Knocking through my tiny entry hall...advice please??

[darwisy1]

I live in a ground floor 2 bed flat with a flat above it (so not a tower block, more like a house split in two).

Anyway, the house opens up into a really small entry hall with the kitchen straight ahead and the living area to the right. If you close the kitchen door and the living room door and stood in the entry hall you couldn't turn round with your arms out. It really feels like wasted space and I thought I could maybe knock through into the kitchen. This would mean that you walked straight into the kitchen and the kitchen would no longer have a door if that makes sense? You could still shut off the living area and I know that the walls either side of the kitchen door are not load baring walls but i'm just wondering if anyone has done anything like this before and if it's a good idea? I would really love the extra space for the kitchen and I think it would make the house have a much nicer flow.

Any advice would be greatly apreciated as I can't find much on the internet about it...

thanks!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Unless the living room has its own doors to the outside then you will not conform to Building Regs as you are effectively removing the safe exit from the living room. same applies for the bedrooms. in addition to not conforming to the Regs your house insurance would be invalid and most likely you would be breaking the terms of your deeds.

Any chance you can post a sketch showing the existing layout of your flat showing the doors & windows and then post a proposed plan?

 

[darwisy1]

I will try and post a sketch but yes the living room would still have it's own door that closes it would just open up into the kitchen and the front door would be to the left as you walked out if that makes sense?

So you would walk into the house through the only door straight into the kitchen. The living room would be on the right with it's own door. I'll do the sketch now to show what i mean to make it clearer.

thanks for the reply and advice on building regs!

 

[darwisy1]

I have made a really crude drawing of my floorplan but you get the idea i think. I couldn't get across that there is a cupboard in the ebtry hallway with my electric meter but I will try and do a better one tomorrow. Can you take a look at the one I have done (in my images) and tell me what you think?

thanks![/img]

 

[bernardgreen]

Safe exit routes.

If you remove the door / wall between the hall and the kitchen then if there is a fire in the kitchen the hall way will become filled with smoke and maybe flames.

People in the bedrooms and lounge will have to escape through that smoke filled hallway,

If the smoke is toxic then they might die from smoke inhalation before they get out of the building.

 

[darwisy1]

Is this actually a building regs thing cos some people with the same style flats don't even have hallways...do I need to get a builder in to check? Also the windows in the bedrooms are fire escapes.

Thanks, this is really helpful

 

[bernardgreen]

The best advice will come from the Fire Prevention Officer at the local fire station, almost always this advice is given without charge.

It is a building regulation that there must be a safe escape route from every room in the property. The route must be protected as far as is reasonably possible from being made un-safe during a fire. Almost all local building control officers will require a door between the safe exit route and any room that has a higher than normal fire risk.

A lot of houses converted into flats do not fully comply with building control regulations.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Is this actually a building regs thing cos some people with the same style flats don't even have hallways...do I need to get a builder in to check? Also the windows in the bedrooms are fire escapes.

Thanks, this is really helpful

It is a Building Regs issue, the criteria here is that you cannot lawfully make the situation worse and removing the door will make the situation worse.

Forget talking to the fire officer at the fire station, they are not Building Control and it is BC who need to sign if off.

As mentioned just because there are millions of other properties around that have no door or are less safe in terms of fire protection/escape is (unfortunately) a moot point.

Some people in your situation will inevitably have removed the door/wall anyway but if you do that at least you are armed with the right knowledge and can make an informed decision. We try not to judge on here (too much).

 

[bernardgreen]

Forget talking to the fire officer at the fire station, they are not Building Control and it is BC who need to sign if off.

Of course the fire officer is not Building Control.
What they have and provide is the knowledge and experience of how to effectively reduce risks of fire and maintain safe exit routes if a fire starts in a building. Essential in building that does not fully comply with Building Regulations..

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

They will just advise that you cannot make it worse and certainly won't come out, whereas Building Control may actually be helpful. They may well be prepared to pop out to assess your smoke alarms but unlikely be prepared to advise on changing layouts etc, That is not in their remit. That is what BC is for. Besides, as mentioned ultimately it is BC who will sign it off, not a fire officer from the FB.