Do you enter your house through the front door?

[Rachel]

Do you usually enter your house through the front door or a side/garage door? We do use the front door when checking mail but not when we are leaving the house. Usually we go through the garage.

 

Just curious. We have been under a boil water advisory the last couple days and were notified via a flyer on the front door. Fortunately I had also heard about the advisory via FB otherwise I wouldn't have known for a few hours. I texted the people I knew to give them a heads up just in case they hadn't heard. I have noticed today that many of my neighbors still have flyers on their doors and are possibly unaware of the advisory. We can see the door from our driveway so I probably would have noticed a flyer but also probably would have assumed it was an ad for lawncare or something.

[hjffkj]

Yes we enter through the front door every single time we enter the house, even though we have a garage

[scbusf]

We do enter through the front door about 90% of the time. We sometimes use the garage, like right now, since my keys are missing.

[tdbates78]

Rarely. We park both vehicles in our garage and therefore that's how we typically enter our house.

[Amira]

Not in this house. The front door goes to the "men's" side of the house that we don't use, so we always use the side door. The "women's" side is far more useful.

[Syllieann]

We rarely use the front door, but I check the front door when I go to get the mail. I also walk around the perimeter of the property every day or two to make sure nothing is amiss.

[Guest]

Always. But in our last house, never. :0)

[AmandaVT]

We don't have a garage and we have a wee house, so front door it is. Unless I manage to lock myself out. Then I have to climb a ladder, climb over the deck railing upstairs and let myself into the upstairs through the door leading out to the deck. I've done that twice while living here - once when DS was 18 months old and I ran out to the car really quick, forgetting that DH had just changed the locks. I didn't have the new key on my ring yet. That was a terrifying few moments! He was inside, happily munching on cheerios and watching sesame st. and didn't even notice my absence or freak out when I got back inside.

[OneStepAtATime]

Only to retrieve mail or answer the door if there is someone ringing the bell.  We park in the back of the house and go through the backdoor or sometimes the garage (we don't park in the garage, though, since that is DH's work space).  Depending on which direction we are coming we might not drive in front of the house as we go to the back.  If it is a Sunday we might not see the front of the house until DH or I fetch the mail Monday afternoon.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes.  We use the front door.  Though the other day we used dd's window when I locked myself out. . .   ;)

[Spryte]

Both.  We use both doors every day.  For entering when we are out in the car, it depends if we are parking in the garage.  Sometimes we park in the drive.

 

DS has a maker's workshop in the garage so he is literally in and out that door 10 - 15 times a day.  Whether we park in the garage or not largely depends on what he's making and how much space it's occupying in the garage.  :)

 

But even if we are parking in the garage, we use the front door multiple times a day.  Kids are in and out that way, other kids are coming to the door to ask to play, teens are hanging out on the porch.  We're checking the mail, watering plants.  

 

Actually, our back door sees many uses throughout the day, too.  Dogs.  Kids going to backyard.  

 

Kind of feels like we live in activity central here.

 

[Rachel]

Not in this house. The front door goes to the "men's" side of the house that we don't use, so we always use the side door. The "women's" side is far more useful.

Is it a duplex? Do male and female family members live in separate parts of the house.

[Arcadia]

I have noticed today that many of my neighbors still have flyers on their doors and are possibly unaware of the advisory. We can see the door from our driveway so I probably would have noticed a flyer but also probably would have assumed it was an ad for lawncare or something.

I stay in a condo so there is only one entry point to my home since I am not at the ground floor.

 

Our neighborhood was reminded by the police to remove flyers from doors as robbers would cast and target those single family homes and townhomes which has flyers on their doors for a few days.

[Rachel]

Sometimes I feel like I should install a revolving door out back for the kids and the dog.

 

The afternoon sun hits our front door causing it to swell. The kids struggle to open it so they almost always use the back door even if they are playing out front.

 

Both. We use both doors every day. For entering when we are out in the car, it depends if we are parking in the garage. Sometimes we park in the drive.

 

DS has a maker's workshop in the garage so he is literally in and out that door 10 - 15 times a day. Whether we park in the garage or not largely depends on what he's making and how much space it's occupying in the garage. :)

 

But even if we are parking in the garage, we use the front door multiple times a day. Kids are in and out that way, other kids are coming to the door to ask to play, teens are hanging out on the porch. We're checking the mail, watering plants.

 

Actually, our back door sees many uses throughout the day, too. Dogs. Kids going to backyard.

 

Kind of feels like we live in activity central here.

[SKL]

I enter through the front door since I do not park in the garage. 

 

The two adults who park in the garage generally enter through the garage and would be likely to miss a notice on the front door, unless it was clearly visible from the street.

[Seasider]

No, but I expect my guests to. One of our relatives always calls and says "open the garage door for me." Seriously, walking through the yard equipment and bicycles in my garage is a lot more challenging than the relatively-same-distance walk to the front door.

 

Of course in inclement weather I offer the safest/most sheltered option. But not on a regular basis. One good-weather holiday that garage door was up and down a dozen times. That's where I'd stashed a bunch of stuff to free space for the crowd inside. I have since learned how to disengage the automatic opener.

 

I would love to have one of those cute side door kitchen porches like I've seen on some homes. Folks would be welcome to enter that way. But not through my skeleton filled garage, that's just for the folks who live here.

[matrips]

Not in this house. We have a garage that we park in and go through that door instead. Previous home with no garage- always through the front door.

[maize]

Front door.

 

Unless we forget the house key. Then one of the kids goes in through the cat door in back.

Edited October 19, 2017 by maize

[Seasider]

Oh, I get notices on the front door because I go out that way to the mailbox. But maybe not every day, so I might miss something time sensitive as a boil water notice.

[Pawz4me]

Most often we're coming in/going out to our cars, which are either parked in the garage (2 cars) or in the driveway (if one or both of the boys are home). So more often than not all of us go in/out through the garage. If we're doing yard work we generally open at least one garage door and go in/out that way. If I'm going out to get the mail or walk the dog I go in/out the front door.

[SparklyUnicorn]

The back door because we park in an alley that is behind our house.

 

 

 

 

[Seasider]

We rarely use the front door, but I check the front door when I go to get the mail. I also walk around the perimeter of the property every day or two to make sure nothing is amiss.

Oh that reminds me of my father! He did this. Very responsible of you!

[Amira]

Is it a duplex? Do male and female family members live in separate parts of the house.

No, it's all one house, but strict gender segregation is the norm in this country so the house accommodates that. That means there are two bathrooms on the ground floor, and two living rooms. The men's half is superfluous since neither the stairs nor the kitchen are on that side and who needs two living rooms and two bathrooms downstairs?

[TravelingChris]

Mostly yes,  When we are bringing in groceries with my husband, he wants them brought in downstairs.  I prefer to bring it on the main level and then bring down anything that goes downstairs.  Also, if we are using items that are stored in the garage or downstairs.  We do not have cars in the garage.  It is a wood shop and general storage.  

[Ravin]

We live in a townhouse, and the "front" door faces a green space. I use the front door if I'm going to the community pool or to go pick DS up from school (I walk and it's in that direction so it's shorter). Other than that, we use the "back" door, which goes to our patio and from there out a gate to the carport. Our mailbox is in the carport. 

[kewb]

I use the front door when I walk the dog.

Otherwise, we mostly use the garage door.

[FaithManor]

No. The front of the house is the main entrance to the church building that we renovated. But, we ran out of money before we got the front entry done. It had had a roof leak and though the roof is done, we have yet to tackle replacing the buckled wallboard with drywall, redo the floors, and replace the ceiling. With two in college and a third entering next year, it isn't likely to get done because I will be going back to work so won't have time to tackle that - something I thought I would do once youngest graduated homeschooling - and will work until dh retires. 

 

The house also isn't really worth anything anymore because the market tanked here and never recovered. So investing heavily isn't going to do any good. It is possible we'll never use the front door.

[heartlikealion]

Seldom. I can't even find a key for it and wonder what happened when we updated locks.

[gardenmom5]

dh and I enter through the garage.  2ds enters through the front door.  1ds, could be the front door (if he drove anywhere), or the side/kitchen door (if he's coming home from school as he takes the bus.)

[MrsMommy]

If we're going to/coming from a trip that requires our minivan, we use the garage door. Going to get the mail/play outside/go for a walk usually involves the front door.

[JenneinCA]

Yes. Since we don’t park the car in the garage, it is the most obvious way in or out of the house.

[Selkie]

We enter and exit through the garage, but I also use the front door about a dozen times a day to let my dogs out or to get packages that have been delivered. 

 

There have been a few occasions when one of us has gotten locked out and had to squeeze in through a dog door. It's a very tight squeeze made even more difficult by enthusiastic dogs slobbering on you while you crawl through.

[DawnM]

Our house is on a huge hill.  The basement opens on one side of the house, and that is where you would need to park if you want to come in the front door.  Then you need to walk all the way around the house and up to the 1st floor and then up some stairs, and then into the front door.  And that only takes you into the living room.  If you need to get into the kitchen, you need to walk through either the living room or dining room to do so.  It is quite the trekk if you are carrying groceries.

 

We have another garage up on the back side of the house that leads into our 1st floor.  It is much easier to go through there.

 

I can't tell you the last time I used the front door.

[Petrichor]

Yes. The only other option would be through the window. 

[G5052]

Not usually, but my garage door is broken. So we park outside the garage and come in through the front door. LOL.

[Lady Marmalade]

Nope.

 

We don't even HAVE a front door. Entry from the front of the house is through the garage only.  Entry to the back of the house is through a door on our second story deck.  It's a split level home, so not as high up as a full second story, but it's still very uninviting and you cannot even see that there is a door unless you are looking for it.

 

I love our home.  It's very unfriendly to solicitors.  

[Rachel]

😂 my kids would love that!

Front door.

 

Unless we forget the house key. Then one of the kids goes in through the cat door in back.

[Χά�ων]

I thino this depends on the style of house. When we had an attached garage that we parked in, we entered through the garage. Our current house was originally designed in a way that owners entered through the back door and guest through the front but do to updates it would he a pain to enter through the back. Before buying we looked at other houses of the same design and I really liked the houses where the drive way and parking is next to the side entrance, it woulld allow a covered single step into the house and half a flight to the kitchen once inside. I like the idea of carrying groceries up stairs that will not be covered in ice in the winter.

[Rachel]

The back door because we park in an alley that is behind our house.

That's how most of the original houses in my hometown were. Only company used the front door.

[mellifera33]

Yes, we always use the front door. Some day I will get off my butt and clean out the garage, then I will park there and use the garage door. Until then...

[Jackie]

I’ve lived in 5 places within the last 10 years, and what door I use depends entirely on where my car is parked at that location. If I’m parking in a garage, that’s been my primary door. The front door was always visible from the garage entrance, so I would still see a notice. If I’m parking on street or in a driveway, I use the front door.

[Elizabeth86]

Yep. I only put trash out the back door.

[GailV]

Front door.

 

Unless we forget the house key. Then one of the kids goes in through the cat door in back.

 

Great, now dd is mad we never installed a cat door so she could do this  :laugh:

[xixstar]

Never - we have two front doors - they're side by side and each enters into a different room. But we don't use either of them, ever. In the summer, I may open them just to get some more airflow but we still never use them. The two front doors is so odd but characteristic of many 150 year old houses in the area, though most have remodeled and removed the second door... we probably will some day too. 

There is a side door that faces the driveway, that's the primary entrance. We have no garage - if we ever build one, it wouldn't be attached to the house. 

[GailV]

We use both.  The front door is what we usually use if walking somewhere, the garage if driving somewhere.

 

I always look at the front door and porch when pulling in the driveway, checking for packages or other stuff left on the porch. 

 

 

[Annie G]

We park behind our house so we enter through the back. But our mailbox is on our front porch so I do open the front door most days. 

[rocassie]

If we are taking the car, garage for sure because that's where the car is located.  Otherwise we use the front door or back sliding glass door to come and go when being outside around the house/neighborhood.

[Kalmia]

No one in Maine enters their house through the front door. And no one ever knocks on the front door or leaves packages there. It is just not done.

[Rosie_0801]

I use the back door because I don't have a front door.

 

My grandparents only ever used their back door. I don't know why.

[Nemom]

We use the garage door.  I will even open the garage door and go out through the garage to get the mail.