French Doors - Floor too high

[afhussain]

I am in a right pickle and need some advice.

I am having an extension built and we are having two sets of french doors (double doors with panels either side) fitted. After the walls were built I got the window company to come out and measure and make the windows.

The problem is that the doors have been made to a height of 2160 because this is what the window guy measured. The builder said that the doors should have been 2100 as he needs to raise the brickwork by half a brick to level the internal wall.

Either way now the doors are made up and the problem is that if we have a level floor the floor come up 1.5inch's too high at the door (both kitchen and living room).

No one is taking responsibility for the mistake and it seems that I will have to live with it. The builder has suggested that we slope the floor, he said that over 9ft you will not notice the slope of 1.5inches. The problem with that is that both the kitchen and the living room are wider then 9ft (as part of these rooms will be in the old house) so I am going to end up with a situation where the floor starts off flat and then in the last 9ft it slopes off.

The only other solution I can think of is to have a little step near the french doors in each room. That way the floor can be completely level and just in front of the door we could have a 1.5inch step. In the kitchen we could add bristle matting to this step and I dont think it will look too bad, not sure how it will look in the carpeted living room though.

I would really apreciate any advice you could give.

 

[Alastairreid]

the floor to your extension should run level into your existing floor!
your builder has made a boob and it is he who is responsible for rectifying.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

the floor to your extension should run level into your existing floor!
your builder has made a boob and it is he who is responsible for rectifying.

Anything other than the right size will look carp, whoever was responsible for supervising the window fitters when they measured up is to blame.

 

[Richard C]

The builder said that the doors should have been 2100 as he needs to raise the brickwork by half a brick to level the internal wall.

Bit confused here, do you mean internal wall or the floor level?

Difficult one this; the standard door opening is indeed 2100mm & it’ pretty obvious (or should be) that the floors should be at the same level. I had a similar problem here & actually on my own property with a large conservatory; in spite of clear instructions to the builder that the floor levels were to be the same through to the conservatory, I was horrified to discover that the groundwork’s gang had laid & finished off the insulated floor slab while I was away from site for 2 days & it was some 60mm too low. He tried to fob me off with a load of bull **** but after a rather big row erupted he conceded he’d made a mistake. He brought the gang back after the walls were up & they laid a new screed over the top to bring it up to the correct level.

It may be your builder made a similar mistake & then realised or he may have intended to raise the floor level with an internal screed all along; either way, there seems to have been a bit of a breakdown in communication somewhere along the line. The builder should have mentioned it, especially if he wasn’t responsible for supplying the doors & the window company surveyor maybe should have asked; if I’d measured for an unfinished extension & the opening was oversized, it would have set my alarm bells ringing & I would definitely have checked before making them up. The best way to avoid such problems is to make the builder responsible for all of the work & then if it’s wrong, it’s got to be his fault. IMO, sloping floors or steps is not the way to go & the only practical way around it is to get the doors either modified or re-made & some serious negotiation & compromise may be required.

What type of doors are they UPVC or timber?

 

[afhussain]

they are upvc, i reckon I will have my first heart attack before this extension is finished.

I am seeing the window guy tomorrow. I agree with you that the only solution is to get new doors made up (he reckons that they cannot be modified). The question is who pays for them.

 

[Alastairreid]

the way i read this..............the existing floor level in the kitchen when measured by the window fitter came in at 2160, the new extension floor meets up with the kitchen floor 60mm higher.
meaning a step of 60mm down from extension..............or have i misunderstood.

 

[advancemaintenance1]

if your window manufacturer is worth his salt he will remake the smaller doors and frames out of the originals no prob and then just charge you for the new glass sounds to me like the person who measured didnt have a clue os on a new build the height should be 2100 your builder is correct

 

[Richard C]

the way i read this..............the existing floor level in the kitchen when measured by the window fitter came in at 2160, the new extension floor meets up with the kitchen floor 60mm higher.
meaning a step of 60mm down from extension..............or have i misunderstood.

I’m not exactly clear either, but assumed the opposite! Can we have some clarification

If the doors are UPVC, they usually have a lower threshold unless you’ve asked for a goal post frame. The lower threshold on the 4 sets of French doors I have is at least 60mm deep, is it possible for you to let the frame into the floor? Also avoids the all too common tripping hazard with such doors.

 

[str]

as RichardC says, surely the UPVC is deep enough that the doors will stil sit above the 60mm level - assume that the doors open outwards so they aren't going to be impeded by the slightly higher floor level

 

[NeverSimple]

I know this is an old post and the author has long since fixed the problem, but I just wanted to add a few things. I had a similar situation and couldn't bury the lower threshold due to the drip holes being drilled 30mm from the base by the manufacturer (I still buried about 20mm). I suppose I could have blocked the holes and drilled higher, but I don't like messing with factory settings. Is this the norm on windows from the UK? I'm currently in Germany, so it might be different here.