Door on the stairs.

[ladylola]

A question to those more in the know than myself.
A friend of mine has a cottage he rents out and since he brought it there haven't been any doors downstairs. His new tenants wanted doors principally to make it warmer which I've fitted but they have asked about a door on the stairs to stop warm air disappearing upwards.
The stairs turns through 90* halfway up using winders rather than a landing. Fitting a door at the bottom would be ideal but isn't possible owing to the small size of the room. This leaves two options , fitting at the top of the stairs with the door opening over the stairs or fitting closer to the turn which would in reality seem to work better.
The problem isn't the actual construction or fitting , it's more that I or my friend the landlord don't know if it's allowable under current legislation and would appreciate any input please.

 

[tony1851]

There is no specific legislation prohibiting a door opening over the top of a flight of stairs, or a door half-way up a staircase.

The only legal requirement is that a staircase shall be safe in use. Much depends on individual circumstances of the property, and the opinion of your local building inspector.

However, it is highly unlikely that the arrangement you describe would be considered safe. Furthermore, as the property is rented, the landlord would have additional statutory obligations to provide reasonable safety for the tenants.

 

[ladylola]

Thanks for the answer. To be completely honest it may help because the landlord is somewhat hesitant to allow the door to be put in.

 

[cjard]

He has the option of replacing the tenants rather than the doors..

If it didn't have doors when they moved in, then they took it in the condition in which it was sold to them. Would it be reasonable for them to turn to him and say "oh, we're having a kid next year, so we require you to build an extension to give us the necessary room"

 

[Architexeter]

If looking to to introduce a door on the stair I would take guidance from part K of the Building Regulations. 400mm clear landing from bottom step or 900mm clear landing from top step. It sounds like room is tight and a door on the stair would be awkward, have you perhaps considered a thick curtain to help with heat retention?

Hope that helps

 

[ladylola]

Quite correct cjard although There are a couple of factors to add. The tenants have only just moved in and have agreed to a long term rental of the property so moving in someone else isn't an option.
Luckily there are no kids involved save for her one grown up son that stays there at times and to be honest as it's a small terraced cottage no scope for extension although they have asked about boarding out the loft for storage. Actually they are aware of the strengthening work involved in that so that can be ignored.
Lastly the tenants have purchased the doors and paid me to fit them ( all with the landlord's consent) and are prepared to pay for the additional door to the stairs. This is the bit my friend is a bit concerned about as he thinks it may be a door too far so to speak and may ruin the nature of the cottage. I'm just the bod in the middle with a bag of tools. To be fair I'm not entirely convinced about it myself but if the customer pays they can have what they want.

 

[ladylola]

Architexeter thanks for that , either myself or my friend will check that out.The curtain idea has been put forward by my friend but was met with muted interest. There is another door on the rear stairs that she originally wanted a door on as well but we've managed to convince her that it isn't really feasible (well nothing's impossible but the amount of work involved for the amount of gain would be daft) and a simple curtain will be just as good and hugely cheaper.