, which is worth considering alongside other accessible entrance hardware.
Tell us the door's location, which way it swings, and what you want to fit or change. Photographs of both sides with the door partly open help.
We can identify the handing, supply hardware set for the correct hand, re-hand locks and levers where they allow it, and rehang doors when the swing needs to change. Household work is part of our residential locksmith services, and commercial doors come under our commercial locksmith services.
Keep reading
Stand on the outside of the door, the side where you would use a key. If the hinges are on your left and the door swings away from you, it is left hand. If the hinges are on your right and it swings away, it is right hand.
Stand on the outside of the door, the side where you would use a key. If the hinges are on your left and the door swings away from you, it is left hand. If the hinges are on your right and it swings away, it is right hand.
A reverse-handed door swings towards you when you stand on the outside. Left hand reverse has the hinges on the left; right hand reverse has them on the right. Many commercial and storm doors are reverse-handed.
Most standard deadbolts are not handed. Levers, handlesets, mortise locks, multipoint gearboxes, closers and exit devices often are, or need setting up for the hand.
Many levers are reversible or can be changed over inside the latch or chassis. Some are fixed to one hand and must be ordered to suit the door.
It was set up for the opposite hand. Most can be changed over; if not, the lever needs to be swapped for the correct hand.
Yes. On a reverse-handed, out-swinging door, the hinge pins are outside. Security hinges or hinge studs stop the door being lifted out, and a latch guard protects the latch.
Yes, by rehanging it with the hinges on the other side or the other face. The strike moves, old mortises are filled, and the lock may need re-handing or replacing.
A photograph from the outside with the door partly open, the door thickness, the backset, and the make and model of the existing lock if you know it.
GTA Lockman Mobile Locksmith Services is a mobile locksmith working on homes, businesses and vehicles across Toronto and the GTA, with more than 14 years in the trade. Every review is written by a customer on Google, where you can read them in full.
Areas served: Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Stouffville, Newmarket, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Milton, Halton Hills, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Uxbridge.
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