Dutch door?

[Anonymous]

I’ve always wanted a Dutch door and I have the chance to put one in on the side of my house during our kitchen remodel. Any hints? Sources to buy one? It would lead out to an enclosed side patio so I’d like a window on the top. How do screens work with Dutch doors? It’s right next to the stove so I was thinking I could leave the top open when I’m cooking something smoky/smelly.

[Anonymous]

We have a Dutch door between our family room and area of our house that is between our family room and our pool. We wanted it so we can keep the dogs out there when they're wet, but still keep the area "open" to the family room. I'm really glad I did it. So our door isn't an external door, but the working knob is on the bottom and there's a dummy knob on top with a separate brass latch that connects the doors together when you want it to function as one door. You can either use a bolt or a "quadrant." I did a quadrant, because I like the way it looks, but I wouldn't rely on that for an external door.

I think it would be fine from a security standpoint if you used the bolt to connect the two doors. Somebody could theoretically break the glass and reach in and open the latch, so if I lived in a high crime area, I'd probably put a bolt on the inside of the top of the door into the upper door frame, as well. We have a similar set up on the doors to our screened in porch (bolts into the top of the doorframe and the floor) and it's pretty solid. It's obviously not perfect, but I think it would slow someone down. I guess you could also make the top knob a working knob with a dead bolt, but it would make it hard for the door to function as one door (you'd have to turn both knobs to open it?).

We don't have a screen on ours, but I guess you could use a retractable screen built into the outside door facing?

https://www.hardwaresource.com/products/baldwin-dutch-door-bolt

https://www.baldwinhardwaredirect.com/products/baldwin-0340-dutch-door-quadrant

[Anonymous]

pp here -- we had our door made by the same woodworking company that made all our doors, so I don't have a source to recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always wanted a Dutch door and I have the chance to put one in on the side of my house during our kitchen remodel. Any hints? Sources to buy one? It would lead out to an enclosed side patio so I’d like a window on the top. How do screens work with Dutch doors? It’s right next to the stove so I was thinking I could leave the top open when I’m cooking something smoky/smelly.

If you have someone doing a remodel, they would know sources.