Internal doors

[Dechelenonianmobile]

I'm renting out a house (very new to it all) and I need/want to remedy the old, glazed internal doors before a family with small children move in. What are my options? I have three doors like the one in the photo coming off the downstairs hallway and letting in a lot of light.

The front door has the same glass, but only at the top half so I think that can stay?

The glass in them is textured on both sides, so I don't think I can apply a film.

I have absolutely no DIY, homeownership or landlord experience and am a bit overwhelmed with all the things I need to do. Please help!

Thank you.

Do they need to be fire doors if you are renting?

We have 3 small children + 2 pets and have 3 doors like this + 2 half door like this (solid at the bottom glass panes at top) and a wall like this (where it was open planned and filled in with these)... we have never had a problem in the 14 years of renting this house.

The estate agent said we'd need to sort it, so I think we definitely have to do something.

It will be cheaper to replace the internal doors than get a professional to apply safety film to the glass if it isn’t already safety glass even if it’s possible on textured glass. It would need to be professionally applied for renting. If it’s already safety glass then there shouldn’t be an issue with the doors for rental purposes. Safety glass has an etching in the corner.

Front door will be fine.

but you don't have to, I rent from a huge management agency and they have several with doors like this. There is no legal requirement to change them.

Ours have had footballs belted off them, toys whacked off them in temper tantrums, furniture crashed into them when moving stuff round for xmas, been slammed more times than you could could, had children and pets run into them full speed etc... and they are fine.

My DH was paranoid too when we first moved in but after nearly a decade and a half we know better.

They are near impossible to break, thats why they have been around for so long. If they broke easily you wouldn't be asking as they would have smashed long ago and been replaced.

Its 1 single non safety solid glass panel glass doors that are dangerous (I fell through one as a child) but these are nothing like them.

I think you need to check the regs yourself rather than relying on what the agent says (or what we say). The buck stops with you for meeting the regs so you need to know what they are. Ditto on fire doors - they are probably fine but you need to know that, not assume it.

Replacement doors are not too expensive. You can buy the doors online and our joiner was fitting them for £50 per door a couple of years back. I'm sure that has gone up but it won't be a fortune. We have live with doors exactly like this through the toddler stage too, but we own the house so that's on us.

We had one of these between the living room and dining room
it was often open but closed they brilliant to make your house seem light and airy

We've decided it's better to replace the doors as I really couldn't face the prospect of a small child hurting themselves. Annoyingly, they are a weird height. Is it easy to trim doors to size? It would need to be just over 2cms shorter than the 1980mm standard that seems to be widely available.

Why don’t you buy some sheets of ply and attach it over the glass then paint.

Or even hardboard? In the past you sometimes found lovely old panel doors covered up like this when they were “modernised” in the sixties

Yes they are designed to be trimmed down. Door frames are often not quite as square as you think, and flooring heights vary, so doors are sold a little long. I think that size door will fit fine.

@B0D's idea is great though. It was all the rage at one point as an easyish DIY job.

The hallway would be very dark without the glazed doors.

No, only in a HMO scenario

Buy the doors at Wickes, don't be too concerned about glass/light, they are the older 70s/80s style doors. You need decent DIY skills, if not, hire a local carpenter/chippy to put them on, they have the right planers and tools, it's not worth trying it yourself as it's never quite square or flush around the frames or indeed the floor. I paid £30 a door a few years back.