Doors

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:

Steve:
> Perhaps Geoff, or resident Brit, can help me with this, though
> I readily admit it is not a point of any importance.
> 
> It has to do with doors in British home, and the question is,
> why so many?

<snip>

> Again, this is nothing of any importance or significants, but
> I wondered why a modern double glazed house like Hyacinth's 
> would have so many doors? 
> 
> I notice the same is true of the neighbors house (Elizabeth) 
> and of Daisy and Onslow's house. Also true of the house in the 
> BBC series 'Butterflies' and 'As Time Goes By' with Geoffrey 
> Palmer.
> 
> So, whats with all the doors?
> 
> Just curious.

Geoff:
It is a standard practice with almost all UK houses that each room 
has a door - unless they are one of the occasional houses built in 
"open-plan" style. My eldest son has a house where the stairs go 
up from the corner of the living room without a door because they 
are open-sided but that is unusual because stairs tend to go up 
from the hallway and are doorless anyway.

Nowadays, it is also fairly common for the fire services to 
recommend the closing of internal doors if people are out to help 
contain a fire should one begin; this was also true when I taught 
and we were asked to close our classroom doors at the end of 
lessons. I have to admit that I was a bit of a maverick and almost 
always taught with my door open to the corridor.

Since getting married, we have lived in houses built in 1928, 1914
and 1935 respectively and they all have doors to every room. When 
we moved to our current house in 1999, we had one door removed; 
it led from the kitchen into a tiny larder and got in the way so much 
that its removal was almost the first thing the builder was asked to 
do.

It is fairly common for main doors to be left open during the day 
except perhaps on winter days. Our doors to the kitchen, living room 
and to the bedrooms and study upstairs generally stay open during 
the day and we leave the toilet and bathroom doors slightly ajar to 
indicate that they are not in use - that is when they *are* not in 
use. :-)