Problems in shared housing ...

TJ27

John51 wrote: »

I would prefer to get fried at some random point in the future than spend the rest of my life worrying about a possible fire.

That's fine. I just hope that if you share a house with people, they too have the same attitude regarding being fried. In a shared house it's not only yourself that you would be putting at risk, is it?

John51

A total of 12 flats in this house and the 2 houses either side. If anyone hadn't disabled their door closers I'd hear it...and hear it...and hear it...

I agree with most of the safety stuff but this one is impractical for a domestic situation. I've had people from the HA here, they said nothing and the fire fighters doing safety checks said nothing about the doors either. They get fitted so that the landlords don't get sued. They get disabled so the neighbours don't beat you up after months of sleepless nights.

Unlike the house I grew up in, the foam in the suite is fire retardant, all the gas and electrics were fitted by qualified personnel and if I or my friends want to smoke, it's done outside, also there are no deadlocks. Pretty safe imo but in between fires I need to live my life in a manner that suits me best and doesn't get me wound up. I'm not alone in feeling like this. My neighbours, more than likely their neighbours and every friend whose home I've visited. You probably know heaps of people with 'disabled' doors.

If these doors were oh so important, how come it's legal to knock two rooms into one? Wouldn't that increase the residents chances of dying in a fire because of one less fire door?

TJ27

I do have some sympathy with the difficulties fire doors cause and I see countless doors propped open every week, usually with fire extinguishers!

You misunderstand regarding knocking two rooms into one. It's mainly the doors between the living rooms and the escape routes that are the oh so important ones. For example if a fire occurs in a downstairs living room, you don't want it spreading to the hall and blocking the exit for everybody upstairs. Also, it's easier to see/detect a fire in the dining room if it's knocked through to the lounge than if they were separate. So contrary to what you think, knocking two rooms together can often increase the residents chances of living, not dying. Every layout is different though, I'm just generalising.

I guess I just have fairly strong views because of recent stories like this:

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/wales-news/2007/12/15/help-me-screamed-man-trapped-in-fire-91466-20253490/

That was a house which some of my colleagues inspected after the event. I could elaborate but it's probably better that I don't.

I spend a lot of time telling landlords to fireproof ceilings, partitions and doors, for the protection of tenants. How useful do you suppose all the "non banging" firefroofing is if the door is left open?

clutton_2

""Everyone I know who has had those infuriating door closers has removed them.""

you are risking your lives if you do this .......

melancholly

you can just adjust the door closers so that they don't slam - we have had to do it at work because the slamming was driving us nuts. it's very easy to get done and a much much better solution than removing them or always having the doors kept open.