How can I stop Perko Door Closers from closing?

Hi there - first post so hopefully not too stupid a question !

Can anyone please tell me if there is a way to stop Perko door closers from working - i.e. from closing the door.

This may sound daft but we have just had our loft converted and our buildings control refused to accept it unless we had perko door closers on every single door in the entire house and a smoke alarm in every room.

The door closers are driving us nuts and I would rather not have to remove them - 16 of the little beggars! I was told there is a clip you can get or somehting?

Failing that - can they just be unscrewed or are they under tension and will fly out

tell you what, when you have a fire i will not tell you what the number to call is.

the door closers although a pain are there to insure the doors are shut incase of fire

Thanks - I had worked out that's what they are for

Do you have one on every single door in your house?

Do you close the door behind you every time you go in or out of all the rooms in your house?

I doubt it

You probably shut doors last thing at night or before you go out like most people

Please give me the credit for some sense

RobertSE6 said:

Please give me the credit for some sense

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And you want to remove the only thing that may save you & your familys life in the event of a fire??

This is getting ridiculous

Do you have an automatic door closer on EVERY door in your house?

When you go from one room to another do you open and close EVERY door EVERY time?

If you can answer yes to either of those questions then you can start criticising me

Imagine it - you're in the lounge and you want a cup of tea - you get up, open the lounge door, close it behind you, open the kitchen door, close it behind you, make the tea, open the kitchen door, close it behind you etc - do you get the picture now?

I had hoped to get an answer to my question - not sarcastic personal attacks - seems I wasted my time - thanks for the welcome guys

RobertSE6 said:

If you can answer yes to either of those questions then you can start criticising me

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Sorry, but they are right

It's to do building regulations when you has your loft conversion done.

The only thing you can do is to ask BCO to see if it's possible to have some of remove but I doubt it. If they will let you then get it in writing.

If you do remove the door closer which is part of building regulations then your household insurance will not be valid.

RobertSE6 said:

Do you have one on every single door in your house?

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No I don't because my loft conversion design is difference to your layout which is passed the building regulation.

RobertSE6 said:

I had hoped to get an answer to my question - not sarcastic personal attacks - seems I wasted my time - thanks for the welcome guys

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That wasn't neccesary was it? They have your answered question correctly, I know it annoying but we can't do anything about it.

there is one other route (but you will probably think i am taking the mick)

a proper fire alarm, with magnetic door releases, when there is a fire (detected by alarm) it cuts off supply and releases all the doors.

like

wont be cheap.

you can some times see them in public buildings, mind you it wont be cheap

Breezer - don't think you're taking the mick - but I agree this is an expensive solution and won't look very good in a period property in a conservation area

My preferred solution is to close doors when we go to bed at night and periodically check the (mains) smoke alarms/heat detectors - found one faulty recently and had it replaced.

To me that seems a perfectly responsible way forward and is what we have done for years before the loft conversion - The loft is a study not a bedroom incidentally and there is a fire resistant layer on the door and a smoke detector inside the loft and right outside the door

Masona

They would be right if I had asked what I can do within the BCO approval

I didn't - and wish I'd never mentioned it!

I just wanted to know the practicalities of how to disable or remove these door closers as I couldn't find anything on the web and I am a diy incompetent!

Thanks for reminding me about the insurance - don't think you're right but I'll check - certainly if we had no BCO approval or invalidated it there might have been an issue when it came to selling the house


Masona wrote:
No I don't because my loft conversion design is difference to your layout which is passed the building regulation.

RobertSE6 wrote:
I had hoped to get an answer to my question - not sarcastic personal attacks - seems I wasted my time - thanks for the welcome guys

That wasn't neccesary was it? They have your answered question correctly, I know it annoying but we can't do anything about it.


My point was that people were suggesting I was being irresponsible and putting my family at risk of their lives - which I found pretty extreme and uncalled for. I was suggesting that if they don't have door closers on all their doors or don't keep all their doors closed all day long then they are doing exactly the same thing that they are criticising me for.

Anyway that's cool - you have your own opinions - I shall try and get some help elsewhere

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moderator


RobertSE6, please note 10a

there is usely a metal pin that holds the chain,punch that through and that should take all the tension off.the benefit of this method is you can leave the perko in the door with no un-sightly holes.

ahhh, now we know why you have door closers, you said

RobertSE6 said:

period property in a conservation area

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you never said that before, we are not mind readers, so taking it,it is in a conservation area they want to preserve it if there is a fire. (fires dont just wait untill you are in bed)
so that is why you have so many door closers.

you also said

RobertSE6 said:

I shall try and get some help elsewhere

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i am sorry you do not like the answers., i jsut hope your house never catches fire.
Edited by breezer to correct hose to house

Yes especially if your hose is in your house at the time !

if its a perko, you can undo one end and unscrew the chain to release the tension so that it wont have enough power to close the door, but still leave them in place.

Thermo and Steviec

Thank you both very much

Rob

why dont you put a door closer on the other side of the door aswell

The problem is the fire door need to be shut for the heat to melt the wax seal around the door frame to pervent fire spreading to another room, the insurance company will not be very happy if you made the fire damaging more by tampering the door closer so you may find either the insurance won't pay out or lose a peracentage of your claim. Before you do anything best to ring your insurance company for advice.

Remember Cilla Black lost a £1,000,000 claim because downstairs window didn't have window locks, the insurance company will get out of paying any claim. There are million of homes who don't have a front door mortise lock therefore they are not covered but the insurance are still collecting the money