Low beams

Eliza_2

Has anyone got a house with low beams, and after living there for a while do you get used to ducking or do they start driving you mad?

I'm looking at an old house with 2 low beams upstairs in the corridor - it was originally a one-storey house and has had an upstairs added since. For me they're about chin height. If they were downstairs I probably wouldn't consider it, but upstairs it doesn't matter that much and I don't tend to sleep walk! Or maybe after a while I will find that it does matter after all.

Do you put lights or a sign on them to remind you to duck? I'll have to do something like this when my mother visits as she's much littler than me and more likely to bump into them.

Your advice please

Liz

Haden

I worked in an old mill in Derbyshire and we had some low beams. You do get used to them after a few knocks and they are worth having as a feature. This wouldn,t be a deal breaker for me.

You could tie some foam to the beams when you have visitors. It's a bit of nuisance having to step over them if they have knocked themselves out.:)

pawpurrs

You do get used to them very quickly and duck automatically, may be a slight pain, but the character of these properties normally makes up for it tenfold!
HAd one in to the bathroom which was funny at night with vistors in the dark!

Doozergirl

You do get used to them. You'll be able to find your way in the dark in no time.

In our old cottage, the one thing that always caught me out was the front door. Wearing flat shoes, I'd be absolutely fine which was most of the time. But occassionally I'd wear high, high heels and then scalp myself because it was just the right height, to take a load of skin off the top of my head! :mad:

John_Pierpoint

How low is low?

I think the statutory height is 2 meters.

In this world where everyone sues everyone else, beware of visitors doing themselves serious damage.
(I would light the bathroom beam with an LED spotlight, when visitors are in the house.)

Low beams are not a deal breaker for the occupants any more than dangerous unexpected steps are. (ditto LED advice)

So who was it who moved the exterior quality "coffee table" in front of the swing seat.

Oh yes it was me.

jc808

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

How low is low?

I think the statutory height is 2 meters.

In this world where everyone sues everyone else, beware of visitors doing themselves serious damage.
(I would light the bathroom beam with an LED spotlight, when visitors are in the house.)

Low beams are not a deal breaker for the occupants any more than dangerous unexpected steps are. (ditto LED advice)

So who was it who moved the exterior quality "coffee table" in front of the swing seat.

Oh yes it was me.

Statutory height is irrelevant - only applies to extensions/ large refurbs/ newbuilds

John_Pierpoint

Yes but it is there for a reason, like most other statutory regulations.

I have an outbuilding, built by the "short" father of the previous owner about 40 years ago, without bothering about little niceties like the Town & Country Planning Act. I has a feature beam at a height of 5' 11" (in old money). The joke explanation is that that was the height he could reach, while still standing on the floor. Even after 35 years I still manage to forget it is there sometimes.

Dave_C_2

Try being six and a half feet tall, you quickly learn that a lot of things are lower than the so-called standard 2 metres.

2 metres is six foot six and 3/4 inches in old money.

penrhyn

Put a sign up.

DUCK or GROUSE !

27col

As far as I'm concerned it would be a deal breaker. There are enough things out there waiting to put a scab on my bald head without my going out to pay good money to add another.

Peartree

I've got a beam just above head height then a sharply sloping roof in my study which I have endlessly whacked my head on it going for the shelves against the far wall. I hung a decorative cross thing off the beam to catch my head before it hit the sloping roof as a reminder. Most of the time it works just occasionally there's a 'why is that there- whack' moment. I did a similar thing when I had scaffolding in the stairwell at decapitation level - I draped some fabric so that in the dark it would hit my face, as a reminder, long before I hit the iron bar.

You do get used to the vagaries of a house in the dark and if you love it don't let it be a deal breaker. But for visitors, particularly the on the way to the bathroom half asleep sort, you would need bright lighting and something iwith a soft impact to make them pay attention before they hit the solid beam!