Fire doors on every door in our new house, why??

[Gettingonabitnow]

Hi

Just that really. We’ve moved into a house that was built in 2007. Two storey detached, normal loft with a drop down ladder. We want to change the doors as they are god awful, but a joiner pointed out they are all fire doors. Would we need to therefore replace them all with fire doors, which are hugely expensive? Or just the door from garage to internal?

Thanks x

@gogohm interesting, maybe it was the building regs at the time

@BuckyBarnesArm

We had mains wired fire alarms installed in every room as an alternative to replacing all the original 1930s doors in our house with fire doors when we had the loft converted. This was about 7 years ago, assume it would still be permitted now?

This is what we did 2 years ago. It's a much better solution than fire doors as fire doors only work if they're shut. It's nice to know I'd be woken straight away if there was a fire. Would hate to wake up in a loft full of smoke!

I'd sand & paint the existing fire doors, give it 10 years and the panel type doors you want to put in will be old fashioned.

I would change the handles. It will make the doors look more modern, but I wouldn’t change fire doors.

yes, those existing ones can be tarted up.

We are getting our loft converted and instead of fire doors we are getting mains powered inter-connected smoke alarms in every room. I never understood the point of fire doors, surely they would only work if you kept all the doors closed at all times? Or am I missing something?
Not sure though of the cost of those smoke alarms OP, as you said the cost of the fire doors were an issue.

My friend who owns rental properties says its often an condition of insurance on a rental to have fire doors. Maybe the house has been rented in the past?

These are much cheaper? https://www.diy.com/departments/cottage-primed-white-woodgrain-effect-lh-rh-internal-fire-door-h-1981mm-w-762mm/1448673_BQ.prd

Hmm yes maybe it was a rental.

Does anyone know who you’d check this stuff with? I don’t want to invalidate our insurance if we change them.

Thanks @titchy they are aren’t they! Wonder where the £260 came from.

We have just bought a townhouse of around the same age. All first and second floor doors are fire doors - our builder told us that at the time of building this was to conform with building regs, but it no longer applies and we can change them for regular doors if we want. The slamming drives me nuts but I will probably keep them on the top floor.

Oh and in my last house we choose fire doors - they were £160, oak

You'd check with the local planning department and building control. In fact, you might be able to find the plans online if there was a conversion done at some point and fire doors were a condition of planning. But it's probably easier just to call the planning office and ask about it.

Thanks everyone. This has been massively helpful!

@gogohm

Our house is 2008, every door is a fire door strength wise but no spring things on top

Ours too. Built 2007, nothing out of the ordinary and all fire doors. Maybe there was a glut of fire doors around that time?

We had moulded 4-panel fire doors in our old house when we converted the loft; about £70/door if I remember correctly, and they were pre-primed so made painting easier.

@BuckyBarnesArm

We had mains wired fire alarms installed in every room as an alternative to replacing all the original 1930s doors in our house with fire doors when we had the loft converted. This was about 7 years ago, assume it would still be permitted now?

I think this is still the case. We converted our loft two years ago. We installed a mains wired fire alarm system throughout the house and could keep the original 1930s doors.

It's a legal requirement which is why you won't find a tradesmen who will do the work without you either getting the fire doors or wiring in fire alarms.

Does the £260 include the ironmongery and labour? If so, that isn't outrageous for a fire check door at all and is actually at the cheaper end IMO. Fire rated hinges are more costly too (if yours are in good nick it might be worth reusing the existing ones).
That said, doors can be both incredibly cheap or expensive depending on what you choose, and materials costs have rocketed over the last 18 months. I have fitted internal doors that cost over £260 just for the door (I'm a carpenter) in the past, but they haven't been Howden's doors. However, I'm out of touch with current prices as I haven't supplied any doors in the last year: nothing would shock me given the price rises and availability with timber generally ATM.

@Gettingonabitnow

Hmm yes maybe it was a rental.

Does anyone know who you’d check this stuff with? I don’t want to invalidate our insurance if we change them.

Building Control at your local council would have the definitive information

@Gettingonabitnow

Hmm yes maybe it was a rental.

Does anyone know who you’d check this stuff with? I don’t want to invalidate our insurance if we change them.

I would speak with Building Control and your insurance company.

But why would you want to down grade the safety of your home?
You'd absolutely kick yourself if something happened and you'd down graded the safety you your house.

Speak with a painter and see what he could do with the existing doors.

Howdens is a trade outlet and their "list prices" are calculated to allow builders to buy stuff at, say, 60% discount and make a handsome profit without the customer realising.

The door you show looks very much like a Premdor with a list price of £141 but widely available for less. Wickes call it a Geneva at £125 but I think I have also seen it called a Cottage door.

Don't get that version with fake woodgrain, it looks like fake woodgrain.

Moulded FD30s used to be about £85 before discounts before the pandemic.

Veneered versions are dearer than paint grade.

I have fire doors throughout my house. Some of them are obligatory, but I have them on other rooms such as bathrooms and cloakrooms because they are reassuringly substantial, good at blocking noise, and strong enough to use with a real lock. Mine are the six-panel design but tastes vary.

Modern cheap hollow doors are flimsy, made of air with a thin ornamental coating of ply or hardboard, and are complete rubbish.

You will need the correct hinges and intumescents. Locks and handles are no trouble to source. Closers are no longer obligatory in ordinary domestic houses. You need a skilled carpenter to fit them competently. They are very heavy and I recommend lift-off hinges.

@TheAirbender

We have just bought a townhouse of around the same age. All first and second floor doors are fire doors - our builder told us that at the time of building this was to conform with building regs, but it no longer applies and we can change them for regular doors if we want. The slamming drives me nuts but I will probably keep them on the top floor.

you can disable the closers if you want, they are no longer obligatory. I find they encourage slamming, though furry pile smokestrip can prevent it (it also blocks draughts).

Hi @Gettingonabitnow
DH is ex-Building Control.
His suggestion is that the roof may be constructed of attic trusses, so is "ready to go" for a loft conversion - hence the fire doors already installed, you'd just need the staircase IYSWIM.

You can change them to normal doors if you want to. That would still meet todays Building Regs requirements.

As others have said, it’s the building regs rule now. When we converted our lift, we had to ether change all doors to fire doors, or have a smoke alarm system throughout all the bedrooms. I suspect it would invalidate your insurance if you contravened building regs?