A sticking door in an old building is often a frame problem. Floors settle and walls bow, and the door starts to catch on the latch side. Planing it would take the fire protection off the edge, so a level and a gauge go on the frame before anything else.
Is it a real fire door?
Look at the top edge or the hinge edge for a plug or a tag. That is the first thing we check.
An old panelled door with no test behind it is not a certified fire door, and no repair will make it one. If it has had mouldings cut into the panels, the rating is void. We would tell you that and advise a plain certified doorset in its place.
If it is a genuine fire door, we repair it as it is.
When the frame is the problem
When the gap is tight at the head and opens towards the floor, hinge adjustment will not cure it. The work goes like this.
1. Architraves off. 2. Frame packed and fixed again. 3. Fire foam behind the frame. 4. Door rehung and the gaps checked.
It takes about half a day for one door. Cheap quotes tend to leave it out.
Listed buildings
Listing can limit what you change on a door and its frame. If yours is listed, check with the conservation officer at the council before anything is replaced, and tell us about any restriction when you send the photos.
Who deals with Windsor
Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service covers fire safety here, and the council is the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. If either has written to you about a door, send us the letter.
The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 apply to residential buildings with a top storey above 11 metres. Communal fire doors there are checked at least every three months. Flat entrance doors are checked at least every 12 months, as far as the responsible person can get access. Repairs follow as soon as reasonably practicable. An existing flat door does not need to meet the standard for a new building.
Getting a price
We drive from Luton. We do not have a yard in Windsor, so we group the work and tell you the day before.
Send the report or a few photos with the postcode. You get a price for each door.
Send it over with the postcode and we will price it per door the same day.
Get a price