this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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I guess someone missed the memo that door handles can turn the other way too huh? ๐
I guess you don't have a whole lot of experience with the delightful variety of door equipment available the world over. Not all handles of this style can go up as well as down.
Well if that's so, that's unfortunate. I've worked on a many of them, and part of the troubleshooting procedure is to make sure they open either way you turn them.
Oh, dude, troubleshooting is a surprisingly rare skill! But yeah I've encountered plenty of lever handles that only turn the one way, even a few that were installed "backwards" so they would only lift up.
I agree that all lever handles should be able to go up as well as down, it's just a sensible feature, but I've encountered it enough that I imagine there are a lot of older designs without it still being manufactured.
I've literally never seen that feature, with the exception of the one time a handle was installed upside down and could only turn the other way. You're making a lot of assumptions about the rest of the world here
As far as I know, that's a requirement here for sake of fire safety, especially in facilities that only have one door to exit such as hotel rooms and many apartments.
After many years of use in one direction, it'll wear out a bushing inside and eventually stop opening one way until repaired or replaced. Being able to open by turning either way gives a backup way to open it in a pinch.
The way they're designed, it seems about stupid to not have them open either way. Every search result for 'doorknob only turns one way' takes me to a repair tutorial.
I'm not doubting you, I haven't worked on every model doorknob and lock out there, but if there really are doorknobs out there that only turn in one direction by design, then the engineers that designed it are stupid and don't have your safety in mind.
I don't think I've ever seen handles that go both ways. Only doorknobs in the UK.