Henley has a lot of old buildings and a lot of them have been put to new uses.
Georgian frontages with flats behind them. Coaching inns that are now hotels and bars. Shops with several floors of storage or rooms above.
Fire doors in places like that take more thought than in a modern block.
Listed buildings
Plenty of the town centre is listed, or sits in a conservation area.
That does not excuse a building from fire safety. It does mean you need to be careful how you go about it. Old doors may be part of what makes the building special, and changing them or even fixing things to them may need consent.
South Oxfordshire District Council is the place to ask about that.
From our side, we report on what is there. If a door has no evidence of a fire rating, we say so. If an old door looks like it may be worth upgrading rather than replacing, we say that too.
What we will not do is tell you a thin panelled door is fine because it is pretty.
Hotels and pubs
Old inns usually have long corridors, steps in strange places and doors that have been altered many times over the years.
The usual findings are gaps where the frames have moved, closers that cannot cope with a heavy door, and hinges that have been replaced with whatever was available.
Regatta and festival time is the worst possible moment to find out you have a problem. Doors get wedged open, the place is full and everybody is busy. Get them looked at before the season.
We have surveyed 129 fire doors at a hotel in Reading, so we know how to work around guests.
Flats over shops
Above the shops in Hart Street, Bell Street and Duke Street you will find flats that share a stair or a side entrance. The people living there are relying on doors that may have been fitted decades ago.
If you are the landlord or the freeholder, you need to know those doors work. It is often only a handful of doors, so it is not a big job.
Schools
Independent and state schools around Henley have the same issues as schools anywhere. Heavy use, glass panels, displays screwed to doors.
Our schools and care homes page says more about how we work in them.
Who covers Henley
This is Oxfordshire, so Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service covers the town. Remenham, just across the bridge, is in Berkshire.
Getting to you
We come from Luton and it is a bit over an hour. We will often combine a Henley job with work around Marlow or Maidenhead.
Send us the address and how many doors you have. Photos help if it is an unusual building. We will send you a price the same day.
Questions we get asked
Can you inspect a listed door?
Yes. An inspection does not involve changing anything, so it does not affect the building.
Do I have to replace old doors?
Not always. Some can be repaired or upgraded, depending on what they are and what your fire risk assessment needs.
Tell us how many doors you have and we will send you a price the same day.
Get a price