Self closing doors on 3 storey house - can I remove them?

[Nick1881]

Our new house has a device that makes all the doors close, the ones to bedrooms on 1st and 2nd floor and the kitchen diner door.

Can I remove them? Will I void my home insurance?

We have a dog and she can push her way into a room if the door isn't fully closed, then get stuck inside. This happened yesterday, I got in from work and she was trapped in a 2nd floor bedroom, obviously very distressed and had pee'd on the floor.

We have door stops and are using them to hold doors open anyway, but if these slip or someone forgets to peg it open, then we could have the same problem.

Any advice or recommendations?

 

[Nick1881]

If the have the arm at the top or the mechanism in the side of the door in-between hinges you can disconnect them as a quick fix

It's in the middle of the door where the hinges are, like a small chain. Pretty sure I could easily take it off, just want to know if I will cause myself other problems.

 

[Nick1881]

Yes very possible. The downside is then you likely fall foul of regs and home insurance should a fire breakout...

The doors are 45 mm thick and seem very solid, I can't see any labels on them.

House is 2006 build.

 

[Nick1881]

How about a dog flap?

Might be a bit overkill on every door in the house

 

[Nick1881]

fire doors will have a plastic plug on one side of the door edge
the colour indicates what the door is rated for

No sign of anything like that, they just seem like standard wooden doors.

 

[Nick1881]

Our house is 3 story with loft conversion that we moved into. Every door is a fire door except the toilet and bathrooms. None have self closers or intumescent strips. We have smoke alarms in the hall, landing 1, landing 2 and the kitchen diner has a heat sensor (like a smoke alarm). We also have a Carbon Monoxide sensor by the airing cupboard and by the boiler.
None of them have any indication as to what rating they are on them. All I can say is that some are 45mm thick and weigh about 40-50kg.
I do take fire risk very seriously but I would not install self closers and there is no evidence to suggest there ever were any installed.

Interesting, we have wired smoke alarms in the hall and each landing. Pretty sure there are carbon monoxide ones too, but I will double check.