Old Cottage - Raising Doorframes

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
23,131
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
We've spotted a house that's peaked our interests.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property...=buying&sc_id=25178698&onetime_FromEmail=true

There are currently very few photos on the advert but i've booked a viewing for Saturday. On speaking to the agent he mentioned the cottage is old and has been in the current owners family for over 200 years.

I asked about doorways and he mentioned most are a decent height but the one going into the kitchen is quite low.

This could prove to be a problem (other than avoiding the kitchen!), but without seeing the actual house. What kind of work would be involved in putting in a normal sized door, providing the ceiling height allows it?

Would be be as simple as just taking out the existing frame, removing any bricks/stone to the desired height and then fitting a new frame or could it potentially be a bigger project?
 
Could be a lintel above the current door that would need raising up as well.

That would depend on wether the wall is load bearing I guess, although with it being an old cottage its fairly likely that it will be.
 
If it was as simple as that, someone would have done it in the last 200 years!
You really need to see it to understand why it's lower than the other doors before you can decide how easy it would be
 
When I was looking, I was always rather hesitant of houses with no/few pictures inside....
If you're keen on the house and doing it up anyway perhaps best to speak to builder/structural engineer? (problem is it will be plastered and may need chased out to understand how to fix it..)
 
Cheers, just wanted a rough idea of what it may entail. I'll have a look at what's causing the restriction when we view and take some pictures.
 
I never understand how Estate agents manage to advertise a house for sale, and then not post 1 picture of the inside, or vice versa
 
Apparently they're going this Friday to do indoor photos. The woman had Christmas decorations up and didn't want them in the pictures :p
 
In all honesty, I had a cottage with low door frames. It's not too much of a problem (providing you are physically capable) I just ducked through them. The odd occasion you would bang you head (you learn quickly trust me) but it quickly becomes second nature. I thought it was an issue but it's part of the charm/character of an older property.
 
I have to duck at the bottom of our stairs otherwise the top of my head hits the wooden beam. Downside of living somewhere built around 1835!

As Aero says, it soon becomes a sub-conscious thing after a couple of cursing sessions.
 
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