Emergency Toilet Door-My Solution

Some time ago I posted a blog asking if anyone had any ideas on a two way opening door system for a toilet entry.
http://lumberjocks.com/Grumpy/blog/8405
I got some good ideas from that & also chased the World wide web. Many thanks to those who responded.
There are manufacturers that make systems just for this purpose but they are generally expensive & some require considerable modification to the door jamb structure which was what I wanted to avoid.
After a lot of thinking & not much doing I had an idea that was simple, cost effective & practical.
I used a bi-fold door mechanism which was pivoted at the top & bottom of the door (no hinges). I used the track & the pivots from this kit.
;


This allowed the door to open in both directions.
Next came the issue of a door stop to allow the door to open & close internally under normal use & to open outwards in an emergency. The door was free to swing in either direction because I had reduced the width so that it fitted inside the jamb. I needed something to act as a stop that could also be moved in an emergency to allow the door to open out.
The kit for the bi-fold door system had a spring loaded overhead plastic runner for a second door. This was not needed because there is only one door. But it had a use as a door stop. I cut the runner so it had one flat side & the rest was the original circular section. The flat side was to act as a door stop.

In an emergency the stop could be pushed in so it was flush with the jamb allowing the door to open out. The red was added graphically for effect.




There was one more problem Grrrrrr @#$%$%%^^&&(*&(
The door needed about 1/4” gap between it & the jamb to allow it to pivot both ways. This resulted in a privacy issue because there was some limited view of the inside.
To overcome this I added a privacy strip either side of the jamb. It allowed the door to pivot but blocked any view of the inside.
This is the profile.

This photo is with strips fitted to the jamb

As you can see the project is not finished yet but the idea is the important part.
The total cost was $50Aus (about $41.50US)

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python