French door for thick wall

In my house I have an Anderson French door. When open all the way, the doors go back to the walls. My house has regular 2 x 4 walls which I'm assuming are 4-9/16.

I've just acquired space in a commercial building and wish to make it into a loft apt. It is in a down town area where loft apartments are very popular.

My problem is the walls in the old commercial building are really thick (10 inches). This makes for great window sills but causes a problem for an inswing door. Checking with several major brand window and door companies, i find doors and windows are sold with "extension jambs" for thicker walls. For my wall, 10-9/16" is appropriate.

However, I am told the doors will not open all the way because the hinges are on the frame not the extensionn jambs. This means the doors will not open back all the way, rather they will stick out straight from the wall. In fact, if by accident someone pushed the door back, the leverage could easilly damage the door and or frame by putting too mush pressure on the hinges.

Is this common among all door manufacturers or is there another solution? A middle hinged door has been suggested called a "garden door" but that is not the look I want. I want inswing French doors. Any help appreciated.

 

You want "exterior" extension jambs. I don't know if any of the better brands make them that thick though. Andersen only goes to 7 9/16".

It would be a relatively simple matter for a carpenter to install the door flush with the interior and trim out the exterior with a vinyl or wood casing of some sort. There might be an issue with screens, but I don't really think so.

Just need to ensure you keep a slope on the sill for drainage and weatherproof the opening correctly.

 

Thanks for the reply. To make matters worse, the loft apartment is being built for my brother who is in a wheel chair. The thresholds have to be handicap accessable, which is going to make the weather proofing difficult.

 

Not really too difficult...
As I'm sure you know from your home Andersen, the tall aluminum sill where the door closes may be an obstacle, but an interior ramped threshold would ease the transition...not too much you can do about the exterior, but it doesn't need a huge slope...prob 10-15 degrees would be plenty.

The weatherproofing I mentioned could be achieved with a well made pan and flashing tape.

You just need to find a craftsman to do the work, it's really not that big of a job, just requires a bit of attention to detail.