Placing a door between the confluence and the hillside
Givors sits on a valley floor where the Gier meets the Rhône, and the postal address rarely says how you actually get in. In the old centre, between the bridge and the place Camille-Vallin, the tenement blocks have narrow stairwells and original flat doors. Give the number, the floor, and where the door sits on the landing.
At Les Étoiles, the housing designed by Jean Renaudie, the address alone is never enough. Flats are stacked in oblique volumes served by walkways and planted terraces, with several entrance levels in a single building. The block name, the level and the side you come in from save real time, far more than the make of the cylinder.
Towards Bans and the slopes that climb quickly above the town, houses and small estates are scattered along narrow lanes. A landmark visible from the road beats a number nobody can read from a vehicle. Givors sits at the southern tip of the built-up area, so travel arrangements are set out when you call. Say too whether the way in ends in outside steps or a pedestrian ramp.
Swung shut in the draught, or locked with a key
The valley funnels the wind coming up the Rhône corridor, and in Givors a door left ajar while you take the bins down closes on its own. In that case only the latch is engaged and nothing has been locked. It is the first question asked on the phone, because everything else follows from it. The westerly pushing up the Gier valley does the rest.
Locked with a key, the same door is a different proposition: the deadbolt is engaged and, on a multipoint, the linkage holds the leaf over its full height. Nothing is settled on the phone. The assessment is made at the opening itself, in a stairwell in the centre as much as at a gate in Bans, and no damage-free opening can be announced in advance.
Proof of occupancy is asked for before any door is opened: rent receipt, energy bill, insurance certificate. A detailed quote is presented before the work and a detailed invoice given at the end. On the old workshop metal doors still standing near the canal, the closure is examined before any part is mentioned.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our door opening page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Givors.