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I'm getting ready to renovate my enclosed porch. It was originally open air and had a simple wood panel enclosure kit installed. I'm planning on demoing the walls and rebuilding 2x4 stud framing... Started looking for a new prehung entry door and realized I have a problem... The porch floor is pitched as it was originally designed to shed rain water away from the house. The door opens in over the rising floor. The current door has a pretty tall sill plate and the bottom is still trimmed on an angle and a sweep installed.

Short of releveling the floor is there any way to install a prehung door to open over the rising floor? I can use an outswinging door as there are steps leading up to the door with no landing on the outside. I would assume adding a footer under the prehung sill plate may work but I'm concerned that it will create a tripping hazard stepping up to walk out the door and down the steps... To be clear this is not an uneven sill question. The door opens over a rising floor.

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  • Do you need to install a new in-swing door? To me an out-swing makes the most sense.
    – brhans
    Aug 9, 2020 at 15:28
  • Outswing is not a good option... it would open over 4 steps and be potentially dangerous to have to lean out over the steps to close the door. Probably also a code violation.
    – DK79
    Aug 10, 2020 at 16:08
  • You are doing a remodel so why not add a landing and go out swing. I can come up with a negative reason for everything I don’t want to do but you don’t want to level the floor or adjust the threshold. If you say no to every way to fix it maybe you should figure it out.
    – Ed Beal
    Aug 14, 2020 at 16:37

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I can see four options, two of which have been mentioned so far:

  • Increase the threshold height
    I can see this going poorly, as a trip hazard at the top of some stairs
  • Using an out-swing door instead
    This is probably the simplest option, but can look odd from an exterior perspective
  • Use a drop-down weather strip with enough clearance
    It could look a bit odd when the door is closed, but it looks like there are options for up to 1 5/8" (42mm) of height difference between the door being open and shut. See this supplier for an overview. Probably the most expensive.
  • Use a "rising butt" hinge.
    These lift the door as it swings in, and can provide maybe 1/2" of lift. They are also self-closing by design.
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    I actually forgot about rising butt hinges... but as it will be an entry door on the front of my home I'm thinking the self closing nature will not work.
    – DK79
    Aug 10, 2020 at 16:16

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