Door in the floor

[markius]

Hi all

I'm thinking about the possibility of changing the access to my cellar and could do with some general advice/tips/stern warnings (as appropriate!).

Currently access to the cellar is through a normal (upright) door below the stairs. In an effort to get a bit more usable floor space, I'm considering getting rid of this door (and the associated half-arsed stud wall) and replacing it with a floor door.

I'm fairly comfortable with what I need to do to provide a solid structural opening in the floor but not so sure about the door itself. The structural opening will be approx. 7ft x 2ft8. Floor joists in that area are 7x2 with a total span of around 12ft.

Would the correct approach be to build a standard door casing just with bigger timbers/fixings for the stops?

Cheers

 

[Tigercubrider]

What does your current hall floor look like?

Presumably the door will need to be capable of supporting an adult while down.
A 3x6 door in the floor will be hard to lift so maybe 2 doors?
The bit that is nearer the low end of the stairs may need to be hinged differently to clear the stairs?
Some provision to prevent people from falling down the hole may be required/ a good idea

Counterweights or gas struts?

 

[markius]

I'll try and attach a picture shortly.

I was thinking that the long edge with the hinges would be opposite the side that is against the wall. That way, when the door is open, it forms a barrier to prevent people falling down. I could also fix a handrail to the underside of the door for safety although I'll need to find a way to securely lock the door in the open position.

To get around the problem of the door hitting the low end of the stairs I was thinking of having that end of the opening cut to a suitable angle.

The floor will be finished with 18mm engineered floor over the top of the existing ~20mm floor boards. If I repeat that fabric on the door you're right - it will be quite heavy - so I'm thinking gas struts as there isn't any obvious place for a counterweight.

 

[markius]

Some potato quality photos...

 

[Tigercubrider]

Gas struts are probably neater and more sensible
Possibly something like a car bonnet style prop that clips to the door/floor when not used, but goes from vertical to horizontal to clip into something on the wall? Something more akin to a hinged table leg?

A metal frame might be actually lighter weight for strength when you consider a sturdy timber structure

 

[markius]

View media item 99599

Untitled

• markius
• 27 Apr 2017

 

[markius]

A metal frame would be an option (a grinder and paint makes me the welder I ain't) but not sure how the hinging would work. With timber I was thinking soss hinges so that they're flush when the door is closed.

 

[big-all]

ok thinking outside the box so to speak
say 3 sloped storage sections on wheels with removeble sturdy channels across the opening for individual wheels or pairs off wheels to run on
some sort off mechanism to retain the units in the "out position " for safety
then lift the channels to open out the stairs
in other words you only have the channels crossing side to side over the stairs
obviously you will need one side wall still in place to stop the opening being fully exposed when you slide them out for use and you could still retain the door to protect the exposed end

 

[markius]

Interesting idea. I was actually thinking that after the door in the floor is completed I could build a storage unit on wheels to fit into the lowest third or so which would otherwise be dead space. Thing is we do need to get into the cellar a fair amount and I'm worried that I'm actually making access a bit of a faff with three units and floor panels to lift.

 

[Nozzle]

You need one of these

 

[markius]

Stop it...!

Edit: oh no... wrong show!

 

[big-all]

Interesting idea. I was actually thinking that after the door in the floor is completed I could build a storage unit on wheels to fit into the lowest third or so which would otherwise be dead space. Thing is we do need to get into the cellar a fair amount and I'm worried that I'm actually making access a bit of a faff with three units and floor panels to lift.

theres a fair chance its not wasted space then
how often is "a fair amount"
in my suggestion there are no flooring what so ever just tracks to remove when you need access
suspect other storage solutions will be more practical and more efficient
but in other areas off the house

 

[markius]

Not sure what you mean RE not wasted space
Fair amount means the cellar currently holds my growing tool collection, some food, gas & electricity meters and all of the cat6 cabling for the house terminates down there too. Don't tell my GF but I have grand plans for the cellar to one day become either a workshop or a gym although I suspect when I float that idea she might also ask me to put a lock on the door. Not to lock me down there or anything... oh no.

With just tracks it's going to be pretty draughty. The cellar has various air bricks to ventilate the floor joists.

 

[big-all]

if its main use is a storage area then treat it like a storage area if its main use is a stairway then treat it like a stairway
trying to make an area a duel function area requires the contents to be easily or difficultly moved to another position or area but at what cost finacially time and energy wise
its up to you really decide if it one or the other as it cant easilly be both

 

[markius]

The main use is as a stairway so yes - trying to also turn it into a storage system is probably not the way to go.