Putting doorway in to prevent heat going upstairs....

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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Been thinking about this for a while but our downstairs is fairly open plan. In that when you walk through the front door you have the stairs in front of you to go up and then a small corridor which takes you to the open plan kitchen, living and dining space.

We have a log burner and we've found that whilst it does a good job of getting the downstairs warm it would be infinitely more effective if we could keep the heat downstairs rather than just losing it all out back into the entry corridor and upstairs.

Is it a silly idea to put a doorway in the hallway to effectively "seal" the area off? Was thinking of one of those full glass, black metal framed jobbys so it still lets all the light through. Want to get the ball rolling on it pretty sharpish so it's sorted for the upcoming winter.

Has anyone done anything like this? Would a joiner be the best person for a task like this?

Here's an image of the space for reference:
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IMG-20230827-080935-2 hosted at ImgBB

Image IMG-20230827-080935-2 hosted on ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
 
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Yeah I'd say there should have a door there all along if that's the kitchen. Although maybe that's just enforced if it's a 3 storey.

Crack on, basically. The style you are thinking of is crittall.

Edit: yes, joiner. They'd throw up a frame and block it in, you can then clad in plasterboard or MDF and paint.
 
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R.O.S.S.I said:
Don't think so. House was renovated about 2-3 years by previous owners and was signed off by building control then. If it was required I'd assume they would have picked up on that then.
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It has been known for people to get things signed off by Building Standards then after its done they change it again. Depending on how thorough the soliciter is they may or may have not noticed the difference and passed it through to finalise the sale.

As an example our company is dealing with a project where the client is knocking two rooms into one but the Building Control Officer has noticed that the previous sun room extension (not done by us or our client but the previous owners) had a set of french doors to 'thermally divide' the sun room from the main house however the doors were removed and their looking to reinstate them before our warrant is signed off because it contradicts the previous approved drawings.

EDIT

Take a look at the planning portal for your house to see the approved drawings though. Anyone can view it.
 
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Main thing to consider is light switch access etc once youve put the door in.

Personally it seems like quite a bit of effort and although you're "losing" heat quite nice to have the voids temp raise? Do you have a radiator in hallway?


Carpenter is what you're looking for though :)
 
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Buffman said:
Main thing to consider is light switch access etc once youve put the door in.

Personally it seems like quite a bit of effort and although you're "losing" heat quite nice to have the voids temp raise? Do you have a radiator in hallway?


Carpenter is what you're looking for though :)
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We have underfloor heating throughout the downstairs but if that is on the whole house heating is on and comes on at intervals on the Nest to keep ambient temps.
We don't exclusively use the log burner, its more for when we do have it on we don't need to blast through quite as much wood keeping it rasping hot as were losing it all through the rest of the house.
Wood and gas is expensive haha.
Derek W said:
It has been known for people to get things signed off by Building Standards then after its done they change it again. Depending on how thorough the soliciter is they may or may have not noticed the difference and passed it through to finalise the sale.

As an example our company is dealing with a project where the client is knocking two rooms into one but the Building Control Officer has noticed that the previous sun room extension (not done by us or our client but the previous owners) had a set of french doors to 'thermally divide' the sun room from the main house however the doors were removed and their looking to reinstate them before our warrant is signed off because it contradicts the previous approved drawings.

EDIT

Take a look at the planning portal for your house to see the approved drawings though. Anyone can view it.
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I'm not sure it ever did have a doorway there. To the best of my knowledge the original layout of the house had the corridor running front to back. So i'm not too concerned about regs/planning.
 
Have you considered a really heavy weight curtain instead of a door?

We have one at the top of the stairs between the kitchen and the hallway and it keeps the open kitchen warmer as well preventing droughts in the living room (where our wood burner is).
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Have you considered a really heavy weight curtain instead of a door?

We have one at the top of the stairs between the kitchen and the hallway and it keeps the open kitchen warmer as well preventing droughts in the living room (where our wood burner is).
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We've put heavy curtains in front of the front door and completely across the bifolds we have at the rear.

We did think about doing what you've said and using a curtain but part of the staircase would still be open through the spindles and I think if I was going to put something there I'd rather just go the door route. Curtains would also get in the way I feel.

A door would have added benefits in that it will be a good way to keep the dog in that part of the house and also to stop noise travelling upstairs as my partner regularly works nights.
 
I was lucky with ours in that all I had to do was fit the door to the frame and build around them, which looks like you may be able to do yourself.
 
Personally I wouldn’t because you’ll invariably leave it open all the time anyway. I always joke that my mums house is like an airlock. She has terrible heating and insulation so is obsessed with shutting every internal in the house behind you. Does my nut! That said if your partner works nights it could be helpful.

If you want crittal style doors, check out the Aluco brand. They’re the closest modern version you can get. We put in an Aluco back door and windows in that style (pic is somewhere on one of my threads). They’re not cheap though!
 
Scam said:
Personally I wouldn’t because you’ll invariably leave it open all the time anyway. I always joke that my mums house is like an airlock. She has terrible heating and insulation so is obsessed with shutting every internal in the house behind you. Does my nut! That said if your partner works nights it could be helpful.

If you want crittal style doors, check out the Aluco brand. They’re the closest modern version you can get. We put in an Aluco back door and windows in that style (pic is somewhere on one of my threads). They’re not cheap though!
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Hmmm I dont think we would keep it open though, especially as it gets colder.
It definitely would help with sound though for my partner.

Yeh that is the style we want. My brother in law is a pretty good with joinery/carpentry and does loads of building work so ive asked if he can come over and have a look and see if he can do it. If he doesnt have time then ill go to MyBuilder or Check A Trade or something.

Ive seen some websites with just the doors for about £200-£250 so wouldnt be too bad if I can get everything framed out and ready for it to just go straight in.
 
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