French Doors
We have french doors on our parlor floor leading to the common area. As we are converting this once (1) family home into a (3), our GC suggested that having the french doors with glass panes could pose a security issue, especially since the doors will lead to my children’s bedroom. The door and moldings…
We have french doors on our parlor floor leading to the common area. As we are converting this once (1) family home into a (3), our GC suggested that having the french doors with glass panes could pose a security issue, especially since the doors will lead to my children’s bedroom. The door and moldings are beautiful and I definitely don’t want to lose them. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can secure our space without compromising the original details?
Thanks,
Faithful
I am trying to find a solution to making (exterior) wood doors with a lot of glass on them secure as well. One solution I am considering is having bars made for the inside of the door.
Bob,
I found out the hard way that it’s not that you can’t trust the tenant (or a roommate) – I could. But you don’t know about their friends and family, and sometimes neither do they. Best not to tempt the devil, as they say.
I guess it never hurts to take precautions. It must be hard being a landlord 🙁
Thank you all for your great advice.
Bob, I understand where you’re coming from, but this isn’t my first landlord experience. My first experience taught me that many tenants can seem like great and trustworthy people initially and then you see the real them. Like the saying goes “you don’t know a person, until you live with them.” I hope & pray that my next tenants will be great & trustworthy people from beginning to end, but I’m not willing to take any risks. So security & privacy for my french doors is just a way to prepare for any situation.
Faithful
Faithful,
I’d like to think that if I were going to have an owner-occupied 3 family house, I’d be SO careful about picking my two tenants that the security status of glass-paned wouldn’t be much of a consideration. You’ll be sharing your HOME with your tenants–it’s not just an investment property.If you can’t trust the people to whom you rent, how will you be able to sleep at night?
I must admit I have no experience at being a landlord–I own a one family brownstone. If I’m not being realistic, I’m sure I’ll hear about it 🙂
Hi Faithful,
My house has the same thing. A previous owner put plywood over the glass on the hall side, and the glass panes show on the inside parlour. Everyday when I look at it, I curse that I can’t use my French doors, but it wasn’t a bad idea, it was just executed badly. I’m planning to strip the doors, and I’m going to replace the plywood at that time with a better grade on the outside, which will be painted. On the inside, I’m going to wall paper, stencil or cover the inside with fabric, which will be sandwiched in between the panes and the plywood. It’s not an ideal situation by any means, but it is affordable and can be attractive, for a detail that I can’t spend a lot of money on right now. Ideally I’d like to replace the doors with salvaged solid wood doors, and use the French doors somewhere else, but a pair of large salvage doors would run at least a thousand dollars or more. Yikes!
I recently looked at a house where they installed exterior security doors (arched to match the doorway and original doors) with a keyed lock. Didn’t look the best, but at least by doing this, they kept the molding and original doors.
Depending on the layout, you could subdivide the common area by building a wall in front of the french doors. The area between the wall and the french doors could serve as a closet. You could remove this wall at the point that you’re ready to convert back to a 1 family.
You could have the glass in the doors replaced with wood. Or reuse the glass doors somewhere within and get some solid salvaged doors for the parlor doorway. But you are not going to want a glass door (nor a functional exit door) in your children’s bedroom.