Internal door options for a relatively tight space?

We've been in our house for around a year now. Downstairs is somewhat open plan, I say open plan, it's door less. The rear does have an open plan config (kitchen, dining, living space) but it also has a lot of glass, so naturally at this time of year, the cold penetrates and then permeates through the house.



So, in a bid to somewhat contain the cold, I'd like to fit a door of some kind... The "problem" is that the opening is quite restrictive.

By fitting a door, we can also keep the cat contained in a warm and comfortable location, with her food, and prevent her from coming upstairs at stupid o'clock, waking me, and our young child.

Currently the door frame is configured to have a door opening into the kitchen. The width of the opening in the frame is ~83cm. The kitchen island however, is ~80cm from the door frame.






The Mrs thinks that this is too close to be functional/comfortably usable, and I cannot disagree.

She's actually quite against the idea of fitting a door, because she doesn't think it can be made to work. However, I like a challenge, and like to find solutions to problems.

The "obvious" option, is a bi-fold, such as this


She's worried that the door would sit, inside the kitchen... we've also mentioned saloon style.

The problem is, that the frame (as pictured) is partly sunken into the wall, so fully removing the frame would be a sizeable nightmare.

Is it possible/an option to nibble the "jamb" that prevents the door opening through the frame (almost certain I have the technical terminology incorrect here) using, for example, a multi tool/nibbler tool and then re-fit some wood to the other side, effectively switching the side in which the door opens?

Failing that, can any of you clever souls think of any other options we may have?

I'm toying with getting a "door specialst" in for their ideas, but I'm certain "we" can discuss those here without getting anyone round.

I have a similar arrangement, right near a kitchen peninsular - plus needed to have a door at the end of a corridor. This was the result. Couldn't find slim enough 6 panel doors though, had to have them specially made. In your situation, the bi-fold pair are wide enough, just mount each leaf separately. I have parliament hinges so they can fully fold back.

Nozzle

Cheers for that, it does look quite similar. I only used the 6 panel as an example, I've not actually looked into styles, but if she greenlights it, I would not be against getting the doors made.

We couldn't have them fully folded open, as nice as that would be, as one side is a radiator and the other side, not enough wall... (actually, looking again at your pic, your left most door seems to overhang the wall, just as ours would).

The other concern about them opening into the kitchen, is the hob is right by the opening, so there's a concern you could plow through the doors into someone. I accept thats still the same the other way, but we would just have to get used to closing doors etc... it would have to become the least of our worries...

If you fit parliament hinges, it should open square against the radiator. So you loose a little space as the hinge pin protrudes a little, but when folded back, it should fold back parallel with the radiator rather than jutting into the gangway. Also, choose your handles wisely to minimise how much they stick out.

Yes, the left leaf here doesn't have a massive return, it's a book shelf but the pillar itself is maybe only 4" wide.

Nozzle

Nozzle said:

Yes, the left leaf here doesn't have a massive return, it's a book shelf but the pillar itself is maybe only 4" wide.

Nozzle

Click to expand...

Probably not too dissimilar to this..?



I just need to measure what space is available either side I guess... as long as it doesnt hit the radiator, it could definitely work.

That ledge that the door shuts against is usually a separate piece that is nailed on after the frame is up. You should be able to force something like a chisel under it to carefully lever it away, concentrating around the nail positions.

To be honest you'd be better either settling for a heavy curtain to contain the heat and some hook fixings to contain the cat, or doing it properly and removing the wall next to the stairs and rebuilding with a pocket door system. I'd go for the latter but I wouldn't bother with anything halfway between.

paulrockliffe said:

To be honest you'd be better either settling for a heavy curtain to contain the heat and some hook fixings to contain the cat, or doing it properly and removing the wall next to the stairs and rebuilding with a pocket door system. I'd go for the latter but I wouldn't bother with anything halfway between.

Click to expand...

We have considered the pocket option, and in an ideal world, that would be perfect, though I'd imagine they carry a fair premium. We also looking into vertical roller type solutions, but there's nothing really there.

With the radiator and pipework running through where the pocket would go, we kind of chalked the pocket idea down as a great solution, but not at this time as it's a little more involved than we're prepared to go.

The "winning" option right now, is to do nothing. Which is why I've come on here, rather than calling in a "door guru", to see what options we have before exploring further.

magicmushroom666 said:

That ledge that the door shuts against is usually a separate piece that is nailed on after the frame is up. You should be able to force something like a chisel under it to carefully lever it away, concentrating around the nail positions.

Click to expand...

Thats interesting to know, so we could possibly switch the opening without too much hassle... a bit of filler and a lick of paint...