Fire doors

[bedtimescrolling]

We want to replace our internal doors in our Victorian terraced house. We are just starting to explore options.

One thing that has been mentioned is that if we wanted to do a loft conversion in the future (which we probably will) then building regs may require all our doors to be fire doors.. so it would make sense to get fire doors at this stage if that's the case.

Does anyone know if this is the case?

Thank you.

Not sure on the regs, but fire doors feel so much more solid - they have a weight to them. I installed them even though I didn't have to.

That's correct. If you have a list conversion every door that you walk through and can get to the stairs without going through another door has to be a fire door. Just be aware that if replacing non fire doors with fire doors you'll have to change the doorstops (the bit the door closes against in the frame) to accommodate the change from a 35mm thick door to a 44mm thick door.

Yes we were quite happy to just replace them all with fire doors anyway but apparently our door frames may be too thin to install fire doors on? Would that just mean getting new frames too do you think?

It is usually preferable to fit new door linings ("frames") at the same time. The old ones may be out of square, and the fitter will blame the frames for any poor fit. Fire doors are 44mm thick and unless your old doors are the same, the rebate will be wrong. New fire rated linings have a groove for an intumescent strip. When fitting new ones you can use fireproof stopping or foam to seal the lining to the wall.

Fire doors are also very heavy and need new fire rated hinges. I recommend the lift-off type.

You can get fire doors in 4 or 6 panels to resemble Victorian doors. You can still buy horizontal mortice sashlocks to resemble the original.

Fire doors are weighty and strong, and good for blocking noise. You may need to extend your doorbell and smoke alarms so you can hear them.

Thank you!

Definitely will need to be fire doors, although you can still make them look nice and feel like a natural fit with the right design!

Have just done this In our house. FD30 fire rated doors and new doors stops (not the frames, just the stops). We used Oakwood Doors in Huddersfield who has AMAZING customer service in a magical Yorkshire accent.