Describing the way in when the road climbs in hairpins
The hillside decides how anyone reaches you. Several roads in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon are narrow, steeply graded and one-way, so there is no turning back once you are committed. Give the name of the lane, the direction it is climbed from, and something visible from the road: a gate, a boundary wall, the colour of a shutter.
At La Gravière and high on the slope, several houses share one private lane. The street number then points to the entrance of the lane, not to your door. Say how far along you are, whether the shared gate is locked, and who holds the code when there is one. On these lanes the usable width matters as much as the distance: a vehicle that cannot pass another waits at the bottom.
In the centre, around place Xavier Ricard and the Bascule crossroads, the difficulty is the opposite: the address is easy, stopping is not. Give the floor, the name on the entryphone, and say whether the hall stays open. At Beaunant, down in the valley, say whether you are reached from the road along the Yzeron or from the plateau.
Latched, locked, or simply swollen shut
A latched door is held only by the sprung bolt. On the flat doors of the small buildings in the centre, the gap around the leaf varies from one flat to the next, and a winding staircase already limits what can be carried up. What works on the first floor will not necessarily work under the roof, and a weather seal fitted since changes what remains possible.
Once the key has been turned it is the deadbolt that holds, and on the multipoint flat doors of the Plan du Loup co-ownerships the points at the top and bottom of the leaf come in as well. The mechanical resistance has nothing in common with a door that was merely latched. Nothing is announced before the door has been seen: the survey on site comes first, then the method, then an itemised quote before any work starts.
A third case turns up often at Beaunant, down on the valley floor: neither latched nor locked, the door simply will not come open. The timber leaf has swollen in the damp that lingers there, it rubs on the jamb and traps the bolt. Proof that you live there is asked for before any opening, and an itemised invoice is handed over at the end.
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 Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon.